Invasive Species Affect Everyone

People, businesses, and governments spend considerable time, money and other resources trying to control these unwanted invaders. Nearly every ecosystem in the United States has been invaded by nonnative species, with economic losses estimated at $137 billion per year. NIFA provides important support to researchers and Extension professionals in their work to learn more about the impact of invasives, to manage them and to educate the public on how they can help in the fight.

National Invasive Species Awareness Week graphic, courtesy of NIFA.

NIFA Celebrates Women’s History Month

To kick off Women's History Month, NIFA is highlighting its Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields Grant Program, which supports research and Extension projects aimed to increase participation by rural and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematic fields.

Celebrating Women’s History Month graphic, courtesy of NIFA.

Service Learning Program Connects Children to the Food They Eat

During National Nutrition Month, learn more about how NIFA’s Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program is facilitating connections between children and the food they eat through local agricultural producers, nutrition education and leadership.

Connecting Children to the Food They Eat graphic, courtesy of NIFA.

APHIS, NIFA-Funded Research Protecting the Nation’s Poultry Industry

Recently, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed it has detected Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in multiple states. APHIS has confirmed the disease in commercial broiler and turkey flocks as well as in a backyard flock. Earlier this year, APHIS identified HPAI in migrating waterfowl. Migrating waterfowl such as ducks and geese are the primary reservoir for avian influenza viruses. NIFA supports researchers as they work to find ways to battle HPAI. For more information, read this NIFA blog.

Protecting the Nation’s Poultry Industry graphic, courtesy of NIFA.

USDA Commits $215 Million to Enhance the American Food Supply Chain

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA is making available up to $215 million in grants and other support to expand meat and poultry processing options, strengthen the food supply chain, and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas. The funding opportunity, announced on the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains”, is one of many actions that USDA is taking to expand processing capacity and increase competition in meat and poultry processing to make agricultural markets more accessible, fair, competitive, and resilient for American farmers and ranchers.

USDA to Gather New Data on Certified Organic Agriculture Production

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is conducting the 2021 Organic Survey to gather new data on certified organic crops and livestock commodities in the United States. This effort is critical to help determine the economic impact of certified organic agriculture production on the nation. NASS is mailing the survey to all known certified organic farms and ranches within the 50 states. The questionnaire asks producers to provide information on acreage, production, and sales as well as production and marketing practices. Participants should respond by April 4.

Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Webinar is March 3

Mark your calendar for USDA's Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Webinar March 3 at 3 p.m. ET. This webinar will focus on the second funding pool for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Register here.

Farmer in the field, courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Partner Webinar: Craft Beer and Extension Webinar is March 17

Join the National Extension Tourism Network on St. Patrick’s Day March 17 at 3 p.m. ET for a 90-minute webinar focused on the economic impact of craft beer and the role of Extension. You will hear from a panel of speakers sharing best-practice examples of University engagement in research and education from both Land Grant and Sea Grant.: Register here.

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension: Protect Backyard Flocks from Avian Influenza

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new outbreaks of avian influenza have been detected in U.S. aquatic birds, commercial poultry and backyard flocks since January. Although avian influenza is not a threat to human health or food safety in Georgia, avian influenza presents a risk to all poultry operations, from hobbyist flocks to the state's $22.8 billion commercial industry. The key to preventing the spread of the disease is biosecurity.

Biosecurity is the practice of minimizing the spread of disease into a flock of birds or, in the event of disease occurrence, preventing the spread of disease-causing organisms off the premises. Photo courtesy of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

Texas to Lead Drone Data Processing as Part of $15M National Wheat Project

Texas A&M AgriLife will lead the creation of an unmanned aircraft system, UAS, data hub as a component of a $15 million grant that brings together the strengths of the public wheat breeding programs in 19 universities across the United States. This is the fourth NIFA award supporting the Wheat Coordinated Agricultural Project, WheatCAP, consortium for research on yield. The overall goals for this project are the validation, characterization, and deployment of phenotypic traits for improving grain yield components and training the next generation of plant breeders.

Amir Ibrahim, Ph.D., will lead the Texas A&M AgriLife portion of WheatCAP. Photo courtesy of Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife.

Scientist Investigating the Possibilities of Pennycress as a Cover Crop

Empty farm fields are a common sight in Illinois during the winter and contribute to environmental issues such as soil erosion and nutrient loss. Although cover crops can mitigate these effects, they are not widely used due to lack of direct economic return. Pennycress is a new cover crop that produces a marketable oilseed, which could incentivize more widespread cover crop use. Unfortunately, field conditions after corn harvest are challenging for pennycress growth. With support from NIFA, Illinois State University graduate student Bethany Wohrley is evaluating management strategies that may improve pennycress growth such as breaking up leftover corn crop residues and using early-maturing corn hybrids. The successful implementation of pennycress into the current cropping system could lessen the environmental impact of agriculture, help source renewable fuels, and provide additional income for farmers.

A field of Pennycress in an Illinois State University trial, courtesy of Illinois State University.

Virginia Tech Researchers Developing a New Vaccine for a Swine Coronavirus

To address climbing economic losses from swine that contract the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, Virginia Tech researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine are developing a vaccine with NIFA-support to combat the disease that has a near 100 percent mortality rate in newborn piglets. The disease emerged in the United States in 2013 and has since caused around $600 million in annual losses to swine producers. When combined with increased food prices for consumers and decreased exports of hogs, the associated loss amounts to more than $900 million annually in the United States.

With a four-year, $630,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Mike Zhang, pictured above, and co-principal investigator XJ Meng are researching a nanoparticle-based vaccine to curb a highly contagious coronavirus among swine. Photo courtesy of Jim Stroup/Virginia Tech.

Warming Climate to Result in Reduced Corn Production; Irrigation Blunts Effect

No matter which of the widely accepted global circulation models ultimately comes closest to predicting the amount of warming caused by climate change, corn production will be reduced, according to a new NIFA-supported study by Penn State researchers.

The study site in Nebraska is representative of agricultural management practices in the region and represents the most densely irrigated area in the Central Plains, which is a subregion of the Great Plains. Photo courtesy of Suat Irmak.

NIFA Invests Over $15M in Agricultural Economics and Rural Communities

NIFA has invested over $15 million to support research on development of theories, methods, and applications of agricultural economics through the Agricultural Economics and Rural Communities program’s Economics, Markets and Trade priority area. Collectively, this funding will support 27 projects. For more information, read this NIFA press release.

These critical research investments support the economic, social and environmental sustainability of agriculture and rural communities. Farmer in rural wheatfield using irrigation system and a tablet, courtesy Getty Images.

It's National Invasive Species Awareness Week! A new Michigan State University led research, scientists examined how two types of lake trout respond to sealamprey parasitism. The team also found a biomarker that can more accurately quantify parasitism rates.

For people interested in keeping their blood sugar levels in check, they now have a new tool thanks to rice developed at the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter in Crowley, Louisiana, with support from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. AgCenter area nutrition agent Mandy Armentor said Frontiére is a low glycemic rice variety developed by LSU AgCenter scientists that went to market under the Parish Rice label late in 2021.