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Celebrating 30 Years of SNAP-Ed

This month, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) celebrates 30 years of providing evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions and projects for those eligible for SNAP benefits…

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World Bee Day: May 20

There are over 20,000 known bee species in the world, and 4,000 of them are native to the United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. They range from the tiny (2 mm) and solitary Perdita minima, known as the world’s…

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Planting for the Future

A name like Junior Master Gardeners evokes images of planting seeds with a hope for a bountiful harvest. But the bountiful harvest that Cooperative Extension educators want to achieve isn’t vegetables or fruits. Rather, the…

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University of Hawaiʻi Maui College Expands Aquaponics Training

At the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, educators have launched the Adapting Precision Farming Technologies for Sustainable Aquaponics Systems in Hawaiʻi project at the campus’ WaiPono Farm aquaponics and…

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AgMIP Co-Founder Cynthia Rosenzweig Receives 2022 World Food Prize

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), has received the 2022 World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation.

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You Say Tomato, I Say Okay!

May is National Salad Month! Created by the Association for Dressing and Sauces in 1992, National Salad Month encourages people to incorporate more salads into their daily food regimen.

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May: Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental health is an often-overlooked challenge farmers face nationwide. Farmland loss and land access issues, rising production costs, plummeting farm incomes, climate change and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic are contributing…

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May 13 - National Apple Pie Day: Getting to the Core of NIFA-funded Apple Research

Apples are the most consumed fruit in the U.S., followed closely by oranges. In 2019, the average U.S. per person consumption of all forms of apples had increased to about 26.3 pounds. The per person consumption of apple juice and…

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Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab Wins NPDN’s Rotten Tuber Award for ‘Hazmat Team Called for Bee Excrement!’

The Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab at Utah State University recently was awarded first place in the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN)’s Rotten Tuber Awards for its submission, “Hazmat Team Called for Bee Excrement!” The Rotten…

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National Plant Diagnostic Network Recognizes Outstanding Service, Lifetime Achievement

The National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) recently recognized several members for outstanding service and lifetime achievement. The NPDN is an internationally respected consortium of plant diagnostic laboratories. It was established…

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Lettuce Celebrate National Salad Month

May is National Salad Month. Created by the Association for Dressing and Sauces in 1992, National Salad Month encourages people to incorporate more salads into their daily food regimen.

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Research Tackling Lyme Disease and Other Tick-borne Diseases

Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases pose very real threats to human health. A 2021 estimate suggested that more than 470,000 people in the United States are diagnosed annually for Lyme disease alone, according to the Centers for…

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May the 4th Be With You

USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) may not fund light saber or droid research but, with support from NIFA, scientists are developing advanced technologies to meet the complex agricultural challenges faced by the…

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Beefing Up the Cattle Industry

May is National Beef Month. As of January 1, there were 91.9 million head of cattle and calves on farms in the United States. In 2021, cattle production was forecast to represent about 17% of the $391 billion in total cash receipts for…

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NIFA’s Evergreen Commitment to Protecting Trees, Forests

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day, which began in Nebraska after the newly arrived settlers sorely felt the absence of trees — as windbreaks and shade, or as building material and fuel — in their new lives on the…

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National Wildflower Week

Hundreds of wildflower species bring immense beauty to the United States throughout the year from Maine’s red trilliums and Texas bluebonnets to Alaska’s fireweed and Nevada’s desert sand verbena.

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NIFA-Funded Research Works to Strengthen Veterinarian Career Field

April 30 is recognized as World Veterinary Day, created by the World Veterinary Association in 2000 to celebrate the veterinary profession and promote the amazing work that veterinarians do.

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NIFA-Funded Research and Outreach Helping Producers Meet High Demand for Blueberries

Blueberries are the second-most produced berries in the United States, after strawberries, according to USDA’s Economic Research Services. Over the past 10 years, the supply of fresh blueberries available for American consumption has…

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Squashing the Spread of the Spotted Lantern Fly

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with states to detect, contain, control and suppress spotted lanternfly, a deadly nonnative invasive pest that threatens American agriculture and natural resources.

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National Volunteer Month Spotlight: Dr. Shannon Wiley

April is recognized as National Volunteer Month and serves as a time to honor volunteers who are positively impacting their communities. The following is an interview North Carolina A&T State University Extension Specialist Dr. Shannon…

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Earth Day: Invest in Our Planet

Earth Day 2022 is focused on accelerating solutions to address one of the most pressing issues facing the planet--climate change. A changing climate causes problems for all life on Earth. Although natural fluctuations in climate have…

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Tribal Youth Connected to STEAM through Basketball Clinics

The University of Idaho Extension Program for the Nez Perce Tribe Reservation and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Reservation, supported by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, recently partnered with the nonprofit Rise Above to…

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Hurricanes, Wildfires, Tornadoes, Oh My!   

The increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather-related disasters across the country may have many of us wishing we could click our heels and go back to times when weather did not disrupt our agricultural, forestry and…

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NIFA Joins Other USDA Agencies to Establish, Expand Industrial Hemp in the U.S.

Even though hemp has been cultivated by humans for the past 12,000 years, it’s essentially still a new crop here in the United States.

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NIFA Hemp Research is Building Foundational Knowledge, Exploring New Frontiers

While the sheer scope of what we have yet to learn about industrial hemp might seem daunting, an army of researchers across the United States is taking up the challenge.

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