Stories Collection

  1. When a farmer tills a field, some carbon dioxide in the soil escapes to the atmospher...
  2. Most sugar beets are rough and grooved, so lots of soil sticks to them when they're p...
  3. A new genetic fingerprinting method is now on hand to identify Pasteuria bacteria tha...
  4. They may study simple plants, but some fungi experts are part of a complicated missio...
  5. You say "po-tay-to." I say "po-tah-to." Colorado potato beetles say "yum-yum." Desc...
  6. Trouble in the form of a mite-borne plant disease is on the horizon for U.S. citrus g...
  7. Your front lawn has patches of bare dirt. You go to the local nursery and get grass s...
  8. A well-known and widely used super-absorbent, the starch-based polymer known as "Supe...
  9. A neighborhood maple tree, prized for its brilliant fall color, must be cut down and ...
  10. Soil compaction causes farmers a lot of problems by preventing moisture from seeping ...
  11. A major project is under way to design year-round grazing systems for pasture-raised ...
  12. Pecan growers must pay attention to their trees' nickel nutrition if they want to see...
  13. It's common for pigs to wait in holding pens for at least 2 hours after transport, be...
  14. A new Agricultural Research Service initiative will help facilitate research cooperat...
  15. Higher yields could be in store for pea crops as U.S. and Russian scientists cooperat...
  16. ARS scientists studying a strain of swine influenza new to this part of the world hav...
  17. A new, state-of-the-art, pilot processing facility has been constructed in Athens, Ge...
  18. The Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), commonly called the medfly, is one ...
  19. In the future, a food oil pressed from a new line of soybeans could become a close ru...
  20. When Dennis Gonsalves was growing up in Hawaii in the 1950s, eating guavas and mangos...
  21. Vitamin B12 is actually a family of compounds called cobalamins, each of which has it...
  22. A mother and father have so many decisions to make for their newborn baby--decisions ...
  23. Researchers have tested a low-tech solution to the problem of poaching by double-cres...
  24. Supplementing the diets of live turkeys with vitamin E may reduce the already small c...
  25. Wild multiflora roses are considered a nuisance by hunters who have to trudge through...
  26. Agricultural Research Service scientists recently made headway unlocking the secrets ...
  27. Agronomists, plant pathologists, and botanists--to name a few--are interested in the ...
  28. Animal scientist Alva Mitchell, of the Growth Biology Laboratory at the ARS Beltsvill...
  29. Probiotics are live, nonpathogenic bacteria that contribute to the health and balance...
  30. Chaffy grass seed is usually a mix of stems, leaves, chaff, lint, fuzz, ,and other tr...
  31. Hawaii's papayas are among the world's finest. But only a few years ago, the state's ...
  32. A natural ingredient in the oil of a variant of the weed known as mugwort could lesse...
  33. While you're enjoying the sweet taste and creamy texture of a fresh papaya--whether i...
  34. Soil compaction is not a good thing. It can interfere with roots' normal growth, rest...
  35. Streams and rivers in the United States and across the globe are the lifeblood of Ear...
  36. Vegetative, or conservation, buffers can serve many different purposes all aimed at t...
  37. People aren't the only ones to benefit from salicylic acid, the active ingredient in ...
  38. Since the 1890s, ARS has been developing rootstocks--the bottom portions of grafted t...
  39. When ARS's National Sediment Laboratory scientists were asked by Mississippi official...
  40. Research into how children metabolize the nourishment they receive aims to help young...
  41. It's hard enough keeping scale insects out of your garden. Imagine trying to keep the...
  42. It's a familiar scene in the country--a tractor chugging its way across a field mowin...
  43. Early detection of avian metapneumovirus in turkey flocks would allow producers to ta...
  44. As Shakespeare once wrote, "What's in a name?" This month, as we kick off a year-lo...
  45. In 1953, farmers produced 17.3 bushels of wheat per acre, cows gave 645 gallons of mi...
  46. Many Agricultural Research Service employees enjoy working with their local communiti...
  47. Keeping it short is a way of life for apple rootstock scientists at the ARS Plant Gen...
  48. Once considered mainly a feedlot pest, the stable fly has extended its reign of terro...
  49. Cotton waste as mulch? As fertilizer? For home heating? For cattle feed? It's turning...
  50. To improve poultry breeding and management practices, scientists are looking for a be...
  51. In a controlled-diet study of 15 healthy postmenopausal women, ARS scientists found t...
  52. Tracking the spread of the plum pox potyvirus in stone fruit crops could get a lot ea...
  53. For decades, ARS scientists at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultura...
  54. What's in a name? When it's "skunk vine," it can't be good. This obnoxious, weedy v...
  55. Farming is like a grand symphony. Just as movements in a symphony must work together ...
  56. The last thing poultry producers want their flocks hit with is exotic Newcastle disea...
  57. Listening to a flowing creek may be just the thing for relaxing on a peaceful afterno...
  58. Making healthier nutrition choices has now gotten easier. A searchable version of USD...
  59. Like farms and ranches throughout the nation, our Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricul...
  60. Spring 2003 saw the first commercial planting of Sierra, a kabuli-type chickpea--the ...
  61. If you ask Chad Finn whether he has any nicknames, the first one he is likely to say ...
  62. West Nile virus (WNV) and St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) have become significant health...
  63. "It all started around 1915 after a traveling scientist gave a handful of seeds to a ...
  64. Nearly 40 years of Agricultural Research Service involvement in remote sensing resear...
  65. Normally, about 20 pounds of material is removed from every 500-pound bale of cotton ...
  66. Scientists interested in determining the relative amounts of an important amino acid ...
  67. Most of today's hair gels benefit from the holding power of synthetic polymers. When ...
  68. Though small and gentle, the glassy-winged sharpshooter can pose a major threat to fa...
  69. Data from the Framingham Heart Study 1996-2000 suggest that low vitamin K intake may ...
  70. Louisiana--home of the brown pelican, Cajun cuisine, New Orleans jazz, and Tiger foot...
  71. Just in time for the Chinese Moon Cake Festival this autumn, a new soybean variety na...
  72. Tea is the most-consumed beverage worldwide next to water: For some 5,000 years, peop...
  73. Plant physiologist Michael J. Kasperbauer made a career of "seeing" light the way pla...
  74. Just as your home has pipes that move water into it, plants, too, have their own plum...
  75. Glassy-winged sharpshooters "have bred in huge numbers in southern California, where ...
  76. For a quarter century, scientists at ARS' Wheat, Peanut, and Other Field Crops Resear...
  77. Z-trim, a natural food ingredient made from crop-processing byproducts, such as oat, ...
  78. While the farm crew struggles to kill every weed possible, Ruth Mangum often steps in...
  79. Although higher carbon dioxide levels expected from global changes under way may incr...
  80. You spend hours plucking each weed from your backyard garden. Then you spray some che...
  81. The billions of chickens raised annually by U.S. growers produce a lot of manure-lade...
  82. In 1947, writer and conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called attention to the ...
  83. Precision agriculture--modifying the management within fields by using information ab...
  84. For many an apple, without protection after harvest, the stage is set for an uneaten ...
  85. New corn varieties bred by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service and Iowa S...
  86. Weed management is a lot like health management: You have to choose between a prevent...
  87. Composting, essentially a rapid, self-heating process by which organic material is de...
  88. About 16 million people in the United States over age 45 report some vision loss. Thi...
  89. Trouble is brewing for silverleaf whiteflies and other plant pests. The Agricultura...
  90. An improved method of supplying farm-raised catfish with enough oxygen during a cruci...
  91. An instrument designed to provide infield analysis of key soil constituents may be on...
  92. Research on how vitamin D can help fight a cattle disease seems to have paid off in r...
  93. Marty Glynn hasn't lost his taste for potatoes--even though he and co-workers routine...
  94. Research shows that certain organic practices can help increase numbers of beneficial...
  95. When you think of agricultural research, you usually think of wheat fields, cattle ra...
  96. Analysis of food consumption survey data has shown that milk drinking decreases as te...
  97. In New Orleans, it starts during the twilight hours in late April. Thousands of tiny,...
  98. In trying to explain why certain rural populations in China experienced less iron def...
  99. QuEChERS (pronounced catchers) is not a cool, new way of spelling the position we usu...
  100. The world's producers of cacao are hearing good news from researchers intent on impro...
  101. In the heart of America's beef cattle feedlots, in Bushland, Texas, sits an unusual e...
  102. Look out, grain-munching insects! A new, enhanced version of the world's first automa...
  103. Many gardeners and homeowners use wood chips, paper, or other shredded materials as m...
  104. Just a quick squeeze of the flexible black tubing in their drip-irrigation systems is...
  105. Next time you see Tiger Woods drive a golf ball 300-plus yards or Annika Sorenstam dr...
  106. A mutated sheep gene co-discovered with scientists at Duke University may provide clu...
  107. Insect predators are used in biological control to suppress pests in fields and green...
  108. Masters of Japanese bonsai and Chinese penjing techniques are gardening artists. The ...
  109. Sometimes a lack of willpower is not to blame for obesity. Nancy F. Butte, an energy ...
  110. Up in the sky, it's a bird! ... It's a plane! ... No, it's the solution to a problem ...
  111. It was the adventure of a lifetime. From 1929 through 1931, pioneering plant explorer...
  112. A tiny chip, slipped just beneath the skin of your dog or cat, serves as a reliable i...
  113. Wouldn't it be boring to have only one variety of watermelon or pepper? Fruit and veg...
  114. The ARS National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture has been busy since its s...
  115. A patent has been issued for a method to modify milk proteins to make water-resistant...
  116. Some fans of rainbow trout have dubbed their favorite fish "nature's fast food." That...
  117. Growers who are forced by changes in consumer tastes and buying habits to plant new a...
  118. The sweet, delicate flavor and enticing aroma of freshly picked apricots make this fr...
  119. A new termiticide containing low concentrations of naphthalenic compounds--similar to...
  120. 1896. McKinley beats Bryan to become president. The first modern Olympic games take p...
  121. Americans eat nearly 8 pounds of dry beans each year in soups, salads, and other dish...
  122. Have you ever opened your cupboard door only to be greeted by a fluttering moth? Has ...
  123. Food poisoning is a misnomer. One is not poisoned by the food, but rather by the micr...
  124. Sometimes the adage that less is more certainly rings true. That's the case with cons...
  125. Barley is a very versatile grain. It can be used in soups, stews, cereal, or baked go...
  126. The habit of eating breakfast has declined in all age groups over the past quarter ce...
  127. Methyl jasmonate (MJ) has many functions. This natural compound derived from plant oi...
  128. For years, it's been assumed that bacteria enter empty feather follicles during poult...
  129. When John Chapman (a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed) was planting apple trees in the northeast...
  130. For the first time, researchers have looked at caffeine as a possible control for slu...
  131. Tomorrow's flowers may produce blooms with a dazzling profusion of petals. That's tha...
  132. Scientists have learned that parasitic wasps can be trained to detect the chemicals a...
  133. In 2001, U.S. farmers grew more than 25 million tons of sugar beets and provided the ...
  134. Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in the world. Yet as a dietary...
  135. Like the industrious ant in one of Aesop's fables, the imported fire ant thrives beca...
  136. Americans enjoy the safest, most abundant food supply on Earth. It's also the most af...
  137. A high-tech piece of equipment, hard work, and collaboration have brought researchers...
  138. According to Tom Geary--a reproductive physiologist at ARS' Fort Keogh Livestock and ...
  139. As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, studying the nutrition and health needs ...
  140. Ultrasound is commonly used by doctors to check on the health of a human fetus or to ...
  141. Blue-green algae give catfish farmers the blues. Certain types of blue-green algae,...
  142. A thick coat of wool is one of the most recognizable features of sheep. Even when see...
  143. Irradiation has yet another useful application. In the United States, the sweetpota...
  144. Insect mycologist Richard Humber slowly lifts the thick lid off the top of a round li...
  145. How can researchers accurately estimate where, when, and how many grasshoppers are in...
  146. When the alarm goes off, many people hit the snooze button. But eventually they get u...
  147. Ecologists on both sides of the northern U.S. border are interested in migratory band...
  148. For years, beef cattle producers have kept track of characteristics of their animals ...
  149. Scientists last year looked at the food consumption habits of nearly 700 people, aski...
  150. Iron deficiency anemia is endemic throughout western Africa. It afflicts more than ha...
  151. If you--or your child--are one of an estimated 3 million Americans allergic to peanut...
  152. ARS' Community Nutrition Research Group (CNRG) was established 3 years ago as one of ...
  153. Cattle, unlike humans, do not have the luxury of flushing their waste down the toilet...
  154. Even if you haven't heard of mannitol, chances are you've eaten this minty-tasting su...
  155. Concerns about pesticide use have led breeders to develop broccoli varieties with nat...
  156. When we eat beef, pork, lamb, chicken, or other foods from animals, our bodies take i...
  157. Vitamin A helps your body's immune system fight off many infections and inflammations...
  158. Honey bee hives from Maine to California are abuzz with news about a new food that or...
  159. Freshwater aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. agricultural...
  160. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, potato salad, hash browns, frenc...
  161. During the summer of 2000, a wildfire blazed through 500 hectares of grazingland at t...
  162. Picture, for example, a female health enthusiast cruising a grocery store's seafood c...
  163. The National Animal Germplasm Program (NAGP) has officially added swine to its collec...
  164. The Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL)--part of ARS' Beltsville (Maryland) Human Nutritio...
  165. Exceptionally soft bicomponent yarn is being spun with a new tandem spinning system. ...
  166. What do citrus, berries, onions, teas, and red wine have in common? They all contai...
  167. A few years ago, eucalyptus trees seemed to offer promise as salt-tolerant plants tha...
  168. The farmer said to the merchant I need some meat and meal. Get away from here, you so...
  169. A 3-year study has shown that--contrary to some evidence--bone mineral density (BMD) ...
  170. Avian influenza is a vexing problem for poultry producers in the United States. One s...
  171. Underground tile drains are used on about 30 percent of Midwest farms to speed the dr...
  172. Most people associate ultrasound technology with obstetricians, not textile manufactu...
  173. The main functions of banks are to hold depositors' money safely, to lend some of tha...
  174. To prevent influx of pests that could create agricultural problems, produce-importing...
  175. From a distance, through squinted eyes, it looks like a vehicle driving on the moon. ...
  176. Agricultural Research Service plant scientists have developed a new strain of pearl m...
  177. Red imported fire ants keep adapting to life in the United States. They keep spreadin...
  178. Care must be taken by those with chronic renal insufficiency who need to follow prote...
  179. The Agricultural Research Service's mission is to solve agricultural problems of nati...
  180. Cryptosporidium is a waterborne, microscopic, single-celled parasite that lives in th...
  181. When was the last time you snacked on crunchy potato chips, ordered a serving of gold...
  182. This close alfalfa relative, Medicago truncatula, may have genes that could be useful...
  183. In North Dakota last fall, along with the yellow school buses, members of the Grand F...
  184. Everyone with a peanut allergy will breathe a sigh of relief when scientists find a w...
  185. Cotton gauze has been used to dress wounds for hundreds of years because it is natura...
  186. Rojo Chiquito is the first Central American market-class bean of this type bred for p...
  187. ARS research into how and when plants use the phosphorus in manure may aid farmers as...
  188. Scientists have found a way to use oil to clean water. Laboratory studies show that t...
  189. Score another one for soy. ARS-assisted research suggests that ferritin in soybeans i...
  190. Like cherries? Here's good news from ARS scientists in Utah: The blue orchard bee, or...
  191. When 1,000 mature American elms mysteriously died in Illinois during the last decade,...
  192. In May 1994, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Flavr-Savr tomato, the fir...
  193. Corn seeds are bull's-eye targets for Fusarium verticillioides, formerly known as F. ...
  194. Corn rootworms are the number-one pest of corn, costing farmers hundreds of millions ...
  195. Living in a pond may not seem ideal for you or me, but frogs love it. But sometimes l...
  196. People aren't the only ones in need of antioxidants to neutralize free radicals. Scie...
  197. Two new lines of salt-tolerant plants from ARS researchers may someday prove to be a ...