NIFA Supports Disaster Education through EDEN

USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) supports disaster education through the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).

'Functional Ice' Shows Food Industry How to Keep Cool and Reduce Loss

Over 133 billion pounds of food per year is lost due to waste at different stages in the farm-to-fork continuum.

Video Games Offer Clues to Help Curb Animal Disease Outbreaks

As Asia and Europe battle African swine fever outbreaks, University of Vermont (UVM) research shows how farmers’ risk attitudes affect the spread of infectious animal diseases and offers a first-of-its kind model for testing disease control and prevention strategies.

Plastic Water Bottles May One Day Fly People Cross-Country

A research group led by Washington State University scientists has found a way to turn daily plastic waste products into jet fuel.

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Capacity Funding Power

NIFA released a new report that measures the effectiveness of its investments to our nation’s land-grant universities — investments that benefit the American public through agriculture and food research, extension, and education projects.

A Multistate Hive Mind of Research

Bees provide essential pollination for many of the nut, berry, fruit, vegetable, and seed crops grown in the U.S. To supplement wild bee pollination, farmers often rent managed honey bee colonies. Demand is skyrocketing, but catastrophic die-offs are threatening the supply of healthy honey bee colonies.

What Wild Bees Need

A new national assessment estimates that wild bees declined in 23 percent of the contiguous United States between 2008 and 2013. The team of Project ICP researchers, led by Insu Koh at the University of Vermont, found that the decline was generally associated with conversion of natural habitats to row crops. Areas of intense agriculture (e.g., the Midwest Corn Belt and the Central Valley of California) have among the lowest levels of predicted wild bee abundance.

60,000 Have Been Impacted by Beginning Farmer Programs

A new report, "Cultivating the Next Generation," examines the impact of USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), the only federal program explicitly dedicated to training the next generation of farmers.

Soybean Research May Reduce the Need for Nitrogen Fertilizer

A Washington State University (WSU) biologist has developed a way to increase soybean quality and yield by using the plant’s unique ability to pull nitrogen from the air.