Summer Sunshine Award Winners!

From the USDA:

Posted by Sarah Stever, Program Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service, Western Region, on January 23, 2015 at 10:00 AM

On June 13, 2013, FNS staff participated in a Summer Food Service Program Kick-off event in Sacramento, CA.

It may be the middle of winter, but at USDA, we like to celebrate the success of our Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) all year long.  Therefore, the Western Regional Office is thrilled to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2014 Summer Sunshine Awards.  A total of eight organizations across the region received Sunshine Awards in 4 unique categories in recognition of their standout efforts in operating the SFSP.  The programs impact in local communities depends on the hard work of state agencies, partnering organizations, local sites and sponsors.  These awards only begin to show our appreciation for the dedication, innovation, and passion behind the respective organizations.

In the category of Strategies to Promote Nutrition and Wellness, California’s Riverside Unified School District was awarded the honor for employing innovative strategies by collaborating with local partners to provide nutrition education and physical activities at summer meal sites. The Boys and Girls Club of Ada County in Idaho was also awarded the distinction for their incorporation of fresh local produce into summer meals and offering opportunities for physical activity to children at their summer meal sites.

Two deserving winners of the Reaching Rural and Underserved Communities award emphasize the importance of thinking outside the box to provide nutrition to more children in the summer time.  Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission of California expanded their summer meals program to seven rural communities by partnering with USDA’s Rural Development.  In Washington, Entiat Valley Community Services Food Bank was awarded the distinction for their innovative approach to opening sites in areas of high need, conducting massive media campaigns, and networking with various community partners to ensure meals were delivered to sites in rural areas.

In the category of Successful Community Partnerships, the Des Moines Area Food Bank of Washington was chosen as a recipient for their successful community partnerships resulting in a variety of physical activity and nutrition education workshops at summer meal sites.  An Above and Beyond Honorable Mention was awarded to Auburn Unified School District for expanding community partnerships and providing physical activity and nutrition education classes every day of the week at summer meal sites.

For Program Expansion in Local Communities, the award recipient was the Boys and Girls Club of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, for their efforts in expanding summer meal sites in the community by collaborating with local partners to make meals available for the children of Sequim and Port Angeles.  Nye County Unified School District of Nevada received an honorable mention for their innovative mobile feeding program using the school “mail” van to deliver meals and traveled with a local “book mobile” to increase summer reading and engage children while eating.

Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions and a huge thank you from all of us at FNS for the delicious meals and engaging programs you provide to children during the summer months.  We look forward to more successes and best practices from each and every Summer Sunshine awardee during summer 2015!



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USDA Foods Hatches New Chicken Product for Schools

From USDA:

Posted by Lindsay Walle, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Food Distribution Division, on January 21, 2015 at 10:00 AM

USDA’s new unseasoned chicken strip provides school chefs with versatile and healthy options.

School lunches have evolved since many of our childhood days to keep pace with new dietary guidelines and school meal patterns, but one food has been an enduring component: chicken.  The popular protein graces the center of the plate in a variety of forms and flavors, and the new USDA Foods unseasoned chicken strip provides school nutrition professionals with a versatile and healthy option to add to their recipes.  USDA develops new products for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) based on feedback from states and school districts.  Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how chicken flies the coop from farms to a pilot program to cafeterias across the country.

Did you know that on any given day, USDA Foods comprise 15 to 20 percent of the value of food served on the lunch line, or that the School Year 2015 Foods Available List contains more than 200 options?  For more than 70 years, USDA has provided states with 100 percent American grown food for school lunches to support the dual mission of strengthening our nutrition safety net and supporting American agriculture.  The unseasoned, non-breaded chicken strip is just the latest contribution to a long history of providing nutritious foods for school meals.

The idea for the new product hatched when USDA staff heard from many states and school districts interested in a more versatile, lower sodium chicken option for their meal programs.  USDA Foods already offered the popular fajita chicken strips with seasoning, but schools expressed interest in a chicken strip without seasoning so school chefs could adapt it for multiple recipes.  The new product is perfect in salads, wraps, burritos, and stir fries, among other dishes.  While the lower sodium content and the easy-to-use “strips” assist schools in meeting new meal pattern requirements.

USDA asked states to volunteer for a pilot program to test out the new chicken strip.  Nine states representing all seven Food and Nutrition Service regions were selected to order the product and try it out during the fall of 2014.  USDA staff then surveyed participants to get their feedback on the chicken strip’s taste, texture, and ease of use in the kitchen.  Their input was overwhelmingly positive, and with a few tweaks, all states are able to order the product for schools to serve in spring 2015.

Are you a school nutrition or food service professional with ideas for new USDA Foods for the NSLP?  If so, USDA would love to hear from you!  You can send your comments to USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.

To learn more about FNS nutrition assistance efforts, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usdanutrition.

Spraying Smarter Strengthens Strawberry Production

From USDA:

Posted by Amanda M. Hils, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, on January 6, 2015 at 10:00 AM

Thanks to a USDA NIFA grant, strawberry growers in Florida are benefiting from a smart system that helps them time spraying to prevent diseases – saving the farmers money while minimizing the environmental impacts. The system is being adapted for growers in other states.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

With the U.S. being the world’s leading producer of strawberries, the success of these tart and sweet treats is essential to the economy of a state like Florida. In fact, with a $366 million-per-year industry, the state comes second only to California as the nation’s largest strawberry producer. Naturally, strawberry growers are looking for ways to sustain their harvests and profitability.

Enter Natalia Peres, University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center professor of plant pathology.  With funding from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peres and her research team developed an online web tool, the Strawberry Advisory System (SAS), which helps farmers spend less money on fungicides yet achieve better results with what they do spray.

Peres and doctoral students performed thorough testing before releasing SAS. Traditionally, Florida strawberry farmers spray crops once each week from November to March to prevent attacks of botrytis and anthracnose, the two most deadly fruit rot diseases for strawberry. Peres’ monitor communicates with farmers through their computers and mobile technology to alert them of an adverse disease index; meaning that the combination of leaf wetness, air temperature, and other factors have combined to create a perfect environment for disease. Once alerted, farmers can spray their crops and then log the information onto a website where each spray is tracked, the indexes are logged, and spray advisories given.

“This system is a prime example of something we like to call the ‘Internet of Agriculture Things.’ It is showing how Internet-enabled technologies can be used to achieve the kind of healthy, cost-effective, high-yield crops we will need to feed the burgeoning global population while ensuring competitiveness of the American farmer,” said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director.

With 96 percent of Florida strawberry producers reporting cases of botrytis, 40 percent with yearly cases of anthracnose, and 30 percent with anthracnose every 3-4 years, fungicides are a necessary – and hefty – bill. However, SAS may be just what Florida’s farmers are looking for.

“The impact it has in Florida is already clear in the profits—spraying less and getting the same effects helps the economic situation, as well as positively impacting environmental causes,” said Peres. “The reduction in spraying also means that producers are preserving the chemicals they still have. Resistance caused by over-spraying is lessened, so chemicals are available for use longer when producers really need them.”

Peres received a $2.9 million Specialty Crops Research Initiative award in 2010 and another in 2014 for $1.3 million. She plans to expand SAS into South Carolina in the spring of 2015 after proving it also works successfully in Iowa, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education, and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues that impact people’s daily lives and the nation’s future.

A Year of Promise for American Agriculture

From USDA:

Posted by Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, on December 19, 2014 at 2:00 PM

It’s not hard to list our accomplishments here at USDA: After all, our progress on the much anticipated 2014 Farm Bill has been lauded as “the most successful Farm Bill implementation.” We also launched a website for New Farmers and started a conversation with women in agriculture that will continue to grow for many years to come.

What is sometimes less obvious is the people whose lives these programs and initiatives impact. So, to wrap up the year, I wanted to share a few of my most cherished memories from my first year as Deputy Secretary.

1. This year, I was honored when Secretary Vilsack asked me to lead the team of USDA employees charged with implementing the Farm Bill and especially excited to work on provisions that impact veterans. I was also proud to announce last month that Karis Gutter will be USDA’s military liaison, a position created by the Farm Bill based on the strong demand for veterans to get into farming. Karis will be instrumental in helping people like disabled veteran and outdoorsman Jason Seaton of East Tennessee achieve his dream of bringing wildlife back to his farm.

2. Farming is a tough business especially when you did not grow up on the farm, but that didn’t stop Pam Schreiber from building her own diversified agricultural business, all while raising her three children. I had the privilege of meeting Pam last winter. Now the owner of Eight Mile Creek Farm in upstate New York, Pam produces more than 30 different kinds of fruits and vegetables, certified organic grass-fed beef, pork, and heritage chicken, as well as cage-free organic eggs. To help people like Pam find information and resources to help them get started, this year we launched www.usda.gov/newfarmers.

3. This past summer, I had the honor of traveling with the first-ever, all-female congressional delegation to Africa to focus on empowering women around the world through agriculture. I met a wonderful young woman named Yetemwork Tilahun who is working with USDA’s Feed Enhancement for Ethiopian Development project to boost milk production on her dairy farm through better feeding practices and farm management. Around the world, USDA is building strong communities and giving farmers the resources they need to do what they love.

4. This year also brought about a new discussion on women’s evolving role in agriculture and what lies ahead. At the White House, I gathered with women from different agricultural backgrounds to discuss ways to inspire the next generation of women leaders.

One woman in particular, Kate Danner, a young farmer in Illinois, is already thinking about what is going to happen to her family’s operation over the next 20 years. After completing her college degree, Kate worked up an innovative business plan for her family farm alongside her father. For the first five years of this plan, Kate works for her father. For the next five years, Kate and her father are joint partners. And for the final five years before full transition, Kate’s father works for her. This young woman continues to trail blaze in what has commonly been a very difficult conversation for parents and their children to have about succession planning.

5. This summer, the White House chose 17 individuals that represent the future of agriculture to honor at a Champions of Change event. Coming from both rural and urban backgrounds, these champions showcased the passion that is evident across all areas of the agriculture industry. For instance, Pierre Sleiman of California took his passion for science and technology and started a hydroponics business, while Fabiola Nizigiyimana started her agriculture career in the United States as a refugee.

I wish I could share the stories of every single person I met this year. Each one of them exemplifies the very best of agriculture and rural America. I am proud of all that USDA has accomplished in 2014, and look forward to seeing new faces and hearing more incredible stories in 2015.

A Potato's Eye on Idaho Agriculture

From USDA:

Posted by Vince Matthews, Idaho State Statistician, National Agricultural Statistics Service, on December 11, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Idaho potatoes – the phrase rolls off the tongue easily because Idaho leads the country in growing potatoes. Check back next week as we spotlight another state and the results of the 2012 Census of Agriculture.

The Census of Agriculture is the most complete account of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Every Thursday USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will highlight new Census data and the power of the information to shape the future of American agriculture.

When it comes to potatoes, Idaho is #1. Results of the 2012 Census of Agriculture confirmed it. According to the census, Idaho farmers led the United States in acres of potatoes harvested, at 345,217 acres. And believe it or not, this was done by only 794 farms. On these farms, 58 percent of the potato harvested acres were for the fresh market and 42 percent were for processing.

Of course, the other parts of our agriculture are no small potatoes either. Overall, in 2012 we had 24,816 farms in our state, and our farmers sold more than $7.8 billion worth of agricultural products. Nearly a third of that amount – $2.3 billion – came from milk sales. Only three states, California, Wisconsin, and New York, had more milk sales than Idaho. Idaho’s Gooding County ranked fourth in the nation for milk cow inventory. The 2012 census counted nearly 179,000 head of milk cows there.

When it comes to crops, barley is one of the biggest commodities grown in Idaho. Nearly a quarter of all U.S. barley came from our growers. In 2012, they produced more than 51 million bushels of this important crop. Nearly 600,000 acres of Idaho farmland were dedicated to barley. We were also one of the top states for winter wheat, with more than 738,000 acres.

We also have plenty of less conventional agriculture, which was captured by the census. For example, 74 farms raised peacocks and peahens in Idaho in 2012. We also had 276 farms that raised llamas and 20 farms that raised bison. This less conventional agriculture was not limited to livestock. In 2012, the census also counted six farms growing boysenberries and 13 farms with currants.

This is just a snapshot of Idaho’s agriculture. Our state has a lot more to offer from both the conventional and the less traditional sides of agriculture. To see more of Idaho’s 2012 Census of Agriculture results, check out www.agcensus.usda.gov.

Alcatraz Gathering

From National Park Service:

Every year, Alcatraz Island hosts an Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering on the morning of Thanksgiving to commemorate the occupation by the "Indians of All Tribes" from 1969 to 1971#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

American Farmers Benefit from APHIS Bird Repellent Research

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Gail Keirn, USDA APHIS Public Affairs Specialist, on April 25, 2014 at 10:00 AM

A captive horned lark is offered lettuce seedlings treated with a bird repellent. Photo by USDA Wildlife Services

California is the “bread basket” of American agriculture. In 2012, California’s 80,500 farms and ranches produced a record $44.7 billion in produce, dairy, and meats. With more than 400 crop varieties grown in the State, California produces nearly half of all U.S. grown fruits, nuts and vegetables.

To help ensure this basket stays full, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) partners with APHIS Wildlife Services (WS) to address wildlife damage issues to agriculture. Some of the more recent work involves the development of repellents to protect crops from birds.

Birds can cause substantial damage by feeding on newly planted or ripening crops.  For example, horned larks damage lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, turnips, and peas; American crows damage almonds; great-tailed grackles eat a variety of citrus crops; and wild turkeys consume an assortment of crops from corn and wheat to strawberries, peanuts, and ginseng. In a recent study, WS economists estimated bird damage to California’s wine grape, blueberry, and cherry crops alone accounted for $64 million in losses each year.

From 2010-2013, WS experts at the National Wildlife Research Center and colleagues at the University of Mississippi and Arkion Life Sciences LLC conducted a series of CDFA-funded studies to test the effectiveness of an anthraquinone-based bird repellent to protect almonds, lettuce, melons, and ginseng from bird damage. Some anthraquinones, which occur naturally in plants, have been reported to cause repellency in some animals. In addition, anthraquinone absorbs near-ultraviolet (UV) light (a portion of the light spectrum not visible to humans) that is visible to birds.  This visual cue may facilitate its repellency effect in birds.

In studies with captive horned larks, American crows, great-tailed grackles, and wild turkeys, scientists identified the minimum amount of an anthraquinone-based repellent needed to reduce bird consumption of repellent-treated crops by at least 75 percent.  One study also discovered that wild turkeys that ate 100 milligrams of anthraquinone subsequently avoided food treated only with an UV-absorbent cue.  Researchers conclude that UV cues could be used to enhance the effectiveness of repellents and, once birds gain experience, could be used to fool them into avoiding UV-treated crops that do not include repellent applications.  These studies aid in the development and registration of economically-feasible, safe, and effective bird repellents for use on food crops.

To learn more about WS research related to bird damage to agriculture, please visit our Web site.

Researcher with NIFA Roots Earns International Prize

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Scott Elliott, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, on April 25, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Jorge Dubcovsky, professor of plant sciences at University of California–Davis, is co-winner of the 2014 Wolf Prize in agriculture. Photo courtesy of Jorge Dubcovsky

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine.  Today we look at USDA support for a researcher striving to improve wheat through developing better disease resistance, nutritional value, and yield.

One of America’s most renowned agricultural researchers, a man who has already collected two of the USDA’s top honors, has now earned international recognition with the Wolf Prize in Agriculture.  The Wolf Foundation began awarding six prizes – agriculture, the arts, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and physics – in 1978 to recognize outstanding scientists and artists for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples.

Jorge Dubcovsky, a professor of plant sciences at the University of California–Davis and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute–Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation investigator, is sharing the Wolf Prize with Leif Andersson, from Uppsala University in Sweden.  Dubcovsky’s previous awards include USDA’s National Research Initiative Discovery Award and the USDA Secretary’s Honor Award.  Dubcovsky will receive the Wolf Prize June 1 at Knesset Israel (the Israeli Parliament) from Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Dubcovsky is a plant geneticist who works with wheat to improve disease resistance, nutritional value, yield, and adaptability to a changing environment.  Over the years, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has provided more than $15 million to fund more than 20 of Dubcovsky’s research projects.

“NIFA funding has been the central pillar in the support of my research,” Dubcovsky said.  “These grants support critical crop research and crop improvement and provide valuable resources for the public breeding programs to organize themselves at a national level through Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) grants.”

One of his recent NIFA grants is a $5 million Triticeae CAP (TCAP) project to improve barley and wheat germplasm.  Triticeae is from the family of grasses that includes wheat, barley, and rye.  Wheat products alone account for about 20 percent of calories consumed by humans.

Dubcovsky’s TCAP team used markers to identify the gene variants that control the most desirable of the plant’s traits.  They then created a “Triticeae Toolbox” to provide this information to plant breeders so they can develop improved wheat and barley lines.  Further, the team is developing a national education network to train 29 doctoral candidates in plant breeding.

TCAP also features collaborations with minority-serving institutions to attract new students to the agricultural sciences, which is important to the professor.  “I hope (that the Wolf Prize) will help my program attract brilliant and enthusiastic young researchers,” he said.

As a side benefit, growers of follow-on crops may also profit from Dubcovsky-led wheat research.  According to an article published May 14, 2013, in Crop Science, three bread wheat varieties created by TCAP carry a gene that is resistant to root-knot nematodes (plant-parasitic worms).  The wheat encourages the nematodes to grow, but the worms cannot eat the wheat.  As a result, they starve, do not reproduce, and die out – which allows the next crop to grow in a relatively nematode-free field.

Looking to the future, Dubcovsky – who was born and raised in Argentina and received his bachelors and doctoral degrees in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires – is enthusiastic about employing new high-throughput sequencing technologies.  “We will continue pushing hard to complete the sequencing of most wheat genes across our mutant populations,” he said.  “We expect to have a public database where people can search for available mutations and then request the seeds.  We think this will be a fantastic resource to study gene function in wheat.”

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education, and Cooperative Extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future.

How do You Prepare for this Year's Fire Season? Tune in Friday with #PrepareAthon!

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Leo Kay, U.S. Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, on April 23, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Prepare your home and family for wildfire season. Click to enlarge or download.

With yet another busy fire season around the corner, the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE and the U.S. Fire Administration decided to take to social media and talk about America’s PrepareAthon!, which is a nationwide, community-based campaign for action to increase emergency preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific drills, group discussions and exercises conducted at the national level every fall and spring.  Wildfire experts will be ready to answer any questions that range from how to help protect your home from wildfire to what the wildfire season forecast looks like this year.

Drought conditions in the West, especially in California, combined with other factors portend a dangerous fire season that now could start at any time.  Last year, 34 wildland firefighters died in the line of duty as fire ravaged 4.1 million acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes around the Nation. This year the U.S. Forest Service has more than 10,000 firefighters who stand ready as well as aircraft and engines deployed around the country.  Should that call be received, these firefighters and the tools that they use are ready to spring into action.

Join U.S. Forest Service Fire Director Tom Harbour, a 45-year veteran of the Forest Service, CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott and FEMA U.S. Fire Administration Fire Program Specialist Teresa Neal for a Twitter chat aimed to empower communities with the information needed to remain prepared for what might be a longer and more severe wildfire season in an era of changing climates.

Tune into Twitter @forestservice and follow #PrepareAthon on Friday, April 25 at 11am EDT (8am PST) to hear from experts in the field about how YOU can prepare your family and community if wildfire strikes.

And speaking of prevention, this year also marks another significant milestone in the wildland firefighting arena: Smokey Bear turns 70.  Given that 9 out of 10 fires in California are still caused by humans, it is clear that Smokey cannot afford to slow down in his golden years.

Everybody Talks About the Weather...

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Mike Crimmins, Cooperative Extension, Arizona, on April 23, 2014 at 2:00 PM

A member of the Geronimo Interagency Hotshot Crew, Department of the Interior (DOI) Indian Affairs (IA) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) San Carlos Agency in Arizona; on assignment. The combined effects of droughts and insects may lead to a pulse of tree mortality that increases the potential for intense fires. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

The climate statistics for the first month of 2014 have been impressive. Extreme weather has lashed the United States from Alaska to Florida with record warmth, cold, dry and wet conditions all at the same time. The National Climatic Data Center reports that January of 2014 was the driest January on record for New Mexico, 2^nd driest for Arizona and 3^rd driest for California. January 2014 was also in the top ten of coldest Januaries on record for much of the upper Midwest.

Extreme drought conditions in the western U.S. are dramatically impacting water supplies critical to agriculture and elevating fire risk across our National Forests. Across the continent frequent cold waves have repeatedly threatened winter crops across the Southeast while frost depths reaching several feet will impact springtime planting across the Midwest. This kind of winter gets everyone talking about the weather.  It brings to mind the quote “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” often attributed to Mark Twain (but apparently said by a friend).

What can we do about the weather? Not much directly, but we can plan and prepare for the worst and try our best to anticipate what is coming through forecasts. Our best climate science indicates that extreme weather is something we should get used to and learn how to work with. America’s agricultural systems and vast and precious natural resources are intimately tied to weather and climate and will need to further adapt to these extremes. This is where the newly created effort of organizing USDA resources and partners into Regional Climate Hubs plays a role, supporting farmers, ranchers and resource managers’ efforts to better manage risk in a changing climate.

There is a secret weapon in this effort, one that is a uniquely American invention. This weapon is equipped with 100 years’ experience in supporting agriculture and natural resources management through climate extremes like the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s all the way up to the Midwest floods of the early 1990’s and recent west-wide drought of the past decade. The Smith-Lever Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson 100 years ago this year, created the U.S. Cooperative Extension System, a distributed network of local level experts connected to each state’s land grant university that work to connect science and decision making. This translates to a local level expert in almost every county that anyone can to turn to for ‘useful, practical and research based information’.  Farmers, ranchers and resource managers will undoubtedly need new science and technology to adapt to a changing climate, but they will also simply need someone they trust of whom they can ask questions and learn about new opportunities…an ‘honest broker’ of cutting edge, research based information. Extension Agents and Specialists have served in this role for 100 years and as a key part of the USDA Regional Climate Hub effort are ready to help their clientele meet the emerging challenges of a changing climate.

I have spent the last decade in Arizona as an Extension Specialist working solely on climate issues and know the challenges that weather extremes from droughts to floods can pose to producers and resource managers. We will certainly still continue to talk about the weather on a regular basis, but our conversations in Extension and through the Hubs will also turn to what we can do about it as well.

Two Forest Service rangers walk through the snow covered paths at Lolo National Forest in Montana on November 22, 2007. Lolo National Forest is located in west central Montana and encompasses two million acres. USDA photo.

Los Angeles Soil Survey Unearths Cradle of the City

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Jonathan Groveman, Natural Resources Conservation Service, California, on April 21, 2014 at 1:00 PM

Kit Paris and Randy Riddle with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service are taking soil samples in downtown Los Angeles. (NRCS photo)

It has been 88 years since the hammers and crowbars went silent. Sweat ran for more than a month as teams of workers smashed and destroyed Los Angeles’s original buildings between First, Temple, Spring and Main streets.

Construction began in the 1850s, and these buildings quickly became known as the cradle for an infant city. The footprint is now buried deep below present day Los Angeles City Hall and its adjacent park. It was not until March 2014 that local historians were reminded of this past for the second largest city in the United States.

It started last fall when a soil survey team from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) began to dig a soil pit in City Hall Park adjacent to city hall, as part of the agency’s soil survey.

NRCS soil surveys provide soil information, data, and maps to a wide range of users across the nation. Traditionally, soil surveys assist agricultural users make optimal decisions regarding crops, irrigation, erosion control, wildlife habitat, water conservation and more.

But today, more and more people in urban areas, like Los Angeles, are realizing the importance of understanding and protecting soil.  Los Angeles city managers intend to use the completed survey data for their future planning and development.

While collecting soil samples, NRCS scientists unearthed the first three feet of material, nothing out of the ordinary struck them from a typical soil dig in an urban center. But they dug a little deeper and discovered something extraordinary.

“At first glance, I thought we had unearthed crushed up brick material, which is common of anthropogenic soils in urban areas,” said Randy Riddle, NRCS soil survey project leader. “After digging a slightly larger hole to get a better view, we noticed that whole red bricks were leveled horizontally. The oriented brick layer was continuous throughout the bottom of the excavated area.”

The discovery led to consulting with a number of local historians to identify what the group found. At first thought, it seemed like the red bricks made up an old brick road now buried deep.

But after multiple discussions with historians and looking at dated pictures of the exact spot, it turns out the bricks constituted a subfloor for a former dentist’s office that boasted painless teeth extractions for a mere 50 cents.

The dentist’s office was one of the final tenants in the Lichtenberger Building, located on the corner of First and Main streets, and destroyed in 1926 to make way for the city hall complex.

In a photograph provided by the University of Southern California Libraries Special Collections staff, it is easy to determine where the soil pit was in relation to which business occupied that space years ago.

“The big block that City Hall now sits on, including the park, was formerly chockablock with groceries, haberdasheries, etc.,” said Brent Dickerson, historian and author of books about Los Angeles history and other subjects. “The buildings were usually raised above ground level, so that water from the street wouldn’t flow in, and the sub-structural floor wouldn’t need to be very deep to be below the ground floor.”

This determination was amplified further when discussing the find with a representative for Los Angeles’s Project Restore. “Red brick would have been for the foundations, red pavers would have been floors or walkways, and black would have been alleys or streets,” said Kevin Jew, chief operating officer for Project Restore.

Project Restore is a Los Angeles organization dedicated to the restoration and maintenance of valuable city buildings, preserving these landmarks in order to maintain the culture and history that reside within them.

Construction of Los Angeles City Hall required more than just demolishing many of the city’s first buildings. First, Temple, Spring and Main streets actually formed a triangle until 1926 and were reshaped into a rectangular configuration. It took two years to construct City Hall, and it remained the tallest building in Los Angeles until 1964.

“The Temple Block anchored a bustling commercial area until the mid-1920s,” said Nathan Masters, who has written extensively on Los Angeles history on behalf of the USC Libraries. “Then, construction of L.A.’s new Civic Center erased entire city blocks of old brick buildings and other historic structures from the map. The Temple Block crumbled, Spring Street straightened itself out to become parallel with Main, and the city’s old commercial heart beat no more.”

The soil survey for the southeastern section of Los Angeles County, which includes downtown Los Angeles, has been a recent endeavor for NRCS’ soil scientists. The rest of Los Angeles County was mapped over the past 60 years but downtown Los Angeles remained elusive until now.

With the proper permissions from city officials, Riddle has a long road ahead to complete his urban soil mapping for this massive city. It will be interesting to see what other treasures Riddle unearths down the road.

USDA Helps Develop Next Generation of Ag Scientists

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Ann Perry, USDA Agricultural Research Service Information Staff, on April 15, 2014 at 3:00 PM

ARS soil scientist Gary Bañuelos (left) with Ph.D. candidate Irvin Arroyo, who already has almost 20 years of scientific work with USDA on his resume, beginning with a scholarship to work at ARS’ San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, now in Parlier, California.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine, such as keeping our educational pipeline filled with the best and brightest future agricultural scientists.

So far, Irvin Arroyo has not strayed too far from the farming world. Growing up, he lived and worked with his parents at a 200-acre vineyard in Madera, California, where he tended the vines and harvested the grapes.

When Arroyo went to college at California State University, Fresno (CSU Fresno), he was given a scholarship to work at USDA’s San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center in Fresno as an intern.  The laboratory, now in Parlier, is part of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The scholarship had been established by CSU Fresno and ARS soil scientist Gary Bañuelos to foster minority student interest in science careers.

Arroyo finished his undergraduate degree in chemistry, and then was hired by Bañuelos as a full-time technician.  As an environmental chemist, he supervised the inorganic chemistry lab, operated and maintained analytical instrumentation, and conducted soil contaminant studies.  He also assisted Bañuelos in field studies of saline soil remediation, food crop biofortification, and the evaluation of seed crops for biofuel production. Working with scientists, local farmers, and growers allowed the technician to expand his real-world understanding about the diverse agricultural issues affecting producers in the San Joaquin Valley.

Arroyo continued his education and completed a master’s degree in chemistry. Now, thanks to support from the California State University Water Resources and Policy Initiative and USDA, Arroyo is in the Ph.D. program in Environmental Systems at the University of California, Merced, where he’s studying soil salinity in the San Joaquin Valley.

His work includes research on groundwater remediation, salinity management, and the use of environmental sensors to boost marginal soil productivity.  This important work might not be possible without USDA-provided support for students at universities that have been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Arroyo is also continuing his work in the ARS laboratory. And despite having almost 20 years with USDA on his resume, he would like to continue his research—and his work to help farmers protect and improve soil quality in the San Joaquin Valley—with USDA after his doctorate is completed.

Bañuelos continues to enthusiastically support Arroyo’s studies and goals.  “Irvin already enhances the quality of our investigations on developing plant-based systems for poor quality soils and waters,” the ARS researcher says.  “And eventually he will represent the new generation of ARS scientists in USDA.”

U.S. Forest Service: Responding and Adapting to Wildland Fire

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation Management, U.S. Forest Service, on April 10, 2014 at 1:00 PM

The U.S. Forest Service has burned more than 480 acres in the Flying J Project, an effort on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona to protect the community of Tusayan. The project is outside the Grand Canyon National Park and represents a small part of a larger effort to use controlled burns on more than 4,500 acres of the forest. So far, nearly 1,900 acres have been treated. (U.S. Forest Service/Holly Krake)

The loss of property and firefighters during wildfires are a reminder of the challenges we face in reducing the risks associated with large, unpredictable wildfires. Climate change, drought, insect infestations, changing land-use patterns, and other factors have contributed to increases in the complexity and in the numbers of wildfires across the United States.

Over the past four decades, some states such as Arizona and Idaho have seen the number of large fires burning each year more than triple. In many other western states, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming, the number of large fires has doubled, according to a report by Climate Central. Average spring and summer temperatures across 11 Western states have increased by more than 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, contributing to higher wildfire risks. In Arizona, spring temperatures have warmed faster than any other state in the U.S., rising nearly 1 degree per decade since 1970, which likely played a role in the increasing number of fires in the state.

The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Interior are responding in part to these real, visible trends by implementing the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. The strategy was developed in conjunction with hundreds of stakeholders across all jurisdictions in response to the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act (FLAME) passed by Congress in 2009.

The strategy identifies the greatest challenges and outlines available opportunities to create resilient landscapes, prevent the loss of lives and property, and respond to wildfires. Although we successfully suppress nearly 98 percent of unwanted wildfires, there is still much work to be done to mitigate the risks posed by the growing number and size of fires. The Cohesive Strategy provides federal, local, and state governments, tribes, and organizations with improved planning and implementation tools for wildland fire management and landscape restoration activities.

The strategy has three goals: to maintain and restore resilient landscapes; create fire-adapted communities; and effectively respond to wildfires. To reach these goals, the Forest Service has used prescribed, or planned, fire and other treatments to reduce hazardous vegetation. In fiscal year 2012, we completed more than 1.2 million acres of prescribed fires and more than 662,000 acres of mechanical treatments.

In addition, to reach the second goal of the Strategy, the California Wildfire Coordinating Group, in collaboration with the Forest Service and many other stakeholders, launched a statewide, interagency wildfire prevention campaign One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire. In response to a rapidly worsening 2013 wildfire season, the campaign based its actions on predicted changes in wildfire threat. Resources were pooled together and utilized to address these rising threats and inform communities throughout the year.

In this time of shrinking resources and rising numbers of wildfires, we will continue to work with our partners and stakeholders to address challenges and meet the goals of the Cohesive Strategy.

Kentucky Couple Says Thank You Berry Much

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tanya Brown, Writer/Editor, Farm Service Agency, on April 8, 2014 at 5:00 PM

Jeff and Kim Essig gave their blueberry farm a boost with a microloan to help purchase equipment that will further expand their operation.

This post is part of a Microloan Success feature series on the USDA blog.  Check back every Tuesday and Thursday as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

USDA’s Microloan program allows beginning, small and mid-sized farmers to access up to $35,000 in loans using a simplified application process, and up to seven years to repay. Through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) USDA is focused on increasing opportunities for farmers and ranchers and has made several modifications to farm loan programs, including making Microloans to beginning farmers and veterans exempt from direct loan term limits. Producers have more flexible access to credit for initial start-up expenses, family living expenses, minor farm improvements and hoop houses to extend the growing season.

Kentucky couple Kim and Jeff Essig, owners of Middlebridge Blueberry Farm, know about the benefits of the Microloan program first-hand. Kim shares their story:

I married a man who was already in love — with Kentucky.  Although we were both born and raised in Orange County, Calif., he grew up visiting his grandpa Martin’s farm in Oakland, Ky. during summer breaks.

So it was no surprise that six months after our 1992 wedding, we packed up our things and blazed the trail from Southern California to Smiths Grove, Ky., to live on the land.

The first several years we had limited land and dabbled in growing food for ourselves and trading produce with neighbors. In 2006, we were able to purchase a few acres in Bowling Green, Ky.  It was then we started thinking large scale.

We chose blueberries as our main crop.  Between 2010 and 2011 we installed an acre of blueberries and also started beekeeping. By 2013, we added blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. As our berries grew, the customers came as did the idea of branching out into blueberry plant propagation for selling, expanding our bees and maximizing what we could do with our little piece of earth.

One day I saw an announcement for the Kentucky Farm Service Agency (FSA) Microloan program.  I contacted the FSA office for an application. The application process informative, organized, helpful and painless. And Farm Loan Officer Tracy Bailey called and met with us right away.

Looking back over these past two years, we find ourselves very grateful to God for the opportunity to expand our farm and take hold of opportunities that we most likely would have had to pass up if not for the FSA’s Microloan program.

What we found most helpful were the people behind the program. Tracy Bailey, as well as others in the office, really made the process friendly and smooth. The interest rate and payment terms have been key in helping us to grow into our farm vision.

Kim and Jeff Essig

USDA is proud to see the progress that farmers and ranchers are making in their daily operations with the help of the Microloan program. To date, USDA has issued more than 4,900 Microloans totaling $97 million. The microloan program is part of USDA’s StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity Initiative, our commitment to growing economies, increasing investments and creating opportunities in poverty-stricken rural Kentucky and 19 other states.

The Essig family started with blueberries and later expanded to include blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.

USDA-Funded Researchers Map the Loblolly Pine Genome

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Scott Elliott, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, on April 4, 2014 at 1:00 PM

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine, including research into trees that could fuel new energy solutions.

A team of researchers led by the University of California–Davis has mapped the complete genome of the loblolly pine. And if you don’t think that understanding the genetic makeup of loblolly pine is a big deal, perhaps you cannot see the forest for the trees.

Loblolly pine, the most commercially important tree in the United States, is the source of most paper products in this country and 58 percent of timber. On the surface, that might be reason enough for the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to invest $14.6 million in 2011 toward science that could increase the productivity and health of American forests.

Loblolly pine also looms large on the horizon as a feedstock for the next generation of American biofuel.  President Obama’s goal of reducing the United States’ dependency on foreign oil by 30 percent by the year 2030 will be met, in large part, by producing home-grown biofuel. According to Genome Biology, approximately 75 percent of that biofuel will have to come from non-grain, non-food sources called lignocellulosic biomass – and loblolly pine could be a major contributor to filling that need.

Mapping the loblolly genome, then, became an important part of the plan in terms of improving the health and sustainability of this important plant. But, mapping a genome is no easy task, and the loblolly pine proved to be the greatest challenge to date for this type of research. The loblolly genome is the largest ever sequenced and is about seven times larger than the human genome.

To sequence a genome, scientists must first examine the DNA of their subject and then “map” the location of each nucleotide (the “A, C, T, and G” bases) of the entire DNA chain. Scientists use this information to find the best traits, such as disease resistance, and develop better future generations.

The challenge of overcoming the sheer volume of loblolly data is a triumph of its own for the research team.  According to David Neal, team leader and professor of plant sciences at UC–Davis, the team could “read” the nucleotide letters, but only in short batches. The problem was putting together the 16 billion fragments in a way that would allow them to read the complete story of the loblolly pine.

Researchers met this task by employing a new technique developed at the University of Maryland.  Team members overlapped smaller sections of data to form larger chunks and then threw away the redundant information. The process eventually meant the computer had 100 times less sequence data to deal with. The success of this process may help speed up future genome-mapping projects.

The loblolly project team consisted of UC–Davis, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Indiana University–Bloomington, Texas A&M University, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, and Washington State University.

Their complete articles of this research were published in the March 2014 issues of GENETICS and Genome Biology.

USDA Research Tradition Going Strong in the 21st Century

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Sean Adams, USDA Agricultural Research Service Information Staff, on April 1, 2014 at 1:00 PM

USDA research can be found in many products that you’ve probably never realized.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine.

There are “game changers” in politics, sports, art, music and the like. So it should come as no surprise that there are game changers in agricultural research as well—discoveries that changed the way food is produced, and even created new industries to feed a growing world.

Last week’s seminar commemorating Norman Borlaug’s work to launch the Green Revolution is a great example of how a strong science foundation has helped ensure a steady food supply as the world’s population has grown.

USDA science has generated more than its share of groundbreaking research over the years.  Playing a key role in these research discoveries are the four major Research Utilization Centers that are now part of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Originally established in early 1940s for the purpose of finding new uses and markets for farm commodities, the Centers are located in Wyndmoor, Penn.; Peoria, Ill.; New Orleans, La.; and Albany, Calif.

At New Orleans, for example, scientists gave a shot in the arm to the cotton industry by developing cotton fabric that was wrinkle-free and fire-resistant.  At Albany, researchers worked out the appropriate times, temperatures, and other factors for freezing fruits and vegetables to help jump-start the frozen food industry.

If you enjoy milk but are lactose-intolerant, you may use Lactaid™ so you can still enjoy dairy products. Scientists at Wyndmoor established the basis for that product and many other dairy-related technologies.  Researchers at Peoria found a way to mass-produce penicillin, saving many lives as a result. Over the next few years, the four utilization centers will be celebrating 75 years of research excellence that continues going strong.

Some recent examples of products stemming from ARS studies:  ChoiceBatter, a gluten-free rice flour batter that is now being marketed and sold by CrispTek, LLC; a new vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease, a foreign disease that could devastate the livestock industry if an outbreak occurred in the United States; and the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which changed how consumers and the plant industry access this information.

We will be discussing other groundbreaking research accomplishments not only from ARS, but other USDA agencies in USDA’s throughout this month.  These examples of Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America underscore the critical role that USDA scientists play in discovering game-changing research to solve agricultural problems. These discoveries not only benefit the American public, but people around the world.

USDA research impacts each of us every day.

Appeal of Diverse Side of Ag Statistics

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USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Troy Joshua, National Agricultural Statistics Service, on August 27, 2013 at 9:40 AM

Troy Joshua (left) visited Matty Matarazzo’s (right) farm. Matarazzo owns and operates the Four Sisters Winery in Belvidere, N.J.

This post is part of the Science Today feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

2013 is the International Year of Statistics. As part of this global event, every month this year USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will profile careers of individuals who are making significant contributions to improve agricultural statistics in the United States.

Growing up in the rural community of St. James, Louisiana, I always had a passion for agriculture. In 1992, I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business from Southern University A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and earned a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Washington State University two years later.

For my master’s thesis, I created an economic model analyzing the profitability of the Washington state asparagus industry. To get the data for my thesis, I created and mailed questionnaires, editing and analyzing all of the responses. This experience sparked my interest in the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and I joined the agency’s California Field Office in 1994.

The California office opened up new horizons for me. Growing up in Louisiana, I was used to what we call “conventional” farming. But California agriculture is much more diverse, giving me a chance to learn about different crops, such as grapes, almonds, and oranges. That was just the beginning of my NASS career. I expanded my knowledge of American agriculture, accepting assignments over the next few decades in Mississippi, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey offices.

These experiences also honed my statistical skills and prepared me for my current role as the chief of the Environmental, Economics, and Demographics Branch. Diversity is truly the nature of my branch. We publish all of the agency’s data on farmer demographics, farm income, prices, labor, as well as on pesticide and herbicide use in agriculture. Just a few weeks ago, for example, we published updates to farm expenditures figures, which showed that producers’ expenditures topped $350 billion for the first time in history.

It is the diversity of statistics that appeals the most to me about my current role. One day I may meet with farmers who talk to me about their increases in farm inputs as compared to the value of their crops sold. The next day, I may handle one of our frequent requests from university professors looking for farmer demographics data for the U.S. and specific regions. To me, that’s the true beauty of statistics – the fact that these numbers touch every facet of our lives.