Award Data

Current agriculture and off-road equipment requires the use of lubricants to ensure efficient operation of integral hydraulic and gear driven systems. The lubricants, either oils or greases, aid in reducing friction, dissipating heat, prevent oxidation, and seal of water and debris from vital areas of the equipment. During operation, equipment may have slight leaks or suffer catastrophic failures ...

The one-step cane sugar process respondsto the USDA NIFA SBIR Program Priorities in regards to agriculturally related manufacturing technology and energy efficiency. The technology developed from this project will (1) reduce the energy and water consumed per cane sugar product, (2) provide an economic alternative for producing U.S. Food Grade sugar worldwide, (3) eliminate hazardous solid waste pr ...

The project focuses on making solar energy affordable to meet the basic energy needs for low-income, rural households. By focusing on solar energy as the source, this project addresses the societal challenge area relating to global change & amp; sustainable energy.Our goal is to substantially reduce the system cost to address essential energy needs, providing on the order of 10kWh per day with ene ...

Drought is a major constraint on crop productivity and a significant risk for American farmers. The challenges associated with drought are likely to increase due to climate change, which will increase temperatures and alter precipitation patterns. Adapting the nation & #39;s agricultural system to water-limited conditions is a major priority to ensure food security and sustainable farm economics. ...

In studies conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was estimated that approximately 48 million new cases of food-related illness, resulting in 3,000 deaths and 128,000 hospitalizations, occur in the United States annually. These estimates, although lower than previous estimates, confirm that foodborne illness continues to be a problem. Together with the mortality and quali ...

A leading public health problem affecting individuals world-wide is food poisoning. Pathogen contamination of post-harvest food sources is a major health issue. There is a wealth of information and data that indicate that the occurrence of infectious gastrointestinal diseases is globally on the rise; and that food-borne pathogens can readily adapt to environmental changes, contributing significant ...

The incidence of food borne outbreaks associated with Salmonella has risen steadily since the mid1970's. The monetary cost of salmonellosis has been estimated at $4 billion annually. The primarycause of salmonellosis has been linked to the consumption of eggs or egg products containingSalmonella enteritidis and 80% of all eggs consumed in the United States are transported to thepurchaser in the ...

In the U.S., there are more than 135,000 captive deer and elk on 2,000 ranches in 42 states. Someranchers have used deer to replace or supplement traditional livestock. Primary products of deer aremeat and velvet antler, and the industry is growing. We propose to assist the industry and regulatoryagencies using molecular genetics. Ranchers want genetic tests to help establish breeding programs ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project investigates the rapid detection ofstaphylococcal contaminated foods. Staphylococcal food poisoning continues to be a major publichealth concern being the second leading cause of bacterial food poisoning in the United States. Thebacteria secrete staphylococcal enterotoxins and as little as 0.1¿g of SEA can produce the clinicalfeature of st ...

Many crop residues, feed byproducts, forages and other biomass have little or no nutritional value asanimal feed. Lignin in these materials is the most significant factor that limits the availability ofstructural carbohydrate (i.e., cellulose and hemicellulose) to microbial flora of ruminant animals.Many chemical treatment methods have been investigated and most result in the production ofundesir ...