|  | | | Faculty in the News - January 2007 | |
Soybean aphid population on the increase
Agri News, January 31
Soybean aphid populations increased during the 2006 growing season. University of Minnesota entomologist Ian MacRae found the earliest infestations near Euclid, a small town northwest of Crookston, on June 27.
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As ethanol demand drives up price of corn, hog farmers brace for impact
York Dispatch - Pennsylvania, January 31
A soaring demand for corn used to produce ethanol has hog farmers preparing for higher feed prices that threaten to put some producers out of business. ... Jerry Shurson, a professor who studies swine nutrition and management at the University of Minnesota, said the situation could ease as farmers rely more on an ethanol-production byproduct called distillers grains as animal feed.
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Dairy producers will pay more for feedstuffs
Agri News, January 31
Expect to pay more to feed dairy cows because of the rising demand of corn in the ethanol industry. "This shows that the competition with the ethanol industry for grain is not going to be short term," said Mary Raeth-Knight of the University of Minnesota's Department of Animal Sciences and Extension.
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Minnesotans say tourist spending is important
Pioneer Press, January 30
Nearly all Minnesota residents — 94 percent — feel tourism is important to the state's economy, according to a recent report by the University of Minnesota Tourism Center.
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Farmers lead way in energy revolution
Duluth News Tribune, January 29
Farmers in Faribault County never intended to lead a green energy revolution. ... Corn Plus officials would not discuss financial information. But Doug Tiffany, a University of Minnesota biofuels specialist, has an economic model that shows the energy expenses for a plant its size.
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Corn prices spike amid demand for ethanol
Coshocton Tribune, January 29
A soaring demand for corn used to produce ethanol has hog farmers bracing for higher feed prices that threaten to put some producers out of business. ... Jerry Shurson, a professor who studies swine nutrition and management at the University of Minnesota, said the situation could ease as farmers rely more on an ethanol-production byproduct called distillers grains as animal feed.
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Minnesotans and tourism
Minnesota News Network, KTLK-FM, January 25
Ingrid Schneider, director of the University of Minnesota’s Tourism Center, discussed a new Tourism Center survey on how Minnesotans view the state’s tourism industry. 94 percent of Minnesotans indicate that tourism is very important or important to the economy.
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Hog farmers brace for high feed costs as corn prices spike
WQAD - Illinois, January 26
A soaring demand for corn used to produce ethanol has hog farmers bracing for higher feed prices that threaten to put some producers out of business. ... Jerry Shurson is a professor who studies swine nutrition at the University of Minnesota.
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Good Question: Can We Pay Off Our Pollution?
WCCO-TV, January 27
What do the Dave Matthews Band, a London bank and Ben & Jerry's have in common? ... "This idea of offset is rather than us not emitting CO2, or releasing CO2, we pay somebody else not to," said Dr. Steve Taff, a member of the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment at the University of Minnesota.
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American and Belgian to receive Wolf Prize
Jerusalem Post, January 25
An American and a Belgian will share the $100,000 Wolf Prize for Agriculture for ground-breaking discoveries in genetics and genomics. Prof. Ronald Phillips of the University of Minnesota and Prof. Michel Georges of the University of Liege will receive the "Israeli Nobel" at a ceremony in the Knesset in May for "laying the foundations for improvements in crop and livestock breeding and sparking important advances in plant and animal sciences," the judges announced.
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Several wheat varieties showing promise
Agri News, January 23
Knudson, Glenn and Freyr are among several wheat varieties showing promise for the upcoming growing season. University of Minnesota small grains specialist Jochum Wiersma said the three are among the biggest gainers in a variety survey.
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U researcher wins international ag prize
Pioneer Press, January 23
Ronald Phillips, a University of Minnesota plant geneticist whose breakthrough research in the 1970s laid the foundation for later advances in corn breeding, on Monday was named the co-winner of the international Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture.
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Meat's taste unchanged when distiller's grains are fed
AgriNews, January 23
Some in the pork industry at Minnesota Pork Congress were worried about how pork from hogs fed with distiller's grains tastes. Jerry Shurson of the University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science said a taste panel found no difference in tenderness, juiciness and taste of pork from hogs fed with distiller's grains and those not.
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Tough year for hog producers expected
Rochester Post-Bulletin-January 22
The rise in corn prices caused by the ethanol boom is squeezing hog producers, and it's not going to get better anytime soon, said economists said at the Minnesota Pork Congress in Minneapolis. ... Brian Buhr, professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, told the audience that pork production needs to drop about 8 percent to 10 percent to allow producers to recapture the extra money they are spending on feed.
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EDC’s ag committee remarks that wind project moving along
West Central Tribune- January 19
A local wind energy project is stepping up to the next level — moving from ideas and concepts into investment and financial risk. ... The event will focus on renewable fuels and livestock, and their co-existence. Speakers on the topic include ethanol plant managers Erik Osmon of Bushmills Ethanol and Bill Lee of Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company; Iowa State professor Dr. Dermot Hayes and University of Minnesota professor Brian Buhr. The afternoon session includes the topics of livestock siting, order modeling and agriculture and urban development.
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In big trouble
Tallahassee Democrat-January 16
At a recent conference in Paris, scientists from around the world concluded that wildlife extinction rates are so high as the result of human activities that our planet's biodiversity, the web of life that sustains us, is being destroyed. One scientist, University of Minnesota ecology professor David Tilman, likened the mistreatment of the environment to stealing.
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Immigration raids highlight changes in meat industry
Akron Beacon Journal-January 16
It doesn't seem that long ago to Jack Cagle that he was working in Minnesota meatpacking plants with folks who were proud of their jobs, able to raise families on their salaries and were not eager, despite the danger, to give up the work to outsiders. ... "They provided meat to the market much more cheaply,'' said Brian Buhr, a professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota.
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2006: The Year in Weather
Star Tribune-January 16
Minnesota was warm once again in 2006. But it was a dry heat. ... But University of Minnesota Extension Service climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley said the conditions are similar to those in 1987, when farmers enjoyed good crops in the early stages of a drought that intensified through 1988.
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Researchers, farmers unite to fight alfalfa pests
Pioneer Press-Janurary 13
Northwestern Minnesota producers looking for tools to help them produce bountiful alfalfa crops this year learned the latest news on pests and diseases at the University of Minnesota's recent Crops College.
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Warmer winters could bring greater tree diversity to Minnesota
KAAL, Austin-January 9
Flowering trees once considered not hardy enough for Minnesota might be planted in the state -- thanks to the recent warmer winters. ... University of Minnesota urban forestry professor Gary Johnson says species such as sycamore, bald cypress and hickories may become more common in Minnesota. | | |
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Roundtable 2007: funding top topic
Minnesota Outdoor News-January 12
Like
it is for many sportsmen, the concept of a constitutional dedication of
funds for natural resources was one of the hot topics at the DNR
Roundtable sessions. ... Gov. Tim Pawlenty created the council, which
includes 11 citizens and four legislators, to examine how conservation
programs in the state are funded and governed, to recommend how to
improve governance and funding, and to develop a strategic plan to
implement the recommendations, according to Mike Kilgore, an associate
professor at the University of Minnesota who chairs the council. |
Balancing the needs of wolves and humans
Minnesota Public Radio - January 3, 2007
2007
may be the year wolves move off the endangered species list. Scientist
Dave Mech talks about how humans and animals like elk have adjusted to
the comeback of the wolf. David Mech: Senior Scientist with the
Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and an adjunct
professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation
Biology, and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of
Minnesota. He has studied wolves since 1968. | | |
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How well do Minnesota's wood industries compete?
Minnesota Public Radio - January 3, 2007
Last
summer, the bubble burst in the home-building industry. ... Mike
Kilgore, who teaches forest policy at the University of Minnesota, says
several factors are contributing to the tough time in the industry; not
just the drop in home construction, but also higher energy costs, and
increased competition from overseas producers. |
Today's 'oil men' seek new fuel: chicken fat
Indianapolis (IN) Star - January 3, 2007
Jerry
Bagby is typical of the oil men who are prospecting for a fortune in
the Midwestern biofuels boom. ... The shift to animal fat as a fuel
stock could be key to making the biodiesel industry a reliable fuel
source for U.S. trucking fleets, said Vernon Eidman, a professor of
economics at the University of Minnesota who has extensively studied
the biofuels industry. | | |
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Green invader marches through streams and fields
Anchorage (AK) Daily News -January 2, 2007
A
lush, green tall grass prized for its quick growth in hay fields and
ornamental gardens threatens the ecology of some Alaska rivers and
holds the potential for economic harm as well, a Kenai Peninsula
Borough official warns. ... A University of Minnesota professor who
studies the grass said it has proliferated across the continent since
the 1950s. |
MN Favorites
Minnesota Monthly magazine - January 2007
If
you were that kid in science class who always remembered the difference
between deciduous and coniferous and never had trouble identifying
animal tracks, the new Minnesota Master Naturalist Program will help
you see the forest and the trees. Each 11-week course teaches students
about the plants, animals, ecology, and geology of one of Minnesota’s
three biomes (glossary check: a biome is a community of living
organisms in a major ecological area). | | |
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