Hammer-time

Some herbs and vegetables we love to eat grow from extremely small seeds, like the size of a salt grain.  Planting these small seeds with precision can be expensive. 

In Salinas, CA, ARS developed a simple hand-operated planter, “Slide Hammer Seeder,” which can efficiently seed a variety of small-seeded herbs and vegetables. 

The Slide Hammer Seeder can be assembled using simple materials, and is useful for both farmers and home gardeners to more precisely grow their fruits and vegetables. Watch the video to learn how.

* Image courtesy of USDA

This is Exhausting

Farmers and growers typically combat weeds with chemical herbicides or manual removal, but those methods can be expensive, harmful to the environment, and labor intensive. ARS researchers in Auburn, AL, prototyped an innovative method to control weed growth by simply using engine exhaust heat.

The process involves a mechanical pusher that uses exhaust heat produced by a walk-behind tractor’s engine. The heat does not burn up the weed, but instead damages the plant tissues within the weed, killing the unwanted vegetation.

* Image courtesy of Getty Images

Eating Our Way to Fire Mitigation

ARS researchers in Boise, ID, have developed innovative methods to mitigate fires that are exacerbated by the increasing presence and dominance of weedy, highly flammable grasses. ‘Target grazing,’ involves strategically using cattle to graze on vegetation that is prone to catching and fueling fire.

Target grazing will simultaneously help to control invasive grasses without the use of chemical removal methods, reduce fire risks in wildland-urban interfaces, and effectively feed livestock in a sustainable manner. 

Be a Pro

ARS scientists in Dawson, GA, helped to develop Irrigator Pro, an agricultural decision support tool that helps farmers and growers schedule irrigation for corn, cotton, and peanuts. 

So far, Irrigator Pro has proven effective; in Georgia alone, peanut farmers have documented increases in peanut yield and grade by 400 pounds per acre – equaling an increased net revenue of $5.5 million per year. 

New Orleans, nicknamed the "Big Easy", is known far and wide for jazz music, cafes, spicy cuisine and the annual celebration of Mardi Gras. This vibrant city is also home to ARS's Southern Regional Research Center.

In honor of the Mardi Gras season, we're featuring research from the Big Easy including enhancing the quality and nutritional value of rice, boosting the cotton nonwoven industry, preventing of off-flavors in fish and developing efficient processing and quality in sugar for food and bioenergy production.

Check out these stories to learn more

Using More Cotton May Help Clean the Environment - A research team at the ARS Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, LA, is looking at ways to increase the use and utility of cotton fibers.

ARS Scientists Improve Nutrients and Add Value to Rice Crop - Rice, already the primary staple for half the world's population, is getting a makeover from a research team in New Orleans, LA. The results are a more healthful grain and many potential new products.

Refining the Appeal of a Regional Favorite - ARS researchers are throwing overboard the off-flavors in catfish to ensure better quality of U.S. catfish compared to imports.

Sugar Byproducts May Help Refresh the Environment - Scientists are turning that waste into products that can refresh the soil. Two examples involve mill mud and bagasse.

Rotten Tomatoes? Good for Movie Ratings, Bad for Your Meals

Anthracnose is a “rotten” disease that causes tomatoes to bruise and rot. It hangs onto branches and then when it rains drips down on the tomatoes, infecting them. Farmers typically use water management strategies and fungicides to minimize the amount of anthracnose that sticks to the tomato. ARS researchers are looking for an even better solution: breeding new lines of tomatoes that are resistant to anthracnose disease. Check out the video.

Fish the Desert? Farm the Inner City? With Aquaponics, Yes!

Aquaponics is an innovative blend of aquaculture and hydroponics. Fish and plants are grown together in a system where the fish live in a tank and their waste – poop and ammonia – is broken down by bacteria into fertilizer for plants. Carl Webster, research biologist at the ARS Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center in Stuttgart, AR, explained that the “wastewater” is an irrigation source that plants find nutritious and delicious in a soilless hydroponic environment. The plants associated with aquaponics typically include crops like lettuce, spinach, herbs, and even tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and peppers.

The result of this combination is a steady supply of fresh fish – channel catfish, hybrid striped bass, and tilapia – and vegetables that can be produced year-round just about anywhere, from an abandoned inner-city warehouse to a climate-controlled facility in the middle of a desert.

According to the United Nations, there will be more than 9 billion people living on our planet by 2050.

“We need to be smarter about how we grow food,” said Benjamin Beck, research leader at the ARS Aquatic Animal Health Research Unit in Auburn, AL. “Minimizing the space used to grow food and/or by growing more than one crop at the same time could help relieve pressure on land production of crops while still providing a locally grown source of food.”