|  | | | Faculty in the News - March 2007 | |
There
is more to wheat than just flour for
baking bread and coo
High Plains Midwest
Journal, March 5, 2007
Can
wheat, long known as the "Staff of Life", be even better for us? Can
wheat provide even more of the nutrients that we need for good health?
... Research into healthier wheat began in 1994 when General Mills
looked at whole grain products, Len Marquart, Associate Professor of
Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, said. | | |
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Glenn Sorensen: Ethanol promising, but no cure-all
Burlington Free Press - Vermont, March 21
Ever since the 1974 OPEC embargo, energy analysts and presidents have been emphatic about the need to wean the nation from imported oil, and George Bush is no exception. ... If the entire corn crop is gobbled up for ethanol, however, it would replace only 12 percent of U.S. gasoline consumption, researchers at the University of Minnesota say.
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What's Cooking
Star Tribune, March 21
It's one of history's more peculiar promotional contests, but it involves Hershey's Kisses, so how bad could it be? ... "Too many people don't realize that they're not getting their hands completely clean," Joellen Feirtag, an associate professor who specializes in food safety, wrote in Source, a University of Minnesota Extension publication.
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Where Have All the Bees Gone?
CCN Magazine - California, March 21
Low-carbon technologies are now widely seen as key to mitigating the effects of climate change.
It is a vanishing on the scale of entire cities. Late in 2006, commercial beekeepers in Florida began noticing alarming numbers of their bees had gone missing. ... According to Marla Spivak of the University of Minnesota, St Paul, the nature of the beekeeping industry itself could be adding to the problem. |
Frozen, fresh or canned?
Dallas News, March 20
Several variables factor into choosing the best types of fruits and vegetables. .. "When properly processed, packaged and stored, a given fruit or vegetable can be as healthful, or more healthful, than a fresh counterpart," say researchers from the University of Minnesota Department of Food Science and Nutrition.
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Ag research increases, but fewer studies address productivity
Capital Press - Oregon, March 19
Shifting research priorities may have adversely affected U.S. farm productivity growth, and if the trend continues, it's likely to hinder the competitiveness of American growers in the long term, according to an agricultural economics study. "There have been substantial structural changes going on," said Philip Pardey of the University of Minnesota., who conducted the research along with Julian Alston of the University of California-Davis.
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Texas power plant runs on biodiesel
CNET, March 19
Biofuels Power has opened up a 5-megawatt power plant that runs entirely on biodiesel--and it plans to follow up with another facility that can produce twice as much power. ... "They really aren't a suitable fuel unless we can come up with a suitable additive to improve these cold flow properties and do it at a low cost. Hence their major use may be for situations where we can keep the fuel supply warm, say above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, such as for heating fuels," Vernon Eidman, a professor at the University of Minnesota, wrote in response to a recent inquiry.
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You can't 'seed and weed,' even with corn gluten meal
Star Tribune, March 18
I'd like to use corn gluten meal to keep weeds from sprouting in my lawn, but some areas are thin and need reseeding. ... Deb Brown is a garden writer and former extension horticulturist with the University of Minnesota.
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Private firm raises insects for research worldwide
Farm and Ranch Guide, March 18
Ever wonder where chemical and seed companies get insects to test pesticides and genetically modified crops? ... “That was my job while I was conducting research for the graduate program at the University of Minnesota,” said Lee, who studied rearing techniques for corn rootworm (CRW) and European corn borer.
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Marilou Cheple: Condensation on windows? Watch humidity levels
Rochester Post-Bulletin, March 16
A common condition found in Minnesota homes during the winter, excessive condensation on windows and other surfaces indicates that indoor humidity levels are too high. ... Marilou Cheple is a housing technology specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension.
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E. coli Find Sparks New Criticism of Organic Foods
Crosswalk - Virginia, March 15
A California farm in transition to organic status has been identified as a source of the E. coli outbreak in spinach last year, a discovery likely to add to existing concerns about possible safety issues surrounding organic foods. ... Research is conflicting, said Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota.
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Some question using coal to produce ethanol
Rochester Post-Bulletin, March 15
The latest trend in the green world of ethanol is a surprising one: coal. ... Doug Tiffany, a biofuels specialist at the University of Minnesota, notes other downsides to coal. A coal-fired ethanol plant is more expensive to build, and, once built, it's less flexible for future expansion.
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The Dark Side of a Good Friend to the Soil
New York Times, March 15
I've always thought of worms as my friends, until I started talking to ecologists who have been studying their voracious appetite for leaves. ... They sent a few of their worms to Cindy Hale, a scientist at the University of Minnesota, who identified them as Amynthas hawayanus and Lumbricus terrestris, two species that are invading the Northeast.
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Food Terrorism Still a Threat
Austin American-Statesman - Texas, March 13
A terrorist attack on America’s food supply could leave thousands dead, poisoned by any of several agents “for which there is no antidote,” the director of a Department of Homeland Security-supported food safety research center said Tuesday. “I have been working on this for about five years and I can see multiple vulnerabilities” in the food supply, said Frank Busta, director of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense at the University of Minnesota.
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Grape fever spreading across Minnesota
The Land, March 9
Grape growing fever appears to be spreading in Minnesota. ... “We've been breeding grapes for over a century..." Professor Jim Luby said. Peter Hemstad is also mentioned.
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The search for missing bees
Minnesota Public Radio, March 8
Beekeepers are losing their hives by the hundreds, and no one seems to know where the bees are going. ... Marla Spivak: professor of Apiculture and Social Insects at the University of Minnesota. She joins us in the studio. She has been a beekeeper for over 32 years.
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You Are Where You Eat
City Pages, March 7
Twin Cities residents have a cornucopia of grocery shopping options. ... But Ben Senauer, a professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota and co-director of its Food Industry Center, discovered the opposite when he polled price-conscious women.
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Recent snow, ice raise concerns
Murray County News, March 7
Recent weather conditions in Minnesota may result in excessive roof loads on agricultural buildings due to the accumulation of snow and ice. ... Larry Jacobson, University of Minnesota Extension.
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Good Question: Is Recent Snow A Drought Buster?
WCCO-TV, March 6
The deep snow that's coating our lawns right now is already fading. With spring just two weeks away -- winter is about to have a meltdown. The roads are getting slushy and icicles are dripping from our roofs. ... "Unfortunately, the northern part of the state received well less than that," said Greg Spoden, a State Climatologist at the University of Minnesota.
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Snow records set
Star Tribune, March 5
Finland, in the Arrowhead region, broke the Minnesota record for March 1 snow with 25 inches, according to Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota Extension climatologist and meteorologist. Suburban Andover, with 19 inches, also crept past the record, which was 18.8 inches at Collegeville.
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Storm dumps snow, closes roads
Waseca County News, March 5
A second round of winter weather dropped more than a foot of snow on the area as of Saturday, closing major roads around Waseca County...No cause for concern about flooding this spring says Gyles Randall, soil scientist and professor at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center.
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Reduce risk of collapse by clearing roofs of snow
Fergus Falls Daily Journal, March 3
Recent weather conditions in Minnesota may result in excessive roof loads on agricultural buildings due to the accumulation of snow and ice. ... Larry Jacobson is a professor and agricultural engineer with the University of Minnesota Extension |
Roofs coming under snow/ice stress
Agri News, March 1
now and ice storms have left several inches of ice and/or several feet of snow on some roofs, which have added to the total weight that trusses and rafter must support. Snow that recently fell on typical metal roofs isn't sliding off like it normally does in the winter, says Larry Jacobson, ag engineer with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. If the ice layer doesn't melt, each additional snowfall will intensify the problem.
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Master gardeners gather for Horticultural Day
Waseca County News, March 1
Saturday March 3 will see a gathering of amateur and master gardeners at the Southern Research and Outreach Center for the 13th Annual Horticultural Day. It's one of the first spring seminars in our area," community program specialist Jeanette Williams said.
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War of the Worms
New Scientist, March 1
Deep in the woods of Minnesota, an army of environmental do-gooders has gone bad. Very bad. "We all grew up learning that worms were universally good say Andrew Holdsworth and Lee Frelich, University of Minnesota, who studied the impact of worms in forested areas.
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