USDA News
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ARS helps preserve indigenous crops in Ecuador
An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist is working with an international group of researchers on a project to improve the livelihoods of people in rural Ecuador by promoting the conservation and use of indigenous crops. People in and around Cotacachi, in the northern Andean highlands, have been farming for thousands of years, and the result is a stunning diversity of crops, some of them ...
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USDA Releases report on lifecycle greenhouse gas balance of ethanol
On January 12, 2017, USDA released a report on the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of corn ethanol, titled “A Life-Cycle Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Based Ethanol.” The study reviewed industry and farm sector performance over the past decade and found that in the United States corn-based ethanol generates 43 percent less GHG emissions than gasoline. ...
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Food security may be increased by new agricultural production modeling
Farmers are used to optimizing crop production on their own lands. They do soil tests to choose the right amount of fertilizers to apply, and they sometimes plant row crops on some fields while keeping others in pasture. But is it possible to optimize production across a much bigger area—say, the whole East Coast of the United States? That’s the question a team of USDA-ARS scientists ...
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The future of cover crops
Winter cover crops are an important component of nutrient cycling, soil cover and organic matter content. Although its benefits are well documented, cover crop use in farming systems is relatively low. Research has shown that time and money are the two primary reasons why farmers are hesitant to adopt the technique. Developing innovative and cost-effective crop cover systems could increase the ...
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Early cotton planting requires irrigation
Cotton growers can produce more cotton if they plant early, but not without irrigation. That’s the finding of an article published in the September-October 2010 Agronomy Journal, a publication of the American Society of Agronomy. Bill Pettigrew, a scientist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Stoneville, Mississippi, tested the performance of cotton under irrigated and ...
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Comparing soybean production methods
In the Mid-South, twin-row soybean production is becoming a popular growing technique for soybean producers. An estimated 80% of the total hectares grown in the Mississippi Delta are planted in this configuration. While growers report this method increases seed yields, especially when used with specific cultivars planted in April or early May, there is no research data to support their claims. ...
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Penton’s Farm Futures survey shows more corn, less soybeans in 2016
Profit margins full of red ink could force growers to cut back crop acreage by almost 2% in 2016, according to the latest survey by Farm Futures, Penton Agriculture‘s market-leading ag business resource. Only corn and cotton could see gains among five major row crops and even those increases would keep seedings below levels from just two years ago. USDA releases its first survey-based ...
By Informa PLC
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Less is more in Soybean row widths
Soybean production has continued to increase in the Northeast United States with more and more first time growers planting the crop and many experienced growers planting alongside corn crops. To save on time and expenses, some farmers plant soybeans with a corn planter in 30-inch rows instead of 7.5-inch rows with the regularly used grain drill. Dr. William Cox, a Cornell University scientist, ...
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A model farm for emissions studies
Anyone downwind of a pig barn knows that animal production facilities generate some notable emissions. Now Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have reported that preliminary findings from wind tunnel studies indicate that positioning farm buildings perpendicular to prevailing winds could help reduce odors from downwind lagoons or tanks. Wind speed and direction, topography, ...
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