Tag: agriculture
-
Biotech Company, Universities Produce Artificial Spider Silk
A joint R&D project by University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, University of Wyoming in Laramie, and Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. in Lansing, Michigan has succeeded in producing transgenic (genetically engineered) silkworms capable of spinning artificial spider silks. Natural spider silks have a number of unusual physical properties, including higher tensile strength and…
-
Technique Revealed to Curb Farm Ammonia Emissions
A soil scientist and engineer team at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has found a way for dairy farmers to reduce ammonia emissions from their production facilities: injecting liquid manure into crop fields below the soil surface. A study conducted by soil scientist April Leytem and agricultural engineer David Bjorneberg at the ARS Northwest…
-
Researchers Getting Genetic Help for Biofuel Production
Researchers from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Cargill are examining genetic materials from a cow’s digestive system to help break down plant fibers for conversion into biofuel. To convert corn stover and switchgrass into biofuel, the plant fibers must first be broken down into sugars. But cell wall polymers are cross-linked in various ways that…
-
Dow, Wageningen to Collaborate on Potato Genome
Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Plant Sciences Group of Wageningen UR (University and Research Center) in Wageningen, the Netherlands agreed to study how a technology developed by Dow can improve the starch quality of potatoes, a food and industrial crop. Dow’s process, called EXZACT Precision Technology, provides…
-
Government-Industry-Academic Team Sequences Cacao Genome
Researchers from government, industry, and academia announced early results of a project that sequenced the genome of the cacao tree, which grows in the tropics and produces crops that are processed into cocoa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that released the findings, says they will help sustain the supply of high-quality cocoa to the…
-
Genomic Map Developed for Domesticated Turkey
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and colleagues from universities, research institutes, industry, and other agencies have sequenced the majority of the genome of Meleagris gallopavo, the domesticated turkey, creating the first-ever turkey genome map. The nearly complete map could help growers to more efficiently produce bigger, meatier turkeys. The research is reported…
-
Making Corn-based Plastics More Heat Tolerant
Petroleum is not only the main source of transportation fuel but also a key raw material in making plastics. A team from Lapol LLC, of Santa Barbara, California and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of USDA are working on a solution to make corn-based plastics a better alternative than plastics made from oil. An important…
-
USDA Research Leads to Commercial Stinging Insect Trap
Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets will spoil any summer barbeque or picnic, but they also pose a serious threat to agriculture field workers, particularly at harvest time. Research by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has led to development of a trap that protects picnickers…