The first step in minimizing grain spoilage from insects is to start with a clean bin. Grain-feeding pests can survive on residual grain, broken kernels, fines, foreign material and moulds accumulated inside grain bins and around the bin perimeter.
Get your grain bins ready for harvest
GRAIN BINS | Preparation tips to prevent spoilage and be safe
Scientists identify gene that could lead to resilient ‘pixie’ corn
A common gene in plants has been recently identified as a key transporter of a hormone that influences the size of corn.
AI tool to identify agricultural pests in development
Science Notes: Large machine learning models aim to quickly identify agricultural pests
Iowa State University researchers are developing large, vision-based artificial intelligence tools to identify and then recommend controls for agricultural pests. The researchers are one of the first teams to win computing support from the new National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot in the United States. The award will provide one million “node hours” of supercomputing […] Read more
Researchers build green fertilizer system to reuse wastes, cut emissions
Science Notes: Researchers also want to boost the project’s sustainability by using wind and solar energy to produce green fertilizer
Researchers from the U.S. Midwest want to remove some greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer. Research teams from Iowa State University and Wichita State University in Kansas are developing a system that captures waste nitrogen and carbon dioxide to produce a green fertilizer that reduces emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon […] Read more
Modelling nitrous oxide emissions
Science Notes: Farmland expansion seen as the predominant driver of N2O increases
A recent ecosystem modelling study conducted by Iowa State University scientists shows how crop production in the United States has led to an increase in the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, throughout the last century. Researchers drew on massive amounts of data, from weather patterns to soil conditions to land use […] Read more
Milkweed key to building monarch butterfly numbers
Science Notes: Monarchs appear to successfully migrate, but there’s concern about declining numbers
A recently published analysis of data on tagged monarch butterflies migrating from the United States to Mexico emphasizes the importance of creating new habitat to ensure the future of the species’ iconic migratory pattern. The study, published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, drew on data collected on 1.4 million monarch butterflies […] Read more
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