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Welcome to the
Photos
About Us
Listen to the Show
Station Affiliates
Agri Stats & Facts
More Link
FARM SPECIALS
CALIFORNIA
FARM BUREAU http://www.cfbf.com
ARIZONA
FARM BUREAU
http://www.azfb.org
TEXAS
FARM BUREAU http://www.txfb.org
BSE
INFO CENTERwww.bseinfo.org AVIAN INFLUENZA HOT LINE:
http://www.pandemicflu.gov
www.foodchainradio.com
Dangerous
Citrus Pest Discovered in California
www.californiacitrusthreat.org
www.dairyline.com/WUD/update.pdf
EMERGING LETTUCE PLANTS ARE THINNED TO
EIGHT INCHES APART. CULLED PLANTS
LEFT IN THE FURROW .
TODAY'S UP-DATED AG NEWS
“Industry
Presenting Standardized COOL Affidavit to USDA’s Knight”
Representatives
of the livestock and meat industries will meet with USDA Under
Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight today
(Friday) to present an industry-wide affidavit for country-of-origin
labeling. An industry-wide coalition of 70 representatives from over
30 industry groups worked to develop the standardized affidavit to
declare country of origin of livestock throughout the marketing chain.
The
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association was part of the coalition.
NCBA President Andy Groseta (GROW-set-uh) says the goal was to create
a simple, efficient and effective means of declaring livestock origin
from conception to consumer. The affidavit they came up with - he says
- does just that. He says producers can fill in information specific
to their cattle and assert the origin of any animal being sold. The
livestock marketers can use individual affidavits to create one
combined affidavit for a group of animals.
According
to Groseta - representatives from every point in the supply chain
unanimously agreed to use the standardized affidavit. He says that
will greatly ease the burden mandatory COOL places on producers.
[For
a look at the affidavit click here]
Global
Update...Click Here
USGC
Board Member Assures End-Users U.S. Farmers Will Meet Demand
-
USGC Spearheads Libya’s First DDGS Imports
U.S. Set to Export More DDGS to Vietnam
Ag Exports U.S. Economy’s Standout Performer
Taiwan Offers Template for U.S. Grain Markets in Asia
Hurricane Gustav Disrupts Grain Export Flow, Not for Long
Change in Taiwan’s Import Regs a Win For U.S. Corn Growers
Hamamoto Visits USGC Headquarters Office
New Member
Register for the International Distillers Grains Conference
and Trade Show
Council Activity Calendar
“ASA
Outlines Priorities for Bioenergy Program for Biodiesel”
The
American Soybean Association is urging USDA to move expeditiously to
implement the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels included in the
2008 Farm Bill. Kansas soybean producer and ASA board member Bob Henry
testified at a Rural Development and Rural Business-Cooperative
Service public meting in Washington, D.C. Thursday to outline ASA’s
priorities for the program for biodiesel. He says it’s important
that the program support current domestic biodiesel production - but
says it could also provide the support needed to make U.S. biodiesel
more competitive and protect domestic production. ASA would like to
see U.S. biodiesel producers receive payments in fiscal year 2009 and
wants to ensure those payments are provided on all gallons of
domestically produced biodiesel.
News
from the Federation of State Beef Councils
$1.18
million presented to state beef councils since 2006
CENTENNIAL,
Colo.
(Sept. 4, 2008) – The Federation of State Beef
Councils (FSBC) has awarded 12 new grants through its Federation
Initiative Fund to help underwrite beef promotions in states with high
human populations but low cattle numbers and, therefore, limited beef
checkoff collections.
Grants totaling
just over $172,000 were awarded to state beef councils who will
execute one or more targeted beef promotions in
Michigan
,
New York
,
Florida
,
Georgia
,
Hawaii
,
Ohio
,
Indiana
,
Pennsylvania
and
Vermont
. The projects range from foodservice training, retail promotions and
product sampling to a K-12 health education program designed to reach
at least 350,000 teachers, students and parents. More........
Brigade®
WSB insecticide from FMC
“Disease-Free
Status for Brucellosis Lost in Montana, At Risk in Wyoming”
Earlier
this year - USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
announced the U.S. was brucellosis free in livestock for the first
time since 1934. But now Montana has lost its federal disease-free
status for the disease. As a result - all cattle being shipped out of
state must be tested. That’s expected to cost Montana ranchers six
to 12-million dollars.
The
state will have to wait until May of 2009 - a year after the most
recent case of brucellosis - to request reinstatement of the
disease-free status. To regain that status - state officials will
expand cattle vaccinations and find ways to keep cattle from
interacting with wildlife that carry the disease. Federal DNA testing
points to wildlife as the source of the most recent infection - with
elk the most likely culprit. An earlier infection - detected in May of
2007 - was the state’s first since 1985.
Wyoming
is also at risk of losing its disease-free status. An infection was
discovered in that state in June. Officials in Wyoming and Montana
have complained federal brucellosis regulations are too rigid and do
not account for the unique situation of the disease in Yellowstone
National Park’s wildlife. But according to USDA - the spread of the
disease to
“Nearly
$20M in Value-Added Grants Awarded”
USDA
has selected 144 businesses and producers in 37 states and Puerto Rico
to receive 19.7-million dollars in value-added grants. U.S. Ag
Secretary Ed Schafer says the grants will improve financial returns
and help create jobs for ag producers, businesses and families
throughout rural America. He says the funds will also provide for the
further development of renewable energy sources.
Value-Added
Producer Grants are provided by Rural Development and can be used for
feasibility studies or business plans - working capital for marketing
value-added agricultural products - those products that increase the
consumer value of an ag commodity in production or processing - and
for farm-based renewable energy projects.
This
latest round of funding will help businesses and producers assess the
feasibility of marketing ethanol and biodiesel, cooking oil, wind and
other types of renewable energy. Several non-energy business ventures
are also receiving funding.
MOVENTO 240SC Insecticide
“DNA-Traced
Beef Coming Soon?”
The
battle over voluntary BSE testing is now over - with a federal appeals
court recently ruling USDA can stop meat packers from testing cattle
for the disease. The former CEO of Creekstone Farms - the company at
the center of that controversy - says voluntary testing would have
been a milestone. But John Stewart says there’s another way for U.S.
beef exporters to regain their customers in Korea and Japan: DNA-based
traceability.
Stewart
is now Chief Executive of Nature’s Premium Brand and champions
DNA-traceable pork. He says DNA traceback on beef would be of interest
to Asia. In fact - he says with that technology - he could probably
sell all of his production to Korea and Japan.
Stewart
believes someone will step up in the near future - saying there’s a
high likelihood DNA traceback on beef could happen within the next
year.
“USDA
to Tour Minnesota with Foreign Ag Officials”
USDA
is hosting 33 foreign agricultural officials from 29 countries in
Minnesota this coming week (September 7-13). The visit is part of an
annual orientation tour USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service sponsors
to promote American agriculture and expand global markets for U.S.
farm and food products.
FAS
Administrator Mike Yost says this year’s tour will provide foreign
officials with a first-hand look at General Mills and Cargill - the
Minneapolis Grain Exchange - a corn ethanol plant - a litter-fueled
power plant - a sugar beet cooperative - and the agriculture
department at the University of Minnesota.
According
to USDA - Minnesota food and agricultural exports totaled 3.6-billion
dollars last year - ranking seventh among the 50 states. Those exports
supported 35-thousand American jobs. Corn, hogs, soybeans, dairy
products, cattle and calves are the state’s leading commodities -
with the value of farm receipts for these products totaling
9.8-billion dollars in 2006.
United
States Department of Agriculture
National
Agricultural Statistics Service
2008
California Walnut
Objective
Measurement Report
Cooperating
with the California Department of Food and Agriculture
California
Field Office · P.O. Box 1258 · Sacramento, CA 95812 · (916)
498-5161 · (916) 498-5186 Fax · www.nass.usda.gov/ca.
for more, click here
“In
Response to Consumer Unrest, Companies Say No to Clones”
Smithfield
Foods is one of 20 companies pledging not to use milk or meat from
cloned livestock. The pledge is a response to a survey conduced by the
consumer group Center for Food Safety. Polls are showing most
consumers are not comfortable with the idea of eating products from
cloned livestock. A spokesperson for Kraft says the food company has
informed suppliers it will only accept ingredients from conventional
animals - citing surveys that indicate consumers aren’t receptive to
ingredients from cloned animals.
Wal-Mart
and Tyson are also banning the use of cloned animals in food products.
But the pledge does not apply to products from the offspring of
clones. The Center for Food Safety says 8 companies have said they
won’t knowingly use food from clones’ offspring.
The
Center’s survey comes after the Food and Drug Administration denied
its petition asking for mandatory labeling of clones and their
offspring - as well as the regulation of animal cloning as a new
animal drug. That was in January - shortly after FDA ruled products
from cloned cattle, swine, goats and their offspring are safe
Cutout
Prices Underscore Positive Impact of Recent Pork, Beef Export
Success
While
pork and beef cutout prices have fallen back from peak levels reached
earlier this summer, both remain well above the price level of one
year ago. Record-high pork exports and surging beef exports appear to
be important factors supporting these cutout prices, says USMEF
Manager of Research and Analysis Erin Daley.
“When
you look at the cutout cut by cut, it reveals a strong trend,” Daley
said. “Pork and beef cuts typically bound for overseas markets are
showing excellent strength compared to cuts that primarily sell in our
domestic market.”
Over the
past week, the pork cutout has averaged about $80 – down from a
mid-August record high of nearly $95, but still well above the $69
level posted at this time last year. This comes as especially welcome
news to the U.S. pork industry, where many analysts had expected high
production levels – about 9 percent above 2007 – to exert severely
negative price pressure on the pork cutout.
Read
More.......
THE AG WEEK IN
REVIEW..CLICK
HERE
“Farmers
and Ranchers Ready to ‘Fly-In’ to D.C.”
More
than 150 family farmer and rancher-members of National Farmers Union
will walk the halls of Congress next week. The group’s annual Fall
Fly-In gets underway Monday and continues through Wednesday. NFU
President Tom Buis (BUY-us) says there’s nothing more effective than
sharing a personal story, face-to-face with policy makers. And
that’s exactly what Fly-In participants will do - delivering the
concerns of rural America directly to the lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
This
year’s Fly-In is focused on five priorities. NFU says those include
ensuring the 2008 Farm Bill is implemented as Congress intended -
expressing the important role agriculture can play in addressing
climate change - increasing the use and production of fuels from the
farm and setting the record straight on the food versus fuel myth -
trade - and healthcare.
THIS WEEK'S AG
CAREERS AND AG JOBS......................
http://www.agcareers.com/newsletter/agcareers_weekly.htm
Assistance
Mobilized for Gustav is Prepared for Continuing Storms
With USDA already in high
gear, they are ready for more storms that are on the way.
Pork
Board Names New CEO
Novak tapped to lead
organization.
Republican
Platform Calls for End to Ethanol Mandates
Livestock associations
played a big role in policy decision.
FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 5, 2008
Television’s
first daily hour-long newscast was seen for the first time on this
date 25 years ago — “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” on the Public
Broadcasting Service. The program began as a half-hour newscast in
1976, featuring Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, who retired in 1995.
Among its regular reporters are Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff. Through
the years, the program has been praised for its depth and objectivity.
PBS began broadcasting in 1970 and now has about 350 stations. Across
the U.S., there are 1,750 television stations.
U. S. Census Bureau
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Support U.S. Agriculture!!!!!!
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RESEARCH IN AGRICULTURE REPORTS
Molds coaxed by ARS researchers that produce micorsclerotia–tight
bundles of pigmented fibers–may be the genesis of new
insecticides. Click the image for more information about
it.
New Fungal Finding
Could Mean Better Bio-Insecticide
A method of
culturing the beneficial fungus Metarhizium anisopliae so
that it churns out billions of tightly bundled cells, called "microsclerotia,"
could mean even more moldy mayhem for soft-bodied ticks, termites and
crop pests including sugar beet root maggots.
Until 2004, Metarhizium
wasn't known to produce the microsclerotia--among the toughest forms
this fungus can take to tolerate adverse conditions. Indeed, only
plant-disease fungi were thought to produce these sturdy cells. But
now that the "secret" is out, Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists aim to exploit the information
to develop new, improved bio-insecticide formulations containing the
fungus.
For more than a
decade, bio-insecticide makers have formulated Metarhizium
using conidia or other spore forms. But mass-producing them has been
time-consuming and labor-intensive. Conidia-based formulations have
also suffered from poor shelf life and field survival once applied,
according to microbiologist Mark
Jackson. He works at the ARS National
Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill.
Jackson's studies
with ARS entomologist Stefan
Jaronksi show that using microsclerotia instead of conidia can cut
the costs and time involved in formulating the fungus and can
significantly improve its shelf life and pest-fighting performance.
For example, in
studies led by Jaronski at the ARS Pest
Management Research Unit in Sidney, Mont., conidia-only granules
of Metarhizium germinated seven to 10 days after being
applied, versus four days with microsclerotia-based formulations. The
scientists were also able to produce the microsclerotia in four days,
compared to two weeks for conidia. And during 2007 field trials, sugar
beet root maggots inflicted far less feeding damage to microsclerotia-treated
beets than to ones treated only with conidia.
Another advantage,
according to Jaronski, is that the microsclerotia can be formulated
into granules and sized more easily than other spore forms. This
should make the microsclerotia more compatible with farmers' seed
planters and pesticide granulate applicators.
The fungus infects
and kills only certain insect hosts, and is never harmful to people,
pets or livestock.
ARS is a scientific
research agency of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
Fungal
foam targets termites inside trees
Friendly
fungus could help sugar beet fields go "green"
Scientists
mobilize fungus to fight hydrilla
Rolling machines designed by ARS researchers may be
the fastest way for farmers to prepare fields with
cover crops for planting. Click the image for
more information about it.
Managing Cover Crops
with Rolling and Crimping Techniques
Rolling hay, rye and
other cover crops could be the fastest way for some farmers
to prepare their fields for planting. That's thanks to
rolling machines--developed by Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists--that can quickly
flatten mature, high-biomass cover crops such as rye.
Each roller consists of
a long cylinder adorned with a series of thick, blunt, steel
crimping bars, each about one-quarter-inch thick. As a
standard tractor pulls the roller over the field, pressure
from the bars flattens and damages the cover crop without
cutting or uprooting it. Within three weeks, the rolled
cover crop dries out, forming a mat of dead biomass into
which farmers can plant cash crops.
Since 2001, ARS has
been conducting research to find the best crimping roller
design for conditions in the southeastern United States, and
the benefits from this research are gaining recognition.
ARS scientists Ted
Kornecki and Randy
Raper and their colleagues at the agency's National
Soil Dynamics Laboratory (NSDL) in Auburn, Ala.,
compared three different roller designs. The first roller
has a traditional design with long, straight, horizontal
bars. The second has diagonal bars that curve around the
roller. The third has a smooth drum attached to a crimping
bar that mashes the rye as the machine moves forward.
NSDL scientists, who
developed the curved-bar and crimping roller designs, found
that all three models killed enough rye--90 percent or
more--to enable farmers to begin planting cash crops in the
field within three weeks. The crimping-bar roller yielded
the best results.
The scientists also
found that the curved-bar and the crimping rollers provided
smoother rides than the traditional straight-bar roller.
Future studies will help scientists maximize the efficiency
and comfort of these machines.
The one-pass process
saves money, reduces soil erosion and runoff, helps control
weeds, conserves water in the soil and decreases or
eliminates the need for herbicides.
ARS is a scientific
research agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Researchers
roll out the rye to reign in weeds
Conservation
tillage has immediate benefits
Lower
CO2 loss in fall tillage
Invasive Australian Pine, Casuarina equisetifolia. Photo
courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey,
Bugwood.org.
ARS Researchers
Search for Casuarina Biological Control Agents
Australia's Outback
and remote coastlines are home to insects that could be key
biocontrols for a highly invasive weed threatening coastal areas of
the United States, according to Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators.
ARS entomologist Greg
Wheeler and his ARS and university colleagues are touring the
Outback and Australia's coastal areas in search of biological control
agents for the highly invasive Casuarina species commonly
called Australian pine.
This weed is
infiltrating U.S. coastal areas, especially in south Florida, the
Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Known for its rapid growth and
dense coverage, Australian pine inhibits the growth of native plants.
The Australian pine
problem includes three Casuarina species--C.
equisetifolia (referred to in Australia as “coastal
she-oak”), C. glauca (“swamp she-oak,” and arguably as
big or a bigger problem than C. equisetifolia) and C.
cunninghamiana (“river she-oak”).
In the past few
years, the Australian members of the team--Matthew Purcell and Bradley
Brown, researchers at the ARS Australian
Biological Control Laboratory in Indooroopilly, Queensland, and
Gary Taylor from the University
of Adelaide, Australia--conducted five separate trips throughout
Australia. Purcell, Brown, Taylor and John
Gaskin, research leader of the ARS Pest
Management Research Unit in Sidney, Mont., collectively comprise a
Casuarina research team.
Wheeler served as
the lead scientist for the project, coordinating the funding, surveys
and plant-DNA testing. From a bounty of some 300 wasps, weevils,
stem-borers, sap-suckers, seed-eaters and more, the scientists have
narrowed the field of potential control agents to about 12 candidates.
Not only do these
top candidates attack C. equisetifolia, but many also attack C.
glauca and C. cunninghamiana. Among the top finds were
the seed-feeding wasp Bootanelleus orientalis, which is
host-specific to Australian pine, and the defoliator moth Zauclophora
pelodes.
These insects are
still undergoing testing by Purcell and colleagues in Australia to
determine their suitability for use as biological control agents in
the United States. Insects that decrease Casuarina reproduction and
spread are being given the most attention.
ARS is a scientific
research agency of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
Foreign
herbivores may be key to curbing invasive weeds
Alternate
methods of whitefly control
Groundbreaking
for new biological control lab
Mexican fruit flies are just one of the species in the order
Diptera, one of the four largest groups of living organisms on
Earth. Click the image for more information about it.
Database Documents
Names for More Than 150,000 Diptera Species
By Ann
Perry
August 29, 2008
Distinguishing
between insect pests and partners starts with an ironclad
identification. So Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) entomologist Chris
Thompson headed up efforts to accurately identify and name almost
157,000 flies, gnats, maggots, midges, mosquitoes and related species
in the order Diptera.
Diptera is one of
the four largest groups of living organisms on Earth, and its members
are critical components in virtually all non-marine ecosystems. Carl
Linnaeus, who devised the scientific classification system still in
use today, compiled the first index of Diptera species names in 1758.
But even though an average of 800 new Diptera names are proposed every
year, the nomenclature has not been comprehensively updated since
1805.
Thompson works at
the ARS
Systematic Entomology Laboratory in Washington, D.C. For this
research, he partnered with Neal Evenhuis, an entomologist at the Bishop
Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii; Thomas Pape, an entomologist at the Natural
History Museum of Denmark; and Adrian Pont, an entomologist at the
Oxford University Museum of Natural
History in Oxford, England.
The group assembled
the tenth edition of the Biosystematic Database of World Diptera (BDWD).
This massive index contains nomenclature data for 156,599 living and
extinct Diptera species in 154 families and 11,671 genera—around 10
percent of the known biodiversity in the world today.
The BDWD, which is
available at www.diptera.org, has
two components. The Nomenclator allows users to check names, confirm
species status, and obtain information about type, family
classification and sources for all names in the collection. The
Species database is being designed to answer queries about different
species, including their distribution, biological associates and
economic importance.
The BDWD provides a
framework for organizing and integrating current and future data that
is accessible by researchers around the globe. Scientists can obtain a
wealth of information that will help them fine-tune Diptera’s
evolutionary tree and track the migration, increase and decline of
economically-important Diptera species worldwide.
The team presented
their research at the 20th International Congress of Zoology in Paris,
France, in August.
ARS is a scientific
research agency of the
.
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Fruit
fly diversity is in the details
Fruit
fly study provides insight into bee immune system
Virulent
hessian flies renew attack on U.S. wheat
Monitoring carbon dioxide—along with the standard
humidity and temperature—may help detect insect
and mold problems more effectively. Photo
courtesy of Microsoft Clipart.
Newly
renovated ARS grain research center dedicated
ARS-adapted
grain sorter sees fungal poisons under "new
light"
Optical
sensors help farmers find high-quality wheat
Grain Moisture
Measurements May Divert Mold, Insect Infestation
Grain storage bins are
routinely monitored for temperature to control insect and
mold problems. Now an Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientist and his colleagues at Kansas
State University (KSU) have preliminary research
findings showing that monitoring carbon dioxide--along with
humidity and temperature--also may help detect problems more
effectively.
Grain moisture content
and temperature are the primary factors affecting grain
deterioration in storage. If these factors are not properly
monitored and controlled, grain quality can deteriorate
quickly due to mold growth and insect infestation.
ARS engineer Paul
Armstrong at the agency's Grain
and Marketing and Production Research Center in
Manhattan, Kan., and Haidee Gonzales and Ronaldo Maghirang
at KSU monitored a simulated grain storage bin during
aeration to determine if high-moisture grain, or adverse
storage conditions, in the bin top could be detected using
sensors to measure relative humidity, temperature and carbon
dioxide levels.
Relative humidity and
temperature can be used to estimate grain moisture, while
carbon dioxide levels indicate the amount of respiration
due, primarily, to molds. Current technology allows relative
humidity and temperature sensors to be placed at multiple
points within the grain mass. Carbon dioxide sensing is more
feasible at an aeration duct.
In the study, sensors
were placed at different depths in the bin. High-moisture
grain-- comprising about 11 percent of the volume--was
placed at the top of the bin and produced high amounts of
carbon dioxide, which in most cases was easily detectable
during aeration.
Lowering grain
temperature with aeration diminished the amount of carbon
dioxide produced, making it more difficult to detect unless
the carbon dioxide sensor was located very close to the wet
grain.
Relative humidity and
temperature sensing gave good estimates of grain moisture
for all conditions, but under some grain conditions, high
carbon dioxide levels persisted for grain considered to be
at safe moisture and temperature conditions. Combining
relative humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide
measurements gave reasonably accurate measurements of grain
moisture content as well as overall storage conditions.
ARS is the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's scientific research agency.
A new device can more accurately and precisely
measure total body fat, lean tissue mass, free water
mass and total body water in piglets and may have
future applications for human pediatric use. Click
the image for more information about it.
Scientists
study excess fat in chickens
Pig
gene database supports human nutrition, immunity
studies
DXA
measures meat, fat composition in pork
ARS Scientists Test
MRI Device to Measure Body Fat in Piglets
A new magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI)-based device--more advanced than the
technology used today for body composition tests--can
accurately and precisely measure total body fat in piglets
using the principles of quantitative magnetic resonance (QMR),
according to Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists who evaluated the new
technology.
The new device,
called EchoMRI, was tested by ARS researchers to measure not
only total body fat, but lean tissue mass, free water mass
and total body water in piglets. The research was done under
a grant from the National
Institutes of Health, which wants to know if the new
technology could have future applications for human
pediatric use.
Standard MRI systems
are commonly used to scan and visualize tissue in humans.
However, when used for body composition analysis, imaging
systems are subject to substantial error rates caused by the
interpretation of visual images using software that relies
on population averages.
EchoMRI uses a new
type of QMR methodology to obtain body composition results.
Its measurement principle depends on the density of hydrogen
nuclei and the physical state of the tissue.
ARS animal scientist
Alva
Mitchell at the Animal
Biosciences and Biotechnology Laboratory in Beltsville,
Md., tested the device, developed by Echo
Medical Systems, to determine EchoMRI's precision and
accuracy in piglets as compared to dual x-ray (DXA)
technology and chemical analysis.
Twenty-five piglets,
each weighing between 3.5 pounds and 8 pounds, were screened
live, anesthetized, and post-mortem, using a prototype
EchoMRI device for infants. The piglets were also scanned
using DXA and then subjected to chemical analysis.
After DXA scans,
EchoMRI screenings, and chemical analyses were completed,
EchoMRI was found to be a precise and accurate method
suitable for measuring piglet whole body composition, total
body fat, lean tissue mass, free water mass, and total body
water. While these studies were conducted on piglets,
EchoMRI may be transferable to market-weight pigs.
EchoMRI allows for
measurements to be conducted in only a few minutes without
anesthesia or sedation, is radiation-free, and does not
require the subject to remain completely motionless. This
facilitates convenient, low-stress repeated tracking of
small changes in body composition and can be advantageous to
researchers to optimize feed utilization. It could also help
researchers identify high-value hogs for breeding.
ARS is a scientific
research agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Genetic fingerprints, now being developed for the 2,800 wild,
rare and domesticated grapes in ARS's northern California
genebank, will help grape breeders pinpoint unusual
characteristics. Click the image for more information about
it.
“Fingerprinting”
Helps Make Great Grapes
At about this time
next year, nearly all of the 2,800 wild, rare and domesticated grapes
in a unique northern California genebank will have had their
"genetic profile" or “fingerprint” taken. These
fingerprints may help grape breeders pinpoint plants in the collection
that have unusual traits--ones that might appeal to shoppers in
tomorrow's supermarkets. Other grapes might be ideal for scientists
who are doing basic research.
That’s according
to Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) plant geneticist Mallikarjuna
Aradhya. He's heading the grape fingerprinting venture.
The grape collection
that Aradhya is fingerprinting encompasses vineyards and screened
enclosures, called “screenhouses." It is part of what’s
officially known as the ARS National
Clonal Germplasm Repository for Tree Fruit and Nut Crops and Grapes,
in Davis, Calif.
To glean a
distinctive genetic fingerprint of each member of the collection,
Aradhya uses pieces of genetic material--or DNA--known as
microsatellite markers. Eight markers are all that are needed for a
genetic fingerprint of more familiar grapes, like close relatives of
those already used for making wine or raisins or for eating
out-of-hand.
But the lesser-known
ones--wild grapes and some prized types from China, for
instance--require twice as many markers for reliable identification.
That’s due, in part, to the fact that the taxonomy, or relatedness
of one kind of grape to another, is quite jumbled, Aradhya noted.
He has already
fingerprinted 1,100 better-known grapes and 300 wild specimens.
ARS is a scientific
research agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Autumn
King seedless grapes: Big and luscious!
Thomcord
grape: Flavorful, attractive—and seedless!
Sweet
Scarlet grape: New variety readied for growers
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