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Here are recent headlines in Agriculture . You may also view headlines specified by other categories, shown to the left.
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Nike Helps Contract Factories Reduce Climate Footprint
Categories: Agriculture, Biofuel, Energy, Energy Systems, Green Business, Land Use, Manufacturing - Wednesday Apr 16, 2008 08:56Nike has completed the first phase of an energy-efficiency project aimed at reducing energy consumption within its footwear contract manufacturing base.
Integrated Perennial Weed Management On-Farm Research Mini-Grant Program
Categories: Agriculture, Funding Opportunities, Illinois - Monday Apr 7, 2008 09:49John Masiunas and Dan Anderson announce a mini-grant program (up to $500 per applicant) for farmers who want to try organic or sustainable methods to manage problem perennial weeds in Illinois and nearby regions of neighboring states.
The program’s goal is to develop integrated management approaches and increase your knowledge of and skill in managing perennial weeds. Perennial weeds persist several years and spread by seed and structures such as roots, tubers, and rhizomes. They are some of the most difficult challenges for many farmers. Examples of perennial weeds are Canada thistle, quackgrass, Johnsongrass, and yellow nutsedge. Approaches might include cover crops, suppressive crop rotations, scouting and early removal, tillage, biological control, mowing, and livestock grazing.
The online application form is available at https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/default.cfm?RegistrationID=1652
If you prefer a paper application contact Dan Anderson at (217) 333-1588 or mail:
John Masiunas
260 ERML
1201 W. Gregory Dr.
Urbana, IL 61801
Everyone applying for mini-grants will be sent a packet of information on perennial weed identification, biology, and integrated management approaches for their control. We will choose a limited number of farmers to participate based on your current farming system, farm location, the problem weeds, and innovativeness of your approach.
Beets: A Biodegradable Bonus for Earth-Friendly Plastics?
Categories: Agriculture, Green Products, Plastics, Recycling, Research - Monday Mar 31, 2008 08:55Read the full article from the Agricultural Research Service.
Sugar beets supply one-third of the world?s sugar. Each year, America?s $1.27 billion sugar beet industry generates about 40 million tons of pulpmost of which is used as an inexpensive livestock feed or disposed of at cost.
But ARS scientists in Peoria, Illinois, and Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, have teamed up on a project to breathe new economic life into the pulp. Led by ARS chemists Victoria L. Finkenstadt and LinShu Liu, the team has found a way to turn the fiber-rich pulp into a biodegradable filler material that could make polylactic acid (PLA) more cost-competitive with some petroleum-based thermoplastics, like polypropylene and polystyrene.
PLA is considered a promising natural alternative to such plastics because it is biodegradable and has comparable tensile strength and other mechanical properties. But PLA costs more because of the process by which it is obtained from fermented corn sugars.
Use of fillers helps manufacturers cut the cost of the product,? notes Finkenstadt, who is with ARS?s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria.
Food to fuel drives wheat prices
Categories: Agriculture, Biofuels - Wednesday Mar 26, 2008 08:46Read the full story at The Environment Report.
Short supply and high demand for wheat means prices are at record levels, and rising. But the high cost of wheat is bad news for people who buy it. And in North America, where most people?s diets are based on wheat, that means just about everyone.