Legend has it that during the summer of 1693 a French Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon first crafted this bubbly brew at the abbey of Saint Pierre d’Hautvillers, overlooking the town of Epernay, France in the region called Champagne. Others will argue that 30 years earlier some English scientists first made the discovery in Winchcombe, which …
Today, the agricultural and aviation communities quietly celebrate the 101st anniversary of the first use of the airplane for crop dusting. On this day in 1921, Army Air Corps pilot Lieutenant John A. Macready, piloting a specially modified Curtiss JN4 Jenny, spread lead arsenate over a six-acre grove of 6,000 catalpa trees at Postmaster Harry …
Heat stress is weighing heavy on the minds of many producers this year, for themselves as well as their animals. For poultry producers, it’s also an unfortunate fact that the most productive breeds tend to be more prone to heat stress. Karthik Nayani, an assistant professor in the Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering …
Interesting… Rapid Heat Stress Test for Livestock Read More »
State Fairs are kicking off the 2022 season across America, many after having been closed the past two years due to Covid-19. For so many families, there is just no better way to wrap up a long, hot summer than a couple of deep-fried Twinkies, a rickety carnival ride, and some dusty livestock pens! Below …
One of the country’s first lines of defense against foreign agricultural pests and diseases is just about as adorable as they are effective. The US “Beagle Brigade” utilize their incredibly acute sense of smell to uncover threats that not even the most sensitive scientific equipment can detect. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) uses …
USDA’s “Beagle Brigade” is America’s First Line of Defense Against Agricultural Threats Read More »
University of Illinois scientists have uncovered a somewhat terrifying skill possessed by some of agriculture’s most troublesome weed species – some strains of waterhemp are resistant to chemicals that have never even been applied to crops. In a recent study, researchers examined how multiple-resistant waterhemp found in Illinois detoxifies chemicals designed to kill it by …
NEW Research Indicates Waterhemp is Outpacing Herbicides Read More »
The U.S. Department of Energy earlier this summer announced plans to award $59 million in funding to help accelerate the production of biofuels and bioproducts. The so-called “Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries” funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is intended to leverage the applied research, development, and deployment expertise of the DOE in order to cut costs and …
How the DOE is Helping to Ramp Up U.S. Biofuel Production Read More »
Cell-based meat – meaning products grown from animal cells rather than slaughtered – is a concept that has been possible for going on at least a decade now, yet has remained mostly unviable due to the exorbitant production costs. Cell-based chicken and seafood makers have made tremendous strides in that regard but beef has proven …
NEW Breakthrough with CRISPR Technology Makes Cell-Based Beef 1,000 Times Cheaper Read More »
Abnormally high temperatures and insufficient moisture is creating the perfect “flash drought” conditions across key US growing regions. Flash droughts, unlike conventional droughts, have an extremely rapid onset, developing as fast as just 5 days in some instances. They are also extremely hard to predict and pinpoint with any sort of consistent accuracy but scientists …
Flash Droughts Brewing as US Crops Face Scorching Heat and Not Enough Rain Read More »
There’s an old saying in the business of wheat seed geneticists, “wheat that’s better bred makes better bread”. It turns out it could also make producers more money! Members of a dedicated “Wheat Improvement Team” at Oklahoma State University have spent years researching how to develop higher-quality wheat varieties. Oklahoma State University wheat genetics chair …
