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 CELERY HARVEST IS UNIQUE

With hand cart nearby, workers pull empty boxes off the cart, and fill them with cuttings  left

on the celery bed.  Boxes are left in the rows, and picked up by a towed wagon

 

“High Level Meetings on Climate Bill Held”

On Tuesday, a bipartisan trio of Senators working on writing a climate bill meet with the heads of trade groups whose industries would be affected profoundly by any new law regulating carbon emissions. Senators John Kerry, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham met with leaders of the American Petroleum Institute and the Edison Electric Institute, and a representative of the Portland Cement Association, among others.

Later, President Obama called a bipartisan group of 14 Senators to the White House to discuss the issues.  Kerry, Lieberman and Graham were included in that meeting. Others are viewed as being crucial swing votes on a Senate climate bill.

Under a - sector by sector - approach, electric utilities and manufacturing would be subject to separate caps, while carbon-based fuels would be subject to a new tax. This approach appears to be winning tentative support from some industry groups.
 

 

“Supreme Court to Consider Biotech Issue”

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a lower court acted hastily and incorrectly by banning the cultivation of biotech alfalfa despite extensive scientific evidence documenting the safety of the crop. This will be the first time the high court has weighed in on the risks of genetically engineered crops.

Monday, a coalition of agricultural organizations filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court in support of the petitioners in “Monsanto Company. vs. Geertson Seed Farms.” The groups urge that the lower courts’ decision to approve an injunction without adequately hearing the key evidence must be reversed - to protect the farmers who choose to grow genetically-engineered crops, as well as the public benefits that agricultural biotechnology brings to producers and consumers around the world.

In the lower court case, environmental groups and individual organic alfalfa farmers sued USDA, claiming that USDA’s decision to grant deregulated status to glyphosate-tolerant alfalfa violated the National Environmental Policy Act. The courts in the Ninth Circuit determined that USDA should have done an environmental impact statement before it decided to deregulate, and the court ultimately enjoined almost all planting and sale of Roundup ReadyŪ alfalfa pending the issuance of the EIS. 

 

Dairy Today
Dairy Today Dairy News AgWeb.com Dairy Calendar Weather
 

AgDairy Market Update

Robin Schmahl
There Is Plenty to Go Around
Like it or not, we will be facing lower prices over the next few months. I know we

Latest News
  No Quick Fix for Immigration Reform
Overshadowed by the health-care debate, high unemployment and a struggling economy, ag immigration reform takes a back seat.

MPC Imports Down 18%
Milk protein concentrate imports declined 18% in 2009 to their lowest level in five years.

Elite Genetics Calf Auction to Benefit Dairy Foundation
Dairy producers have the opportunity to acquire a Holstein calf with elite genetics when they bid on Jenny-Lou Million 2719 at the Professional Dairy Producers Foundation Live Auction on March 16.

Idaho Dairymen's Association Requests End to BST Ban
An Idaho trade organization defends the dairy industry's use of technology and its role in ensuring that the state's producers are treated equitably.

Click Here for More Dairy News Headlines

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http://marronebioinnovations.com/products/regalia/

“ASA Supports H.R. 4213”

A successful cloture vote in the Senate Tuesday is expected to provide for the passage of H.R. 4213, the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act.  This act includes retroactive extension of the biodiesel tax credit. The American Soybean Association is urging passage and urges the Senate to seek agreement with the House on a final bill that can be passed and signed into law as soon as possible.

The biodiesel tax incentive, which is structured as a federal excise tax credit, amounts to a penny per percentage point of biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel. The incentive makes biodiesel more competitive with petroleum diesel, and lowers the cost of biodiesel to the end consumer.

ASA President Rob Joslin, a soybean producer from Sidney, Ohio, says - expiration of the biodiesel tax incentive has essentially caused the production and use of biodiesel in the United States to cease and has placed thousands of jobs currently supported by the domestic biodiesel industry in immediate jeopardy.
 

 “Oil Subsidies Growing”

A study on energy subsidies commissioned by G20 nations indicates that oil subsidies could top 500-billion dollars annually. The report was written by researchers from the World Bank, International Energy Association, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis says, - this study confirms what millions of Americans have known all along.  Our addiction to oil has a devastating impact on our nation’s economy and energy security, as well as that of nations around the world.

Buis adds, - by increasing the production of domestic, renewable ethanol, we will not only enhance U.S. national security and green our environment but dramatically reduce the transfer of wealth that occurs today, keeping more money and jobs here at home at a time when it is needed most.

 Silverado and Silverado HD 

“Trade Preference Discussed in Hearing”

The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday held another hearing to address the operation and potential reform of trade preference programs. The first meeting was held three years ago. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley announced that he and committee chairman Max Baucus are working to come up with joint reform legislation. Grassley told the hearing - ideally, I would hope we could introduce and markup a bill by the end of the second quarter this year. 

Tuesday’s hearing focused on a broader trade reform effort, which primarily involves the Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP. Grassley said, - we are also examining how GSP operates in relation to the Andean Trade Preference Act, the African Growth Opportunity Act, and the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act.

Concerning preferences, Grassley said - a preference program should have firm graduation provisions, both on a product-specific and a country-specific basis. The point of graduation is two-fold.  First, graduation creates opportunities for other beneficiary developing countries to take advantage of the preferences. Second, at a certain point of development, preferences should not be extended to advanced developing economies—instead, we should expect and receive more reciprocity in our trading relationships with advanced developing economies.
 

 

“FAPRI Report on Profitability Issued”


The livestock sector can lead the agricultural economy to higher net farm income, assuming the farm economy benefits from a recovering general U.S. economy. That analysis tops a 2010 baseline report prepared by the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and delivered to the U.S. Congress. The 10-year baseline shows economic possibilities for livestock, crops and biofuels under certain assumptions.


The report projects net farm income increases for the next two years largely because of stronger livestock prices. However, the program’s co-director Pat Westhoff says 2010 farm income will recover only a third of the ground lost in 2009. Net farm income fell by more than 30-billion dollars in 2009, as sharp declines in cash receipts were not offset by modest drops in production costs.

The FAPRI baseline shows crop prices remain near the 2009 level in 2010 and 2011.

Corn producers can see strong returns per acre until the end of the 10-year baseline.

Soybean returns must remain well above pre-2007 levels for soybeans to stay competitive with corn.

 

On the livestock side, the all-milk price is expected to increase by more than 4-dollars per hundredweight in 2010. Pork producers are expected to approach breakeven profits. And beef demand should strengthen market possibilities.

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“Crop Insurance Deadline Nears”

A national pilot program advanced by the National Corn Growers Association and adopted in the 2008 Farm Bill increased the federal government’s cost share of premiums for federal crop insurance program policies. NCGA says the change better reflects the additional risk by producers who change from optional unit to enterprise unit policy coverage. March 15 is the sales closing date for the 2010 program.

An enterprise unit includes all shares of a crop in the county, which aggregates sharecropped land with owned and rented land. Overall, the higher enterprise unit subsidies have facilitated a switch from lower levels of coverage on smaller basic and optional units to higher levels of coverage.

The pilot program is designed to give farmers who insure their crops using whole-farm and enterprise-unit structures the same subsidy payments as farmers who insure their crops under basic and optional unit structures.

NCGA suggests growers review the national pilot program with their crop insurance agents to determine if the new enterprise unit coverage incentives are beneficial for their farm operations.
 

“NPPC Delegates Set Organizational Direction”

Since October 2007 pork producers have faced unprecedented financial challenges, losing 20 dollars per hog for much of that timeframe. Total equity decline for the industry is estimated at 6-billion dollars. But, since February, the tide for producer profitability has started to turn to a significant degree. And that’s good news to Sam Carney; the National Pork Producers Council’s newly elected president.  Carney says - the number one priority is for the pork industry to get back to profitability.

Following the NPPC delegate session held in conjunction with the 2010 National Pork Industry Forum, Carney cited issues related to antibiotics and food safety, animal identification, the environment and trade as those high on NPPC's agenda.  NPPC will continue to push Congress for free-trade agreements. Carney points out - the U.S. pork industry has tremendous potential for additional exports.

 

During the two-day business meeting, producer delegates from across the United States discussed and voted on resolutions used to guide the organization's efforts. In part, the NPPC body voted to: Invest additional resources in a strong pork industry image campaign; Support the development and implementation of a comprehensive and integrated swine disease surveillance system; The elimination of PRRS; and Oppose any new legislation or regulations that restrict marketing opportunities or interventions into hog markets.

 

 

Today's Top Stories
Budget Concerns May Re-Open Farm Bill
National Association of Wheat Growers president says he won't be surprised if budget reconciliations bring re-examination of the Farm Bill.

Economic Recovery Key for Farm Income Outlook
Livestock sector could lead farm income increases say FAPRI economists.

Weak Dollar May Not Mean More Corn Exports
The relationship is difficult to distinguish, despite day-to-day market moves.

Crop Comments
"Still some corn to harvest in this county and it is only 60% there," says a South Dakota farmer.

Your Favorite Tractor
A 1951 Ferguson TO-20...
 

 

“Texas Plant Receives Federal Dollars”

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has announced that a project with NRG Energy has been selected to receive up to 154-million dollars, including funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Located in Thompsons, Texas, the post-combustion capture and sequestration project will demonstrate advanced technology to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It will also assist with enhanced oil recovery efforts from a nearby oil field.

NRG will construct a 60 megawatt carbon capture demonstration facility. The six year project will demonstrate an innovative integration of several important advances in carbon capture and sequestration technologies. The project will show that post-combustion carbon capture applied to existing plants can be done economically, especially when the plant has the opportunity to sequester carbon dioxide in nearby oilfields.

The NRG Energy project was selected under the third round of the Clean Coal Power Initiative, a cost-shared collaboration between the federal government and private industry to demonstrate low-emission carbon capture and storage technologies in advanced coal-based, power generation.
 

 “Coalition Fly-in Visits Washington”

The Coalition for a Prosperous America held a trade fly-in last week. The focus was approximately 80 congressional offices where U.S. ranchers, manufacturers and organized labor groups told Congress that current U.S. trade policy has failed America.  They stressed it is past time for the U.S. to do what every other major trading nation has already done – implement a national trade strategy that promotes domestic productivity and economic growth.

R-CALF USA Trade Committee Chair Reed Kelley and R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard were part of the delegation. Kelley says - we believe the diverse membership of our Coalition, once understood, is intriguing to our U.S. Senators and Representatives. The fact is that organizations which historically have not always seen eye-to-eye on many national policy issues have now joined together. Delegation members include U.S. tool and die manufacturers, metal fabricators, electronics manufacturers, farm groups and representatives of labor groups.

According to Kelley, - we explained that while the U.S. continues to naively practice idealistic free trade, every other country is practicing strategic trade management. As a result, the U.S., for each of the past 18 years, has suffered a huge trade deficit that is the largest in world history.

 

“Animal Agriculture Alliance Sets Summit”

The Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Ninth Annual stakeholders Summit will be held April 28-29 in Arlington, Virginia. During the meeting leaders from the food and farm sectors will discuss the impact of activists on the vitality and security of the United States. The Summit's theme is "Truth, Lies and Videotape: Is Activism Jeopardizing Our Food Security?"

Alliance Executive Vice President Kay Johnson-Smith said - the 2010 Stakeholders Summit represents a unique forum for industry leaders to learn about a wide range of issues facing agriculture today. At the conclusion of the Summit a workshop will be held to explore the effectiveness of state-level agriculture coalitions and present strategic ideas for ensuring consumer confidence.

The Summit's theme, "Truth, Lies and Videotape: Is Activism Jeopardizing Our Food Security?" will help attendees understand the wide-reaching implications of activists' attacks on agriculture. Featured speakers include former Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson and Wesley J. Smith, author of "A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement."

The early registration deadline for the Animal Agriculture Alliance's Ninth Annual Stakeholders Summit is fast approaching.

The Summit will be held at The Westin Arlington Gateway hotel in Arlington,Virginia.  Registration is now available at www.animalagalliance.org/register. Early hotel and conference registration are due by April 6.

LIVESTOCK NEWS

 

The Insidiousness Of 'Climate Change'

 
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection  Agency awarded $17 million to various universities around the country to study the impacts of climate change.

At first glance, it was a rather innocuous press release. But then I got to thinking: $17 million of taxpayer money to support a belief system that man-made climate change is real!   
Full Story...
 

Meatpacking Workers Want Line Speed Regulated For Safety

In a public meeting by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Norman Pflanz of Nebraska Appleseed for Law in the Public Interest presented findings from a survey of 455 meatpacking workers. The survey showed higher injury rates than official statistics and showed injuries increased as line speeds increased without sufficient staff to handle the extra workload. The U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors line speed as a safeguard for food safety.    Full Story...

 

Value Of The U.S. Dollar And Corn Prices
It has not been uncommon for daily fluctuations in corn prices to be attributed to fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies. So, what is the connection?

From the side of the importer of U.S. corn, a lower valued dollar in relation to the currency of that country, all else equal, is in effect a reduction in the price of corn. A lower price to the importer might be expected to result in larger imports. That is, there would be a movement down the demand curve to a new, larger equilibrium of quantity supplied and quantity demanded. Full Story...

 

Monday Market Sentiment: Industry Leaders Predict A Slight Increase In Cash Cattle Prices
A survey of cattle-industry leaders suggests the average price for cash cattle will increase 53 cents to 91.48 this week. The increase in the average forecast in CatttleNetwork's Monday Market Sentiment survey marks the sixth time in seven weeks that industry insiders have predicted a decrease in prices. Full Story...
More Articles

 

DTN AG NEWSWIRE

 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10th, 2010

  With spring a little over a week away, a device that's been around since time immemorial is being honored -- it's National Umbrella Month. No one knows who invented the umbrella, or exactly when, but it's estimated that it was being used as much as 4,000 years ago. Umbrellas have been found in the artifacts of ancient Egypt, Greece, and China. It's thought the original purpose of the umbrella was to provide a shield from the sun -- the name comes from the Latin word for shade -- "umbra." However, in many U.S. cities, trusty umbrellas will be popped open to keep people from being drenched. Mobile, Alabama has the highest annual rainfall at more than 66 inches. New Orleans is next at 64 inches, and Miami registers over 58 inches a year.

www.census.gov

****************************************************

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING U.S. AGRICULTURE. 

WANT ONE OR MORE????  CONTACT:  ggatley@sprynet.com

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RESEARCH IN AGRICULTURE

 

Photo: Mosquito sucking blood from an arm. Link to photo information
Mosquitoes can detect a very fine chemical structure difference in octenol, a compound emitted by mammals, according to new research by ARS scientists. Click the image for more information about it.

ARS Study Provides a Better Understanding

 of How Mosquitoes Find a Host

The potentially deadly yellow-fever-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito detects the specific chemical structure of a compound called octenol as one way to find a mammalian host for a blood meal, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists report.

Scientists have long known that mosquitoes can detect octenol, but this most recent finding by ARS entomologists Joseph Dickens and Jonathan Bohbot explains in greater detail how Ae. aegypti—and possibly other mosquito species—accomplish this.

Dickens and Bohbot, at the ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., have shown that Ae. aegypti taps into the "right-handed" and "left-handed" structural nature of octenol, which is emitted by people, cattle and other mammals. This ability to detect the "handedness" of molecules has been shown in mammals, but the discovery is the first case of scientists finding out how it works in an insect, according to the researchers.

When they hunt for a blood meal, mosquitoes hone in on a variety of chemicals, including carbon dioxide, lactic acid, ammonia and octenol. Octenol is one of many carbon-based compounds that have a molecular structure that can take on either a "right-handed" or "left-handed" form. Each form is a mirror image of the other, and a form's "handedness" is determined by how its molecular bonds are assembled.

The scientists used frog eggs to help them make their discovery. They injected RNA from Ae. aegypti into the frog eggs, allowing the egg membranes to mimic the mosquito's ability to detect octenol. Then they attached microelectrodes to the frog egg cell membranes, passed octenol over them and recorded the electrical signals stimulated by the odors.

They ran the tests using both the right- and left-handed forms of octenol. The scientists found heightened electrical activity when the membrane was exposed to the right-handed form, and weakened activity when it was exposed to the left-handed form.

There are many natural compounds that can take on either a right-handed or left-handed form. While the effects of those differences on many plants and animals remains a mystery, the report, published in PLoS ONE, shows the effects of octenol's dual structure on the yellow fever mosquito and adds to scientists' understanding of how mosquitoes sense the world around them. It also may open the door to speedier development of better mosquito repellents and traps, according to Dickens.

The team's research is being funded by the Department of Defense Deployed War Fighter Protection Research Program.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

Geraniums Could Help Control Devastating Japanese Beetle

Photo: Japanese beetle on a geranium leaf.
ARS scientists have discovered that geraniums could be useful in helping control the Japanese beetle, a costly pest that feeds on nearly 300 plant species.
Link to video
Within 30 minutes of consuming geranium petals, the beetle rolls over on its back, its legs and antennae slowly twitch, and it remains paralyzed for several hours. The beetles typically recover within 24 hours, but they often succumb to death after predators spot and devour the beetles while they are helpless.

Geraniums may hold the key to controlling the devastating Japanese beetle, which feeds on nearly 300 plant species and costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million in damage each year, according to scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

The beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, can feast on a wide variety of plants, including ornamentals, soybean, maize, fruits and vegetables. But within 30 minutes of consuming geranium petals, the beetle rolls over on its back, its legs and antennae slowly twitch, and it remains paralyzed for several hours. The beetles typically recover within 24 hours when paralyzed under laboratory conditions, but they often succumb to death under field conditions after predators spot and devour the beetles while they are helpless.

ARS entomologist Chris Ranger at the agency’s Application Technology Research Unit in Wooster, Ohio, is working on developing a way to use geraniums to control the beetles.

Ohio and neighboring Michigan are some of the largest producers of horticultural plants, most of them grown in greenhouses. Other research to benefit the horticultural industry includes that of Susan Stieve, curator of Ohio State University’s Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Stieve is working with OSU collaborators and horticulturist Jonathan Frantz of the ARS Greenhouse Production Research Group in Toledo, Ohio, to see whether a specialized breed of begonias can tolerate colder temperatures.

The scientists are screening the begonias at two production temperatures: 5 degrees Fahrenheit colder than normal, and 10 degrees F colder than normal. Begonias are found naturally in a wide variety of climates and altitudes—ecological clues that can be used to identify promising germplasm. Being able to grow begonias at cooler temperatures could reduce greenhouse heating bills for ornamental growers in northern climates.

ARS is U.S. Department of Agriculture’s principal intramural scientific research agency.

 

Photo: Cattle in a feedlot. Link to photo information
ARS is studying how the antibiotic oxytetracycline, which is used on livestock, breaks down in cattle manure. Click the image for more information about it.

Assessing Antibiotic Breakdown in Manure

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Scott Yates is studying how oxytetracycline (OTC), an antibiotic that is administered to animals, breaks down in cattle manure.

Livestock producers in the United States often use antibiotics to control disease in their animals, and confined U.S. livestock and poultry generate about 63.8 million tons of manure every year. The drugs are often only partially absorbed by the digestive tract, and the rest are excreted with their pharmaceutical activity intact.

Yates, who works at the ARS Contaminant Fate and Transport Research Unit in Riverside, Calif., found that in controlled laboratory conditions, OTC in cattle manure was degraded more quickly as temperatures increased and as the moisture content in the manure increased. But the OTC breakdown slowed as water saturation levels neared 100 percent. Yates concluded that this slowdown resulted when oxygen levels were not high enough to fuel the OTC biodegradation.

Yates also noted that OTC breaks down more quickly in manure than in soil. Compared to soil, manure has higher levels of organic material and moisture, which support the microorganisms that break down this pharmaceutical.

This laboratory research may be useful in designing studies that evaluate the potential effects of lagoons, holding ponds and manure pits on bacteria and antimicrobial resistance.

Livestock producers also might use the results from this study to maximize the breakdown of organic materials and potential antibiotics in manure by designing storage environments with optimum temperatures and moisture levels.

Results from this study were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    

Photo: Cattle grazing on rangeland. Link to photo information
Cattle grazing on rangeland with a taller canopy of plants with more and larger leaves take larger bites and meet their dietary needs with lower calorie expenditure, according to new research from ARS. Click the image for more information about it.

Cows Like Leaves

Their Tongues Can Wrap Around Easily

Lots of leaves growing in easy reach of a cow's tongue means less time and less land needed to raise beef cattle, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and DairyNZ (New Zealand) scientists.

Ranchers may be able to tell how long to leave cattle in a pasture, and how large to make the pasture, by the height and leafiness of plants growing there, according to Stacey Gunter, research leader at the ARS Southern Plains Range Research Station in Woodward, Okla. He worked with former Ph.D. student Pablo Gregorini and colleagues at Woodward to demonstrate this approach with beef steers grazing in fenced-off corridors in wheat pastures.

The pastures were chosen to represent a range of natural variations in plant heights and upper plant leafiness. The steers were allowed to graze the corridors freely and were removed when they reached the end of the corridor, regardless of how much time the steers took. While grazing the corridors, each steer was videotaped and had two trained observers who counted bites and walking steps.

The reason for this real-life pasture study is that most studies of grazing behavior are done on "artificial seedings," specially planted pastures, or small plots that are fairly uniform. To provide the best possible recommendations to ranchers, Gunter and Gregorini integrated studies of the standard type with "in field" pasture conditions which are much less uniform.

Besides the taste and nutrition of large leaves, cattle like their food to be accessible, with leaves high on the plant and a minimum of stem interference with the cattle's tongues, which they use to wrap around and pull off leaves. Cattle faced with a nice canopy of luscious leaves took larger bites and were able to get their daily rations with lower calorie expenditure.

This resulted in greater eating efficiency. Gunter and Gregorini measured eating efficiency by dividing the total amount of pasture plants eaten per steer by the total eating time. This is known as herbage intake rate, a key determinant of weight gain for cattle grazing pasture.

The research was published in the Journal of Animal Science.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.


 

Photo: Potatoes.
Five new potato breeding lines now being tested by ARS scientists and collaborators could provide the basis for varieties that can handle powdery scab and black dot diseases. Photo courtesy of Microsoft Clipart

Tough New Spuds Take on Double Trouble

Americans love potatoes, consuming about 130 pounds per person annually. But it's a wonder the spuds even make it to the dinner table, given the many fungal diseases that attack the tuber crop—powdery scab and black dot among them.

Now, five new potato breeding lines being tested by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and collaborators could open the door to new varieties of the crop that resist powdery scab and black dot diseases, caused by the fungi Spongospora subterranea and Colletotrichum coccodes, respectively.

These fungi often occur together in the same soil, attacking the potato plant's roots, tubers or stems. Outbreaks can cause yield losses of up to 25 percent and prevent tubers from reaching the sizes needed by the french fry and fast-food industry. Of the two fungi, only black dot can be chemically controlled with fungicides; however, multiple applications are needed, ratcheting up production costs to prohibitive levels. A more sustainable alternative is genetic resistance, according to geneticist Chuck Brown, with the ARS Vegetable and Forage Crops Production Research Laboratory in Prosser, Wash.

In studies conducted there since 2004 with Washington State University professor Dennis Johnson, assistant Tom F. Cummings and postdoctoral associate Nadav Nitzan, Brown screened an existing collection of wild and cultivated potatoes for sources of natural resistance to powdery scab and black dot in a local grower's infested field.

The effort ultimately led to five advanced potato breeding lines that had been developed from a wild species from Mexico, Solanum hougasii, and a recent commercial release, Summit Russet. In three years of field trials in Washington State and Idaho, the potato breeding lines consistently showed fewer disease symptoms—root galling for powdery scab and sclerotia-infected stems for black dot—than other lines and varieties tested.

The potato breeding lines themselves aren't intended for production. Instead, they'll be made available as seed for use in breeding programs aimed at developing the first commercial varieties with dual resistance to the fungal diseases, according to Brown, who discussed the research at the 48th Annual Washington State Potato Conference in January.

The research findings have been published in the journal Plant Disease.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.

 

Photo: A tricep skinfold test is being used to measure the fat level of a middle school student. Link to photo information
Children taking an intensive, instructor-led weight control course had significantly greater weight loss than did children in a self-taught program, according to preliminary results from ARS-funded studies. Click the image for more information about it.

Kids Lose Pounds, Gain Fitness, in Houston Study

Innovative, kid-friendly strategies for losing weight and gaining nutrition savvy—plus physical fitness skills—are emerging from scientific studies funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

For example, investigators Craig A. Johnston, John P. Foreyt and Chermaine Tyler and their colleagues are building upon one of their earlier studies in which many of their Texas middle-school participants achieved weight-management success. The volunteers were primarily Hispanic children who were either overweight or at risk of becoming so.

The researchers are with the ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where Johnston and Tyler are instructors in nutrition and Foreyt is a professor of medicine.

Statistics that the scientists reported for the 6-month study were based on 57 overweight kids who were assigned to either a self- and parent-taught program, or, instead, an intensive, instructor-led regimen.

For instance, once a week for the first 3 months of the investigation, kids in the self-taught group spent time in study hall reading a self-help weight-management textbook for youngsters. Meanwhile, their peers in the instructor-led team spent four class periods a week outdoors, improving their physical fitness, with a fifth session each week—indoors—learning about nutrition, healthy eating, and behavior-change skills essential for living an active lifestyle and making healthful food choices.

When evaluated at the end of the 6-month study, kids in the intensive, instructor-led course had significantly greater weight loss as well as greater "physical quality of life"—as measured by their answers to a standard questionnaire—than did the kids in the self-taught program. What's more, one and two years later, youngsters in the instructor-led team had significantly greater decreases in their body mass index, or BMI, than did the self-taught youngsters.

These preliminary results suggest that a school-based weight-management program might be effective in reaching large numbers of kids, according to the scientists. They published their findings in the journal Obesity in 2009 and in Pediatrics in 2007.

Read more about this research in the March 2010 Agricultural Research magazine special issue on preventing childhood obesity.

ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Houston research helps improve children's nutrition and health, a USDA top priority.

 

Photo: Winter wheat. Link to photo information
ARS and international cooperators have established the Winter Wheat Stem Rust Resistance Nursery in Ankara, Turkey, to propagate and distribute winter wheat varieties that have been identified as resistant to Ug99. Click the image for more information about it.

Nursery is New Tool in the Fight

 against Ug99 Wheat Stem Rust

The first Winter Wheat Stem Rust Resistance Nursery, a key tool in the fight against the rust strain Ug99, has been established by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and international cooperators.

The nursery, established by ARS and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is located in Ankara, Turkey, where CIMMYT coordinates its global winter wheat breeding program. It is the first of its kind for winter wheats, and is a joint effort to distribute 100 lines that have been identified by international scientists as having resistance to the deadly Ug99 stem rust and its descendants.

Thirty of the 100 lines in the nursery were developed by ARS scientists and contain resistance to stem rust races in Kenya and the United States. The lines developed by ARS focus on the use of four or five resistance genes that have been incorporated into various combinations in winter wheat lines.

According to David Marshall, research leader of the ARS Plant Science Research Unit in Raleigh, N.C., and coordinator of the wheat screening conducted in Kenya, multiple genes for resistance will slow the pathogen’s ability to readily overcome the new wheat varieties that breeders develop. The amount of time these genes can remain effective is key to maintaining resistance to stem rust in the United States.

Winter wheat lines in the nursery are being distributed by CIMMYT to wheat breeders and geneticists in 34 countries, including those that have been hit hardest by the disease.

Ug99, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, is the most virulent race of stem rust fungus yet to emerge. First discovered in Uganda in 1999, the fungus has spread across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Ug99 has been able to overcome most of the stem-rust-resistant wheat varieties developed during the past several decades. While other rusts only partially affect crop yields, Ug99 can wipe out entire wheat fields, resulting in 100 percent crop loss.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.