Award Data

Project Description and Objectives:The overarching goal of this SBIR project is to develop a cost-effective, small-scale milk processing line for HTST pasteurization as a pathway to increased revenue and profitability for small and mid-size dairy farms. Intensive research will answer critical questions in two key areas: 1) Technical Feasibility - analysis of currently available processing line com ...

In the US alone, 3 billion pounds of consumed fresh tomatoes are grown in greenhouse farms. These farms improve food security, require less land, and consume less resources; however, for these farms to operate, large labor forces are needed to maintain, harvest, and package the tomatoes. These jobs, though paying well above minimum wage, do not attract local workers and force farmers to use immigr ...

Autonomous Vehicle Regulation:The time is ripe for introducing Autonomous Vehicles (AV) to the agricultural market. Michigan is the nation's leader in AV regulations, having passed 5 laws regulating AV operation in 2015 and 2016. On December 9, 2016 Governor Snyder signed into law PA 332 which allows for autonomous operation on any Michigan public road at any time and for any purpose without a ...

The importance of improving postharvest handling can be understood in terms of the primary impact of poor postharvest care--food loss. Technologies for improving postharvest handling focus on extending the shelf life of the fruit or vegetable while maintaining or improving upon the quality of the produce. A major achievement in prolonging produce storage life has been the implementation of cold st ...

Non-Technical SummaryAquaculture is the fastest growing segment of the global food industry and plays an increasingly important role in feeding the world's population. Intensive aquaculture using increased stocking densities, compressed rearing cycles, monocultures, antibiotics, and other strategies aimed at efficient protein production has been complicated by outbreaks of known and newly emer ...

Milk samples are a rich matrix of diagnostically relevant biomarkers that capture the acute physiology of the dairy cow. Almost all serological ELISAs are applicable in milk and, as forensic technologies continue to become a superior diagnostic tool in the dairy industry, the use of genetic markers in milk are becoming the forefront of dairy molecular diagnostics. Established national DHI sampling ...

To this date there are no commercially available tick traps. A simple tick trap will provide a method for detection of ticks that users can use to make informed decisions about timing appropriate pesticide applications, thus minimizing total pesticide use. Additionally, the traps can be deployed to mass-capture ticks, so that the devices can provide a pesticide-free intervention for controlling ti ...

Carotenoids, the basic source of yellow, orange and red, are among the most common, naturally occurring pigments. Because of their antioxidant properties and colors, currently, carotenoids are used commercially as feed additives, natural food colorants,??dietary supplements and cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, most of carotenoids used industrially are chemically synthesized from ...

As biodiesel production in the USA increases, bottlenecks in feedstock appear likely. Several companies have formed to investigate novel forms of conversion of lower cost feedstocks but all have found the same substantial hurdle, meeting the 15PPM sulfur specification of ASTM D6751. Numerous experiments have shown that low-cost fats, oils and greases may contain 300 - 500PPM sulfur and that no sin ...

This SBIR Phase I project aims to develop a novel ultrafast cooling device and companion cell suspension processing device that significantly reduce the need for cryoprotectants and improve the post-thaw viability and functionalities of livestock semen and embryos. These products will potentially greatly facilitate application of livestock artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer (ET) tech ...