Latest U.S. Department of Agriculture Stories

By Dennis O'Brien, ARSWith the help of genetic materials from a cow's rumen, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are developing new ways to break down plant fibers for conversion into biofuel.To convert corn stover and switchgrass into biofuel, the plant fibers must first be broken down into sugars. But cell wall polymers are cross-linked in various ways that make them very resistant to breaking down, according to Dominic Wong, a chemist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An enormous victory was achieved for animals this week when nearly 200 dogs and 54 cats were rescued from a North Carolina animal testing facility that closed its doors after an undercover investigation revealed apparent abuse of the animals by workers at the facility. Quick work on the part of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), in partnership with the Humane Society of the U.S. and more than a dozen animal shelters and rescues[1] succeeded...

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seventeen Pennsylvania projects were recently awarded $994,725 in federal grants to increase the visibility and market share of the state's produce, nursery, horticultural and nut products, Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding said today. The federal grants are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which was authorized under the federal Farm Bill. "Specialty crops are a significant part of...

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with computer manufacturer IBM and candy producer Mars Inc., have successfully mapped the genome of the cocoa-bean producing cacao tree--the first step towards sustaining and improving the world's chocolate supply.The findings, which were released on Wednesday and announced via press release, were a result of a partnership between the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS); the McLean, Virginia-based maker of Snickers bars...

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mars, Incorporated, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), and IBM released the preliminary findings of their breakthrough cacao genome sequence and made it available in the public domain. This is the result of a joint research endeavor to improve the cocoa growing process and represents a successful private/public partnership for the benefit of the world's cocoa farmers, and a more sustainable world cocoa...

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors discovered unsanitary conditions at the Iowa farms at the center of the recent egg recall, but failed to notify health authorities, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing government officials and documents as sources.The farm in question--Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa--is one of two linked to an ongoing salmonella outbreak which has caused nearly 1,500 people in the U.S. to fall ill. The company has recalled approximately 380...

Possible factors: Tight budgets, lack of compliance, a la carte itemsWith children going back to school, parents are concerned that their youngsters are staying fit and eating right, especially those who dine in a school cafeteria.New research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that children who eat school lunches that are part of the federal government's National School Lunch Program are more likely to become overweight.The same research study found, however, that children...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaspersoft, the world's most widely used business intelligence platform, today announced the Jaspersoft Business Intelligence Suite has been selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), to bring more cost savings and flexibility to their BI deployments. Federal agencies have come to know Jaspersoft for offering powerful, easy-to-use and cost-effective reporting and analysis, well suited for faster, more...

A comprehensive study of pollutants in a major Chesapeake Bay tributary revealed troublesome levels of nitrogen and copper that could flow into the Bay, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their cooperators.Scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and their collaborators conducted the study as part of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) for Maryland's Choptank River Watershed, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. CEAP began in...

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have developed a new tool for improving the expression of desirable genes in rice in parts of the plant where the results will do the most good.Roger Thilmony, a geneticist with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has shown that the LP2 gene promoter can be used to direct other introduced genes to express beneficial traits in specific plant tissues without the potential for causing unintended consequences. Thilmony works at the ARS Crop...