Award Data

Shellfish aquaculture is a rapidly expanding agricultural industry in the United States, with landings more than doubling in the last 5 years and creating many new jobs. Culture techniques and the water-filtering nature of oysters make them a very low impact crop with arguably, a net benefit to the environment (a unique trait compared to other intensively farmed proteins). Comprised of salt and br ...

The purpose for this research is to develop a Snow Water Equivalency (SWE) sensor that will broaden our understanding/management of snow and the water we receive from it.Importance of the ProblemSnowpack is very important to the United States' water budget with 85% of freshwater runoff originating as snowmelt in the west, and nine significant floods of the 20th century were directly related to ...

Sheep ranching and wool production have been a part of our country & #8223;s rural heritage for more than a hundred years, with small and mid-sized ranches serving as the backbone of our country & #8223;s sheep operations. Presently, small operators account for more total ewes than larger operations. This means that small ranches offer the best potential for growth of sheep operations in the futur ...

Diesel engines are critical to the agriculture sector--and in many other applications--due to their strong performance and vaunted durability. However, despite their many benefits, these engines are tied to the dirty emissions and price volatility of Diesel fuel. This Diesel dependence puts pressure on manufacturers to meet increasingly stringent emissions standards, and forces users to accept inc ...

The Illinois Soybean Association and the USDA initiated and supported the original research project that produced the prototype Global Food in 3?D and underlies the proposed new product, Global Feed in 3?D. The expected user groups were small and mid?sized farmer leaders and allied analysts and stakeholders as a result of the research's original design and goals. The research outcome of this ...

Through previous grant awards from IES, researchers developed Graspable Math, a tablet-based intervention where middle and high school students create and manipulate complex expressions for basic operations as well as equations and equations systems and inequalities. In this project, the team will develop a prototype of Graspable Math Activities, an app with novel kinds of algebra practice and ass ...

There is a large demand for high quality, locally-grown hops by craft brewers throughout the U.S. Farmers are increasingly looking at establishing small-scale (¼ acre to 5 acres) commercial hop yards to supply this demand. Commercial hop yard infrastructure and harvest equipment currently available for purchase are not practical for many of these farms because they can be too expensive. While man ...

The Goal of Mobility Coach is to Improve Rural Seniors` Return to Mobility and Function after Hip or Knee Replacement SurgeryThe number of hip and knee replacements is skyrocketing as rural patients are living longer and want to maintain their independence and mobility without pain. Ongoing support from physical therapists is required to make the rehab portion successful. However, low proximity to ...

Shading vegetables and fruits can reduce temperatures resulting in improved fruit set, increase fruit size and quality, and reduce water consumption. Shading materials for reducing light intensity or transmission have been used extensively in the nursery industry as well as with large commercial growers of high value fruits and vegetables for many years. The physiological processes of plants have ...

Through the proposed USDA SBIR program, NanoSonic will provide wildland firefighters with lightweight, highly breathable, 2-way stretch fire protective garments with a previously unavailable combination of breathability, thermal protection, flexibility, and comfort during wildland firefighting operations. While current PPE garments meet NFPA 1977 standards, they are often criticized for their infl ...