Agriculture Commons^™

Interview With Justin Davidson, Candy Lane Elementary, 2013 (Audio), Justin Davidson

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Justin Davidson by Nicole Bull at Candy Lane Elementary in Milwaukie, Oregon on May 15th, 2013.

The interview index is available for download.

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 14, 2013, Rich Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 14, 2013 (5/14/13) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Interview With Kristine Garnero Obbink, Portland Public School, 2013 (Audio), Kristine Garnero Obbink

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Kristine Garnero Obbink by Loraine Decker at 705 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, Oregon on May 14th, 2013.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Julie Corpron, Raleigh Park Elementary Garden, 2013 (Audio), Julie Corpron

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Julie Corpron by Margret Harburg May 14th, 2013.

The interview index is available for download.

Three Essays On Renewable Energy, Kepifri Alpha Lakoh

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation studies three main issues related to renewable energy in the United States and in Sub Sahara Africa.

The first chapter seeks to provide answers to a very fundamental question for second generation biofuels: “How much crop residue can farmers harvest from their fields for sale to cellulosic ethanol companies without affecting current levels of production?” The model developed is applied to 101 counties from four Midwestern states in the United States (Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming). Results show that soil organic matter significantly contributes to explaining changes in technical efficiency and total factor productivity. Furthermore, average crop …

Animal Housing Legislation, Kelli Kirtley

Student Papers in Public Policy

Legislation relating to animal housing has been a recent topic of interest in the policy arena. Relatively speaking, it is considered a novel issue; however, this legislation has existed for several years. It is only recently that public outcry has turned the attention of policymakers to confined animal housing.

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 7, 2013, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 7, 2013 (5/7/13) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Occurrence Of Meloidogyne Fallax In North America, And Molecular Characterization Of M. Fallax And M. Minor From U.S. Golf Course Greens, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

Eastern Kentucky Farmer's Willingness To Grow Biomass For Emergy Production, Austin P. Jacobs

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Austin P. Jacobs in May of 2013.

A Board Game Simulator For Promoting System Thinking For Sustainable Pastoralism Among Maasai In Southern Kenya, Jacob Loorimirim Mayiani

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

A culturally-anchored board game simulator named ERAMAT! was created in cooperation with faculty members and members of the Maasai community and then piloted with US students and members of Maasai communities in southern Kenya during the summer of 2012. The game provides an alternative to a computer-based simulator, and hence provides a culturally credible simulation of the system dynamics associated with an accelerating boom/bust cycle of drought and hunger in the region. Factors driving the phenomena include greatly increased population densities, pastoralist cultural values, evolving pastoral practices, the ebb and flow of the semi-arid environment in which Maasai pastoralists live, …

Cited For More Than 60 Years Of Flavor Research, Dennis O’Brien

Agricultural Research Magazine

It’s a unique scientific niche that touches the lives of everyone.

Flavor chemistry is one of several areas of research conducted at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in Albany, California. The WRRC’s achievements in flavor chemistry have earned it the distinction of being named a 2013 National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The ACS is the world’s largest society of chemists, and its prestigious National Historic Chemical Landmarks program grants landmark status to seminal achievements in the history of chemical science in the United States that have had a significant impact on …

Providing More—And Better—Food By 2050, John W. Finley

Agricultural Research Magazine

The world in 2050 is predicted to have 9 billion people, who will differ in almost every way but one: They will all need to eat on a daily basis.

Their nutritional needs will be similar, too. Nutrition means eating, eating means food, and food means agriculture. Many people speak of the increased food needed for 9 billion, but in reality, the increased need is for nutrition. Thus, the world of 2050 will force a melding of two disciplines that have diverged in recent years—agriculture and nutrition.

We need to change our focus. We need sustainable nutrition as much as …

May/June 2013- Locations Featured In This Magazine Issue

Agricultural Research Magazine

The Agricultural Research Service has about 100 labs all over the country.

Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Albany, California 9 research units ■ 230 employees

Pullman, Washington 6 research units ■ 136 employees

Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit, Aberdeen, Idaho 1 research unit ■ 57 employees

U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, Dubois, Idaho 1 research unit ■ 10 employees

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska 6 research units ■ 117 employees

Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota 2 research units ■ 51 employees

Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas …

Agricultural Research Magazine, May-June 2013

Agricultural Research Magazine

Table of Contents

4 Olives! Scientists Take a New Look at an Ancient Crop

8 Getting Hooked on Farmed Salmon: A Good Source of Omega-3s

10 Nematode-Filled Capsules Tested Against Corn Rootworms

12 Viral Infection in Sheep Linked to Gene

14 Cited for More Than 60 Years of Flavor Research

17 Dogs, Pine Trees, and Carbs: Studies Lead to New Pet- Food Ingredient

18 Nourishing America’s Preemies: Scientists Confront the Challenges of IV Feeding

20 Mapping the Way to Even Healthier Rice

22 New Bioenergy Yeast Is an Overachiever

23 Locations Featured in This Magazine Issue

Olives! Scientists Take A New Look At An Ancient Crop, Talwinder S. Kahlon, Jiann-Tsyh Lin, Rebecca R. Milczarek, Mendel Friedman, Marcia Wood

Agricultural Research Magazine

Though the price makes you wince, you might just buy that bottle of your favorite olive oil anyway. Perhaps it’s exactly what you want for the salad dressing you’re making tonight and for your special stir-fry on the weekend. But are you really getting what you paid for?

A bottle proclaiming that it is olive oil might actually include another, lessexpensive vegetable oil derived from, for example, safflower or canola. Mislabeling is of concern not just to shoppers, retailers, and chefs, but also to America’s olive growers, olive oil processors, and more—especially those newly entering the U.S. olive oil market. …

Mapping The Way To Even Healthier Rice, Shannon Pinson, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

With the aid of high-tech tools, Agricultural Research Service and collaborating scientists are closing in on the genes in rice that regulate the uptake and storage of important minerals—a pursuit that could bolster the nutritional value of this cereal grain crop as a staple food for roughly half the world’s population.

Ultimately, the team envisions biofortifying rice using traditional plant breeding methods to develop new varieties whose kernels (grain) boast exceptionally high concentrations of essential minerals, including zinc, iron, and calcium.

Rice is a mainstay of the human diet for good reason. It is a rich source of energy, free …

Nematode-Filled Capsules Tested Against Corn Rootworms, Jan Suszkiw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Each spring, the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera) awakens from its winter slumber to wreak havoc on corn crops across the United States. The pest emerges in larval form, hatching from small white eggs deposited beneath the soil and causing significant feeding damage to the grain crop’s roots. The toll on U.S. farmers: an estimated $1-2 billion annually in yield losses and chemical control.

European growers face a similar threat from the pest, which was first reported in a corn field near the Belgrade international airport in Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) in 1992, but is presumed to have arrived …

Getting Hooked On Farmed Salmon: A Good Source Of Omega-3s, Susan Raatz, Matthew Picklo, William Wolters, Rosalie Marion Bliss

Agricultural Research Magazine

Nearly 85 percent of seafood enjoyed by U.S. consumers is imported, and almost half of that is farm raised through a process called “aquaculture,” according to the National Aquaculture Association, based in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. In 2011, the United States imported $16.6 billion of seafood and exported $5.4 billion, a difference of $11.2 billion.

As the world’s population grows and demand for seafood increases, many seafood species are overfished or fully exploited. That means the world’s oceans cannot turn out more fish than are currently being produced. As the ceiling is being reached on seafood availability from the wild, U.S. …

New Bioenergy Yeast Is An Overachiever, Zonglin Lewis Liu, Ann Perry

Agricultural Research Magazine

There's a lot that can be done with a corn cob after the kernels have been removed. Farmers leave the cobs on the field to boost soil quality. Enterprising cooks use the cobs to make jelly. In China, the sugar xylose is extracted from the cob for industrial uses.

Liu worked with technician Scott Weber and supervisory microbiologist Michael Cotta on this project. All three researchers are in the Bioenergy Research Unit at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois.

The team started the project with a strain of yeast that had been identified in earlier studies …

An Educational Video And Research Experiment On The Longevity Of Chicken Eggs, Kyle Patrick Mcdonald

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create a video designed to educate the public about chicken egg storage and refrigeration. The information in the video was based on a research experiment performed by the author, which was designed to measure the chronological decline of internal egg quality over a ten-week period. By creating an educational video about the longevity of chicken eggs, it is hoped that consumers will learn to keep their eggs past their sell-by dates. This project includes an educational video as well as an outline for a research project.