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Bees are essential to healthy, biodiverse ecosystems.
Photo by David Kosling, USDA
While there are native bees in the United States, some of which are managed for commercial production of many high-value and specialty crops, honey bees are more prolific and easier to manage, especially on a commercial level for pollination of a wide variety of crops. Honey bees are a critical link in U.S. agricultural production. About one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination. Commercial production of many high-value and specialty crops like almonds and other tree nuts, berries, fruits and vegetables depend on pollination by honey bees. But managed honey bees have come under serious pressures from many different stresses, which has resulted in beekeepers losing many colonies.
USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is using innovation and state-of-the-art technologies to enhance overall honey bee health and improve bee management practices. Our main focus is studying honey bee diseases and parasites and how best to control them, how stress levels and unpredictable and extreme weather conditions affect bee performance, and honey bee biology and genetics. ARS scientists are working on diverse projects and collaborating with agricultural agencies, universities, beekeepers, and industry groups to improve honey bee health and the health of all pollinators.
Together we can keep bees and other pollinators healthy, happy, and buzzing!
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) are helping American beekeepers solve the mystery behind a widespread honey bee colony collapse and its debilitating effects on U.S. agriculture. Research findings have identified high levels of deformed wing virus A and B and acute bee paralysis in all recently USDA-sampled bees.
These viruses are responsible for recent honey bee colony collapses and losses across the U.S. Since the viruses are known to be spread by parasitic Varroa destructor (Varroa) mites, ARS scientists screened the mites from collapsed colonies and found signs of resistance to amitraz, a critical miticide used widely by beekeepers. This miticide resistance was found in virtually all collected Varroa, underscoring the need for new parasitic treatment strategies.
Honey bees are facing larger and more diverse threats than ever before. The Four P’s (pathogens, pests, pesticides, and poor nutrition) are longstanding issues, and they are being exasperated by changes in weather conditions, fewer food and water resources, and having to re-establish in new environments. All these factors tend to overlap and interact with one another, which further complicates their survival and productivity. In addition, there are other issues that have impacts on honey bee health, such as the narrow genetic base of honey bees in the United States.
Below are some of the most pressing threats to honey bees and what we’re doing to mitigate these threats.
Parasites and Pests
Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are essentially a modern honey bee plague. The Varroa mite has been responsible for the deaths of massive numbers of honey bee colonies since its arrival in the United States in 1987. A native of Asia, Varroa normally parasitizes the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, which is a different species from the European or western honey bee, Apis mellifera, on which this country primarily depends for crop pollination.
Varroa mites directly damage honey bees by attaching and feeding on the fat body of the honey bee. They also indirectly damage honey bees because, similarly to mosquitos, Varroa mites also transmit an array of pathogenic viruses to honey bees such as deformed wing virus.
Beekeepers have identified Varroa mites as their single most serious problem causing colony losses today.
Small hive beetles, native to sub-Saharan Africa, were first found in the United States in 1996 and had spread to 30 States by 2014. Large beetle populations are able to lay enormous numbers of eggs. These eggs develop quickly and result in rapid destruction of unprotected combs in a short time. If large populations of beetles are allowed to build up, even strong colonies can be overwhelmed in a short time.
Wax moths arrived in the United States in 1998 in Florida. This can be a very destructive insect pest, damaging beeswax comb, comb honey, and bee-collected pollen. Wax moths are rarely the initial cause of colony failure but can overcome weak colonies.
Tropilaelaps mites are the most serious parasites of Apis mellifera in Asia. The parasitic mites feed on honey bees and serve as vectors for viral diseases like deformed wing virus (DWV), one of the leading causes of honey bee colony losses. DWV results in the death of immature brood and wing deformities in infested adult bees. Because the introduction of tropilaelaps mites into the United States would be added burden to the beekeeping community USDA's APHIS is monitoring the possible introduction of it into the United States.
Pathogens
Since the 1980s, many new exotic pathogens that infect honey bees have been found in this country. These include deformed wing virus, paralytic viruses such as Israeli acute paralysis virus, which was first found in 2004, European foulbrood bacteria, and Nosema ceranae fungi, which arrived in 2005. They have all become major problems for U.S. honey bees and beekeepers.
Honey bees' natural diet comes primarily from nectar and pollen gathered from a wide variety of flowers. Insufficient or incomplete nutrition has come to be recognized as an essential factor that weakens the honey bee's immune systems and is likely to make bees more susceptible to all of the other problems troubling them today.
As demand for pollination services grows, bee colonies often are kept for more time on sites in a mono-crop environment before being moved directly to the next mono-crop area. As more and more land is lost to urbanization and suburbanization, it also means a loss of habitat with a diverse mix of nutritious bee forage plants. In addition, when it comes to helping bee colonies survive the winter and droughts, both times when nectar supplies can be scarce for bees, beekeepers often provide an artificial diet. Scientists are still trying to perfectly duplicate a bee's natural pollen/nectar diet for those times of the year when good forage is not available.
ARS researchers are looking to perfectly duplicate a bee's natural pollen/nectar diet for those times of the year when good forage is not available. They are also studying different food sources that could provide more nutrition and health benefits for honey bees.
A survey of honey bee colonies conducted in 2010 by ARS researchers looked at 170 pesticides or their residues in honey bees, beeswax, and pollen. The data showed no consistent pattern of pesticide that differed between healthy and Colony Collapse Disorder affected colonies. The most commonly found pesticide in the study was coumaphos, which is used by beekeepers to treat honey bees for Varroa mites.
Photo by Preston Keres, USDA
The pesticide class neonicotinoids (for example, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid) has been accused of damaging or killing honey bees or being the cause of CCD even when the exposure is below the level expected to be toxic. The nicotine-based neonicotinoids were developed in the mid-1990s in large part because they showed reduced toxicity to wildlife compared with previously used organophosphate and carbamate insecticides.
The scientific data about the impact of pesticides and neonicotinoids in particular at environmentally and agriculturally realistic levels is mixed. Some findings have shown that neonicotinoids have sublethal effects on honey bees at or below approved doses and exposures. Documenting such sublethal effects is very difficult due to the many factors that can influence individual situations in field studies and during grower use including timing of use, health and nutritional state of the bees, total mix of pesticides, pathogens and parasites present, crop type, weather during the growing season, and accumulation of pesticides from year to year. Other studies have indicated that healthy colonies appear not to be impacted.
In January 2025, commercial beekeepers began reporting severe losses in commercially managed operations. These losses were reported just prior to almond bloom, the largest pollination event in the world during which more than 1.5 million colonies are staged in the U.S. Central Valley of California for a one-month flowering season. As losses unfolded, it was evident that over 60% of commercial beekeeping colonies had been lost since the prior summer, representing 1.7 million colonies with an estimated financial impact of $600 million.
ARS scientists collected samples across California in February 2025, prior to almond pollination. These samples were analyzed in the Beltsville, MD Bee Research Laboratory for known and novel pathogens (viruses, fungi, and bacteria) and parasites. The results of this research found unusually high levels of deformed wing virus A and B and acute bee paralysis in sampled honey bees from colonies that experienced severe collapse and loss during Winter 2025. These viruses are known to be carried by parasitic Varroa destructor mites, as well as the USDA-screened mites that showed resistance to amitraz, a critical miticide. Research results indicate that rotating miticides throughout the year may minimize miticide-specific resistance.
ARS researchers will continue to screen honey bees and their colonies for other known stressors and determine the best way to mitigate these stressors, mite infection, and subsequent colony loss.
Northern Giant Hornet
Photo by Stacy Herron, USDA
Northern giant hornets, Vespa mandarinia, formerly known as the Asian giant hornet, are the largest wasps in the world. At roughly 2 inches in length, this invasive species from Southeast Asia has distinctive markings: a large orange or yellow head and black-and-orange stripes across its body.
Though its native range extends from northern India to East Asia, the hornet has been found in western Washington State as well as Vancouver Island and Langley, Canada and is classified as an invasive species in the United States.
The northern giant hornet is a threat to honey bees in its native territory and could also endanger honey bees in the United States if it becomes established here. Recently, the northern giant hornet was eradicated from the United States. ARS researchers will continue to work with state and local governments to detect any future sightings of the northern giant hornet.
There are over 4,000 species of bees native to the United States, including leafcutter bees, bumble bees, alkali bees, mason bees and blue orchard bees, yet we have little information on the health, distribution, and population trends of most of these species. Several non-native bee species are managed for commercial production of many high-value and specialty crops like almonds and other tree nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. Leafcutter and mason bees of the genus Megachile are common members of the North American bee fauna, and many Megachile species are important pollinators of summer flowering crops and native plant species. Bumble bees are important pollinators of crops and wild land plants and are the primary pollinators for crops in greenhouses. While alkali bees, Nomia melanderi, are incredibly efficient pollinators of alfalfa. In Washington state, growers in the Touchet area have been managing alkali bees for over 50 years in bee beds adjacent to alfalfa seed fields.
Latest News On Native Bees
Grass Flowers Something to Buzz About
ARS scientists found a turfgrass that serves as a food source for five types of bees.
Beekeepers: Beekeepers can use best management practices including supplemental feeding in times of nectar/pollen scarcity.
The Logan BeeMail Shelter – a portable unit for managing cavity-nesting agricultural pollinators (James Cane, USDA Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit)
General Public: The best action the public can take to improve honey bee survival is not to use pesticides indiscriminately. In particular, the public should avoid applying pesticides during mid-day hours, when honey bees are most likely to be out foraging for nectar and pollen on flowering plants. In addition, the public can plant pollinator-friendly plants-plants that are good sources of nectar and pollen such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, joe-pye weed, and other plants. (For more information, visit www.nappc.org.)
An alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata) on an alfalfa flower. (Photo by Peggy Greb, ARS)
Blue orchard bee on a California five-spot flower. (Photo by Jim Cane, ARS)
The western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis. (Photo by Stephen Ausmus, ARS)
Hunt’s bumble bee, Bombus huntii, a native to the intermountain west. (Photo by Leah Lewis)
A honey bee being inoculated with Nosema to determine bee infection rates and immune responses.
Honey bee landing on a watermelon flower. (Photo by Stephen Ausmus, ARS)
Sweat bee visiting a dandelion. (Photo by Scott Bauer, ARS)
The blueberry bee, Osmia ribifloris, is an effective pollinator of commercial blueberries and is one of several relatives of the blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria. (Photo by Jack Dykinga, ARS)
A mustached mud bee, Anthophora abrupta. (Photo by Scott Bauer, ARS)
European honey bee with a Varroa mite on its back. (Photo by Scott Bauer, ARS).
Photo by Lance Cheung, USDA
ARS Bee Research Sites and Resources
Did you know? ARS bee research laboratories are located throughout the United States. Each of the labs focus on a wide range of issues that impact bee health.
Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Lab - Areawide IPM Project dedicated to bees
ARS Grand Challenge Synergy Project - creating pollinator landscapes and overwintering practices to increase pollinator populations in a changing environment.
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Our job is finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day, from field to table. ARS conducts research across the country and internationally to deliver scientific solutions to national and global agricultural challenges. One of those challenges is finding ways to reduce food loss and waste.
What is ARS’s Role in Reducing Food Loss and Waste?
ARS researchers are on the forefront of finding innovative solutions to help reduce food loss and waste. While the agency does not receive direct funding for food loss and waste programs, we conduct research nationwide that aims to reduce food loss and waste in homes, schools, farms, and businesses, as well as converting it into value-added products such as bioplastics, biochemicals, and biobased alternatives to fossil fuels.
Food loss and waste is a monumental problem, both in the United States and globally. Here in the United States, as much as one third of our food supply is wasted, including an estimated 31% of food at the retail and consumer levels.
Most people don’t realize how often they waste food and the negative impacts it can have for food security, the environment, and climate change. Safe and wholesome food that is currently thrown away could help feed millions of hungry families and reduce food insecurity here and around the world. Each year, Feeding America and its network of food banks rescues around 3.6 billion pounds of food. Unfortunately, this represents only a small percentage of wholesome food that could have been donated but instead ended up in a landfill.
When food is wasted, so is the land, water, labor, energy, and other inputs that are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, and storing food. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the United States, food is the largest category of material placed in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States.
And finally, food waste and loss costs money for everyone. Just looking at consumers, on average, a family of four could save more than $3,000 a year by reducing waste!
There are simple steps that everyone can take to reduce food loss and waste. Consumers, food producers, schools, businesses — we all have a role in this! Check out the section What is Your Role to learn how you can do your part.
Does the government play a role in this?
Absolutely! USDA is partnering with many local, state, and federal agencies to provide strategies and incentives to significantly reduce food loss and waste in America. The goal is to get everyone involved, from the farmers and growers to the retail stores and consumers.
Research is another critical factor for finding innovative, sustainable solutions for the food loss and waste problem. ARS has projects underway across the country designed to improve growing practices, breed fruit and vegetables that can better handle storage and transportation, find environmentally friendly alternatives to pesticides and sprays, develop new technologies to make processing and delivery more efficient, and turn post-harvest waste into usable foods and materials, including biofuels.
Below is a sampling of our innovative research projects, some of which have already been introduced in the marketplace.
Preventing Food Loss & Waste
Disease Detection in Farmed Salmon
A new detection method increases testing speed while maintaining accuracy for infectious salmon anemia virus.
What can I do to reduce food loss and waste?No matter your age, where you work, where you live, or what your occupation, you can take simple steps to reduce food loss and waste. Here are some examples, with links provided to make a bigger impact on this massive global challenge.
For Consumers
Before you go to the grocery store or order online, make a list so you don’t buy more than you need.
Only put on your plate what you intend to eat. You can also go back for seconds.
Pack leftovers in small portions in shallow containers, mark the contents and date, refrigerate, and use within 3 to 4 days or freeze immediately.
Recycle food scraps into compost, an organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Set up a home compost bin or drop your food waste at a local compost center.
Allow students to decline some components of a reimbursable meal as a way of providing choice and reducing waste (also called offer-versus-serve).
Extend lunch from 20 to 30 minutes, thereby creating more time for students to finish their lunches.
Create designated stations (share tables) where children can return whole and/or unopened food or beverage items they choose not to eat. These items are then made available to other children who may want another serving during or after the meal service.
Donate surplus wholesome food to a food bank or nonprofit.
Please join ARS in meeting USDA’s goal to reduce food loss and waste 50% by 2030!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is deeply committed to reducing food loss and waste, and we provide helpful tools and guidance as well as incentives for consumers, farmers, schools, and businesses to do their part in reducing our food footprint. If you would like to learn more about ways to reduce food loss and waste, check out the links below:
For more information on USDA efforts to reduce food loss and waste in America, contact: Dr. Jean Buzby USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison jean.buzby@usda.gov
View the 2024 USDA ARS Food Loss and Waste Report.
Not a fan of broccoli? Peppers have you seeing red?
Well, you might want to reconsider passing on those veggies and others. New research by a team of ARS scientists in Grand Forks, ND, reveals that increasing the quantity of vegetables in a person’s diet, even briefly, can have a positive impact on their mental wellbeing. That’s such a powerful message, and it’s something that is within people’s control. Learn more about the study.
Agriculture and energy development are often thought of as competing land uses, but ARS researchers in Las Cruces, NM, are working on a new concept called agrivoltaics that could provide a win-win for everyone involved. Rather than land being used for growing crops and raising livestock or hosting solar panels, the researchers believe it can be used for both, with panels situated several feet off the ground. At that height, they can provide shade for both plants and animals, improving animal health and shielding plants from the harshest sun. At the same time, the presence of plants underneath could also help the panels to function more efficiently. Does the future of farming include harvesting solar rays along with crops? Find out and learn more about this exciting new approach.
Good News Coffee Drinkers, There's an App for That!
Hawaii’s unique climate and volcanic soils make it an ideal growing location for several distinctive crops, including coffee and macadamia nuts. Recently, however, Kona coffee—one of Hawaii's most legendary and valuable agricultural crops—has been under increasing threats from two economically devasting foes, coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust.
Coffee leaf rust is a fungal pathogen that results in severe defoliation. Until 2020, Hawaii was the only major coffee producing region that was free of coffee leaf rust. The coffee berry borer, an insect pest that causes millions in losses of coffee beans each year, was discovered in Hawaii in 2010.
The delicious macadamia nut, another one of Hawaii's legendary crops, is also under threat from insect infestations and diseases. Early detection and identification of these threats is crucial.
Now, a team of ARS researchers in Hilo, HI, is providing growers with new apps to help manage these threats. Check out the apps.
Bees are essential to supporting both agriculture and ecosystems. But they are vulnerable to a number of different diseases that can endanger them and the plants they pollinate. Scientists at ARS are exploring solutions to help boost bees’ defenses and keep them buzzing.
Learn more about how researchers study disease in bees, and how they investigate possible treatments in the video A Honey Bee's Life.
Cattle grazing in Great Basin area. (Photo by Ben Sitz, Boise District Bureau of Land Management).
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Boise, ID, are using cattle to promote ecological restoration of western rangelands overrun by invasive grasses, such as cheatgrass and medusahead. The practice known as prescribed grazing, is intended to have livestock feed on the harmful grasses at specific places and times to promote protection from wildfires and enhance rangeland conservation.
Scientists at the Northwest Watershed Research Center in Boise, are working on a project to restore damaged rangelands using flexible management approaches. The project is part of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network of coordinated research sites across the nation that develop new management strategies focusing on agricultural productivity, environmental quality, and human well-being in conjunction with climate change.
“Cheatgrass and medusahead are two invasive annual grasses that are very problematic in the Great Basin and other areas of the west because these species are highly flammable,” said Pat Clark, ARS rangeland scientist. He added that the presence of these grasses causes more frequent wildfires, which often become megafires of 100,000 acres or more.
“We’re using prescribed cattle grazing as a tool that’s readily available on the landscape and applying it in a way that we can do this year-in and year-out,” Clark said. “We expect this will reduce annual grass presence and allow desirable plant species like perennial bunchgrasses and sagebrush to recover.
“We’ve been doing what’s called High-Intensity Low Frequency (HILF) grazing and it’s part of our LTAR Common Experiment, which contrasts prevailing and aspirational agricultural practices,” he explained.
The ARS team also conducted a more targeted grazing approach to protect people and resources from cheatgrass-fueled wildfires. Starting in 2017, Clark’s team partnered with western cattle ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management on a 5-year project to “evaluate the efficacy of targeted cattle grazing for fuel break creation and maintenance,” within the Great Basin areas of Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. While this project ended in 2023, ARS continues to collaborate with numerous livestock ranchers and growers to develop more lasting efforts to preserve and restore U.S. rangelands. – Tami Terella-Faram, ARS Office of Communications
Celebrate the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics and Get Ready for 2028 in LA!
While the Summer Olympics and Paralympics have come to a close, continue to follow ARS to hear from USDA Attorney Mary Zoldak as she shares the value and impact of training hard to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Watch our very own 2028 Olympic Hopeful – USDA Attorney Mary Zoldak
It’s difficult enough for any athlete to train and compete in one event, can you imagine training for five separate Olympic events?
Watch USDA Attorney Mary Zoldak as she trains while preparing for the five events of Modern Pentathlon that includes: fencing, freestyle swimming, cross country running, laser pistol shooting and the new obstacle course race, which replaces equestrian show jumping performed at the LA Games in 2028. As we recently witnessed, becoming an Olympian or Paralympian requires more than natural ability, it takes proper coaching, endless practice, perseverance, and, of course, good nutrition. A common thread that connects top-notch athletes from around the globe is eating a healthy balance of foods.
We here at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service are conducting groundbreaking research to help provide athletes of all ages with the nutritional fuel that keeps their competitive engines running at peak efficiency.
Mary Zoldak’s Road to the 2028 LA Olympic Games
4X Olympian Lauryn Williams Talks About Nutrition
Team USA Paralympians competing in Para Powerlifting and Para Athletics share the value of good nutrition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM3wgfZ0KEk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK__PESpfVY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_uAuH3hbTo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahdUXGMQXc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlVc1X5wDkI
Check Our Olympic Highlights!
We're talking to Olympians, Team Trainers, and Dieticians to learn how good nutrition keeps our top athletes fueled!
External Video
Eating Healthy, It’s A Race in Which You Can Excel
Visit Nutrition.gov To Live Your Best Life
Good Nutrition Can Accelerate Your Performance
Changes in Food Choices that Improve Performance
Food Groups that Keep You in Top Shape
Eating Right to Compete at the Highest Level
Adding Science to Your Diet
Team USA Shoutouts to ARS Scientists
https://youtu.be/Oqz7qkJ8PrU
https://youtu.be/L3eYkuSG7iY
https://youtu.be/vtkCLyXJoIg
https://youtu.be/mg7U3-4GU4E
https://youtu.be/WDZtbFcgYkk
https://youtu.be/QsKOXgXmSBM
https://youtu.be/BH3Sm7IPEH0
https://youtu.be/Xro7RzOzGCg
https://youtu.be/UBk3UenfiDY
Learn More About ARS Nutrition Research
Muscle Up To Some Protein Every Day
ARS researchers explore how regular protein consumption can ward off disability in older adults.
Careers for new scientists span a variety of disciplines in agriculture. Becoming a scientist requires dedication, creativity, and a strong desire to learn new things! Scientists provide new approaches and new technologies needed by consumers, producers, and industry. Want to know more? Check out the categories below; then, if you want, take a quiz!
An agronomist studies crops and soils and how they interact—and how farmers can get them to interact differently to grow better crops and keep the soil healthy. The crops may be field crops like corn, horticultural crops such as lilies and azaleas, aquatic (water) crops like cranberries, or conservation and pasture crops such as grass and clover. Read about this kind of research: ARS Research Prepares Farm Soil During Farming's 'Off-Season'
An animal scientist studies animal husbandry—the breeding and raising of livestock, such as cattle for milk and meat production. Animal scientists are always looking for better answers to many questions: What's the most nutritious and economical diet to feed a cow or a steer or a lamb or a chicken? What's the best way to try to make sure an animal mother has the most or the healthiest babies? Some animal scientists, such as veterinarians, also study livestock diseases and how to identify, cure or prevent them. Read about this kind of research: Animal Ethics, Agriculture, and Food Production.
A biologist studies living things, like plants and animals and microorganisms. Biologists examine the what's, where's, when's, why's and how's of these creatures. Ditto, for their requirements to stay alive and kicking and make seeds or eggs or whatever else it takes to produce a new generation. The many kinds of biologists include botanists, who specialize in plants, and zoologists, who specialize in animals. Some biologists specialize in the places where things live, such as the soil or the water—or even the insides of some other creature—like you! Read about this kind of research: Building a Better Bean
A botanist is a scientist who works with plants. He or she might specialize in one particular plant, like potatoes, or do research in how some plants are related to one another—like wild and modern strains of plants like tomatoes or wheat. A botanist can identify and describe different plants and seeds so others can tell exactly how they differ from and resemble each other. Another specialty might be plant habitats (where plants grow) and habits—not habits like drinking too many sodas, but how the plant grows, such as a vine that creeps along the ground rather than sending up a thick, strong stem. Read about this kind of research: The Duke of Herbs (and Medicinal Plants)
An engineer examines and tests the properties of matter and the sources of power in nature, with the goal of making new, better and more useful structures, machines and other products. There are many different types of engineers. Those in agriculture include civil, industrial, genetic, electrical, mechanical, chemical, hydraulic, electronic and agricultural engineers. An agricultural engineer, for instance, creates and improves ways—often related to farm machinery—to produce more and better food and fiber for us. Read about this kind of research: Watch What You Eat… From Space ARS Scientists Are Employing Manure to Help Dairy Farmers Tackle Climate Change
An entomologist digs up—sometimes literally—all kinds of information on insects, because these six-legged critters affect just about every aspect of agriculture—as well as daily life. So, it's important that entomologists know all they can about insects: the good, the bad and the ugly bugs. Where do certain insects live, what do they eat, and how do they survive the winter? How do they defend themselves from their enemies? In agriculture, some insects are bad guys—like boll weevils or corn earworms. Others, like bees, are critical to making honey and moving pollen—the powdery stuff that one flower gets from another so a fruit will form. Read about this kind of research: Biological "Green" Alternatives to Chemical Pesticides Do Bugs Bug You? ARS Works to Establish Lady Beetles in Hawaii
A food scientist, or food technologist, looks for better ways to select, preserve, process, package and distribute food products, including the ingredients that go into them. A food scientist also must have extensive knowledge on the nature, composition and behavior of food, such as what happens to its flavor, color or nutritional properties when cooked or placed in storage. Biology, microbiology, chemistry and engineering are just some of the diverse fields of study that food science draws on to ensure safe, high-quality consumer products. Read about this kind of research: The Nuts and Bolts of Peanut Breeding Egg-splaining Egg Safety Turning Food Waste into Healthful Delights
You might think of a horticulturist as part scientist and part artist. This scientist specializes in growing fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants, such as the kind in your yard or park. Part of this job includes coming up with new or different kinds of plants. Read about this kind of research: Researchers Harness the Sun’s Rays to Fight Strawberry Disease A New Way To Train Blackberry Canes
A hydrologist studies water and its properties, particularly as it behaves as rainfall or in lakes, streams and even in soil. A hydrologist's top interests include where water can be found and the cycle of its movement: from the time it lands on the Earth as rain or other precipitation, to its travels on, through and under the land and its eventual return to the ocean. Read about this kind of research: Water Vision 2050 ARS, NASA Join Forces To Monitor Earth's Water Supply
A microscopist is a unique investigator who specializes in seeing things super—"up close and personal." He or she uses a microscope to explore things invisible to the naked eye, like plant and animal cells, bacteria and viruses. Read about this kind of research: Electron & Confocal Microscopy Unit
A nematologist is a scientist who studies worms—but not earthworms. Instead, this scientist studies worms called nematodes or roundworms. These worms don't have segments like the earthworm does. Many of them are parasites that live on or inside animals or plants and cause trouble for them. So, you can see why agriculture would need this type of scientist. Read about this kind of research: A Suit of Armor for Biopesticides
A plant ecologist works with the big picture: the combination of many factors that affect how plants grow, such as climate, soil and other living things. Each influences whether or not a plant grows to be healthy and productive. Read about this kind of research: The Sweet Discoveries of the Sweet Corn Hybrid
Plant geneticists work with a plant's genes to search for and strengthen—or weaken—certain traits, like its tolerance to cold or the size or sweetness of its fruit. They also work to improve breeding methods and ways to make sure that future generations of a particular plant will have the traits farmers want it to have. Read about this kind of research: Pleasing Peppers for Garden and Plate Getting to the Root of the Matter New Cultivars Sweeten Sugar Industry
A plant physiologist studies the life processes in plants. Plants look like they basically just sit there in the soil. But they can be very busy with photosynthesis, taking in carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen, and responding to light, temperature, moisture, insect pests and chemicals—to name only a very few. A plant physiologist might specialize in one particular process or become an expert in one particular plant. Read about this kind of research: Using Ancient Apples to Improve the Future of Apple Breeding
A soil scientist studies ... uh, take a wild guess. He or she seeks to understand how soils form and their basic qualities or properties. For example, soils differ from place to place in part because they contain different ratios of clay, silt and sand. This can affect which plants can grow, how well they can grow, and what farmers may need to do differently to get the best results. Read about this kind of research: Want To Know What’s In Your Soil? There’s An App For That! The Significant Impacts of Carbon Sequestration on Soil Health
For more information about the many career paths in agriculture, check out the Faces of Agriculture: A USDA Speakers Series. Faces of Agriculture is an innovative video speaker series that aims to show students that agriculture is about more than just farming and expose students to the vast array of career paths related to agriculture.
A typical utility-scale single-axis tracking installation built on fallow ground in Las Cruces, NM. The solar panels are elevated 4 feet above the ground on pedestals and rotate from east to west to follow the sun. (Photo courtesy of Derek Whitelock)
'Agrivoltaics' – agriculture + photovoltaics, is a hot new idea that uses land for both growing food and making energy from the sun in states where there’s lots of sunshine and not much water.
Agrivoltaics involves placing solar panels in farm fields and ranches in Southwestern U.S. states like New Mexico. In addition to capturing sunlight to produce electricity, shade from the solar panels provides cover that can prevent plants and animals from overheating in the scorching sun. The results of this project will be both green crops and green energy – that can also produce revenue for farmers and ranchers. Learn more about this innovative research.
