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Diverse Land Cover Boosts Yields for Major U.S. Crops
Aerial drone image of fields with diverse crop growth; courtesy of Getty Images. Diverse land cover can boost yields for major U.S. crops like corn and wheat, a new study shows. The findings run counter to previous assumptions that…
Impact
Researchers Identify a Gene that Regulates the Angle of Root Growth in Corn
The discovery of a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn is a new tool to enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen, according to an international team of researchers, led by…
Impact
Nitrous Oxide Emissions Coming from Legume Cover Crops, Manure, Can Be Reduced
Nitrogen input from legume cover crops and manure prior to corn planting made the corn phase of rotations the main source of nitrous oxide emissions. Corn field image courtesy of Adobe Stock. The application of manure after the…
Impact
Fruit Fly Offers Lessons in Good Taste
Male fruit fly, courtesy of Adobe Stock. What can the fruit fly teach us about taste and how chemicals cause our taste buds to recognize sweet, sour, bitter, umami, and salty tastes? Quite a lot, according to University of California…
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Kelp for Corn? Illinois Scientists Demystify Natural Products for Crops
Kelp for Corn? Illinois Scientists Demystify Natural Products for Crops. kelp; courtesy of Adobe Stock. Corn growers can choose from a wide array of products to make the most of their crop, but the latest could bring seaweed extract…
Impact
Pack Rat Nests Offer First Look at Ancient Insect DNA
Middens give scientists the opportunity to sequence the DNA of ancient insects trapped inside, courtesy of Julio Betancourt. For many years, scientists have been extracting DNA from the bones of ancient humans, humanoids, and animals…
Impact
Harmful Bacteria Hiding in Livestock; Traditional Methods Aren’t Finding Them
Salmonella colonies growing on red indicator plates, image courtesy of the University of Georgia. Growing resistance to science’s go-to antibiotics is one of the biggest threats the world faces. As common bacteria like strep and…
Impact
Air Pollution from Wildfires Impacts Ability to Observe Birds
Smoke from the fires in Washington State in the summer of 2015, courtesy of Getty Images. As smoky air becomes more common during Washington's wildfire season, many wildlife enthusiasts wonder: What happens to the birds? Researchers…
Impact
Rising Nighttime Temps Rob Yields in Rice, Wheat
Field of ripe rice, courtesy of Getty Images. Warmer nights can upset a good night’s sleep for humans, but could the biological processes of farm crops be fussy about nighttime temperatures, too? Researchers at Kansas State…
Impact
Study Looks at Nitrogen Credit Trading to Spur Growth of Riparian Buffers
Volunteers planting riparian buffer areas along Conewago Creek. Photo courtesy of Penn State University. Watershed-wide nutrient credit trading has been suggested as a mechanism for reducing agricultural pollution entering the…
Impact
Testing the Water
MSU researcher and Extension specialist Adam Sigler checks a data logger that has been recording groundwater levels in an abandoned well near a historic granary. Shallow hand-dug wells like this are common in the area where…
Impact
Pollen-Sized Technology Protects Bees from Deadly Insecticides
A Beemmunity employee, Abraham McCauley, image courtesy of Cornell University. A Cornell University-developed technology provides beekeepers, consumers and farmers with an antidote for deadly pesticides which kill wild bees and cause…
Impact
Bees Interrupted
Michigan is home to 465 bee species, and each one plays a role in the states’ ecosystems. Photo of honey bee, courtesy of Getty Images. Michigan is home to 465 bee species, and each one plays a role in the states’ ecosystems. During…
Impact
Cheap, User-Friendly Smartphone App Predicts Vineyard Yields
Taking a photo of grapes in vineyard. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Cornell University engineers and plant scientists have teamed up to develop a low-cost system that allows grape growers to predict their yields much earlier in the…
Impact
CRISPR/Cas Technology Could Enable Early Diagnosis of Devastating Citrus Disease
CRISPR/Cas Technology Could Enable Early Diagnosis of Devastating Citrus Disease. Image of citrus greening, a disease that causes green, misshapen, and bitter citrus fruit; courtesy of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service…
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Scientists Make Wheat Gene Discovery
Oklahoma State University Professor Liuling Yan. Photo courtesy of Todd Johnson, OSU Agricultural Communications Services. A gene discovery in a wheat variety developed at Oklahoma State University (OSU) could mean larger yields for…
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Golf Course Turfgrass Species 'Remembers' if it was Mowed, Develops Differently
Greens-type Poa annua surrounded by creeping bentgrass (notice how the bentgrass grows so much taller than the greens-type Poa). Image courtesy of Penn State’s Dave Huff. Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, a turfgrass species commonly…
Impact
OSU Forms Food Industry Consortium to Advance Commercialization of Ultra-Shear Technology
Food quality control expert inspecting specimens of groceries in the laboratory; image courtesy of Getty Images Researchers at The Ohio State University’s (OSU) College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) have…
Impact
Genome Sequenced for Pesky Pumpkin Pathogen
Rikky Rai waters pumpkin plants in a University of Illinois greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Montgomery Flack. Pumpkin growers dread the tiny tan scabs that form on their fruit, each lesion a telltale sign of bacterial spot disease. The…
Impact
Exercise is Key to Strength and Function in Older Women
Seniors exercising, photo courtesy of Getty Images. In the U.S., 70 percent of women over 65 years old are considered overweight or obese. Exercise and eating higher protein diets are known to help people lose weight and increase…
Impact
Dashboard for Agricultural Water Use and Nutrient Management
Agricultural producers in the Corn Belt are navigating increasingly complex decisions as they grow food and energy crops while facing a changing climate and greater extremes in temperature and rainfall. Routine decisions such as crop…
Impact
Clemson Precision Ag Research Means Savings for South Carolina Farmers
Most sandy soils in South Carolina have a compacted zone, called a hardpan that roots can’t penetrate. If the hardpan isn’t tilled, plant roots can’t reach the water and nutrients in the deeper soil. The hardpan costs a great deal of…
Impact
Cactus Pear Could be the Sustainable Food and Fuel Crop of the Future
Fresh cactus fruit (prickly pear, opuntia) courtesy of Getty Images. In the near future, could cactus pear become a major crop like soybeans and corn, and help provide a biofuel source, as well as a sustainable food and forage crop?…
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Ensuring Meat Processing Safety in These Challenging Times
Photo of meatpacking worker, courtesy of iStock Photo With the rampant spread of COVID-19 among meat processing plant workers, the meat industry continues to face serious issues. The prevalence of the virus has led to meat…
Impact
Researchers Discover Biomarkers Needed to Help Peanuts Beat the Heat
Farmer harvesting peanuts. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Heat stress caused by climate change is threatening to reduce peanut crop yields. A group of researchers led by Clemson University Plant and Environmental Sciences…
