News

Penn State students tackle apple harvest assist unit

In a small workshop, just north of the Ag Arena on Penn State’s University Park campus, Quinn Holland, a biological engineering major with the agricultural engineering option, talks about a half-assembled contraption that sits in front of him. T... more

New system could remove two water pollutants in fields

Algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico use up the majority of the oxygen in the water, leading to massive "dead zones" that cannot support fish or other wildlife. The culprit? Nitrate, running off agricultural fields through tile drainage systems. But ni... more

Traceability system has better processing, management functions

Dynamic Systems, a Redmond, Washington developer of real-time traceability systems, said it has made upgrades to the SIMBA Touchscreen and Tablet to provide faster processing at receiving. SIMBA gives the processor the ability to record, label ... more

Appointments made to fill USDA food safety leadership posts

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made two key appointments Aug. 1 to help fulfill the USDA mission to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply. Perdue announced that Carmen Rottenberg was selected as Acting Deputy Under Secretary for... more

SWD detected in wide range of fruit crops in Michigan

Michigan State University Extension fruit team members are wrapping up monitoring for spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) in crops that have been harvested, and SWD activity has now been detected in most locations where there are fruit crops being grown... more

Honeybee numbers outlined by USDA

USDA has released data regarding the status of honeybee colonies in the United States. The information came from National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board. Honeybee colonies for operations with five or more ... more

APHIS seeks comments on apple Malus cuttings’ proposal

The Pacific Northwest fruit tree industry has asked USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to remove dormant live apple (Malus spp.) cuttings from the Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Analysis (NAPPRA) list. APHIS conducted a ... more