Award Data

The modernization of the US swine industry has been critical to the sustainability and global competitiveness of US swine production. At the same time, modernization has also required dramatic changes in animal management. By housing pigs indoors, producers have caused the unintended problem of iron deficiency anemia in neonatal pigs. This problem has been further exacerbated by advances in geneti ...

Innovation in perishable foodstuff track-and-trace is of critical importance to cost and time-sensitive customers such as the food industry where spoilage is of concern, safety and security are paramount, and counterfeit and bio-terrorism prevention are urgent priorities. The proposed research would evaluate the feasibility of a low cost, highly accurate track and trace supply chain technology tha ...

The US is rapidly losing small-to-medium scale farmers. In the 10 years between 2007 and 1997, the U.S. lost over 11,000 farms and over 32 million acres of farmland. To save and attract new farmers to agriculture requires that farming be a profitable enterprise and that farmers have access to wholesale markets. Industry trends in consolidation and vertical integration, particularly in the meat ind ...

Fungi are microorganisms which are found throughout the world and are responsible for many natural processes including the decomposition of plant material and subsequent release of carbon, the preparation of food and beverages, as the source of pharmaceuticals, as well as the cause of a variety of diseases. It is estimated there are 1.5 million species of fungi in the world and the largest organis ...

Reducing foreign dependence on petroleum-based materials is a key to enhancing the US agricultural economy in the long-term. In recent years with the rising costs of petrochemical prices, there has been an increasing interest in renewable sourced specialty chemicals. Presently, less than 4 percent of U.S. chemicals sales are biobased in origin. A recent USDA analysis puts the potential biobased ch ...

This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I project is focused on the development of a chemical treatment for bast natural fibers called "In-Situ Polymeric Coating (IPC)". An IPC coating will enable kenaf, flax, jute and/or other bast natural fibers to replace fiberglass in thermoset structural composites. This concept involves an approach to A) solve the well known moisture absorption ...

It is currently time consuming and expensive to install water quality monitoring stations to report data on water quality to researchers and monitoring agencies quickly and efficiently. In this project, we will develop the technology to improve the gathering and reporting of such data. The end product after commercialization of the results of this project will be a novel system that provides real- ...

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THE PHYSIOLOGICAL-THERMODYNAMIC BASIS FOR HYBRID VIGOR (YIELD HETEROSIS) IN CORN AND OTHER CROPS IS NOT PRESENTLY KNOWN. THUS, DEVELOPMENT AND SELECTION OF INBRED LINES FOR HYBRID VIGOR RELIES ON GENERAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HETEROTIC GROUPS, NUMEROUS CROSSES, AND EXTENSIVE FIELD TESTS TO ACHIEVE THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE OF 1 TO 2 BU/ACRE/YR INCREASE IN YIELD. EACH COMMERCIAL HYBRID MAY COST FROM $1.2 TO $ ...

THE U.S. POULTRY INDUSTRY ADMINISTERS ABOUT 21 BILLION DOSE UNITS OF VACCINES YEARLY. THESE VACCINATIONS ARE GIVEN TO TO DAY-OLD BIRDS FOR SEVERAL VIRAL AND BACTERIAL DISEASES, AND SUBSEQUENT VACCINATIONS TO GROWING AND ADULT CHICKENS ANAND TURKEYS. ADDITIONALLY, 170 MILLION TURKEY EMBRYOS R RECEIVE ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT. THE WORLDWIDE POULTRY DRUG VACCINE MARKET REPRESENTS OVER $500 MILLION PR YEA ...