Science In Your Shopping Cart

ARS researcher Arran Rumbaugh, a research chemist at the Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit in Davis, CA, is studying how smoke from wildfires can affect the chemical composition of wine grapes.   Wildfires from 2020 hurt wine grape production and had an estimated 3.7 billion dollars of economic impact on the wine industry due to smoke exposure and fire.   Dr. Rumbaugh is working on an early screening method that could quickly detect the smoke exposure and impact on grapevines.  This ARS research has the potential to save time, money, and millions of wine grapes. To learn more about Arran Rumbaugh’s research, please visit the link below. https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=447625Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Making Popeye proud. ARS recently released the world’s first true red spinach, called “USDA Red”. Learn about the benefits this new powerful vegetable provides to consumers.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Tips on how to grow your own blueberry and blackberry plants right in your own backyard.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Bee experts Liz Walsh and Lanie Bilodeau offer tips for making your home yards more bee friendly.Find out how you can help honey bees by clicking on the extension service link below.https://extension.org/find-cooperative-extension-in-your-state/Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Did you know that some wonderplants can be used to control and even kill annoying flies and mosquitoes?Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

These days, we are all more conscious of pesticide spraying, especially growers who rely on this method for keeping pests off their crops. ARS scientists have developed a revolutionary laser-guided sprayer to apply precise amounts of pesticide to their crops, cutting down significantly on the amount of pesticide sprayed onto fruits and vegetables.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers Nancy Keim and Wally Yokoyama are looking to turn wine waste – mainly pomace or what the researchers call marcs – into healthy food products that end up in our shopping carts. Keim is studying the health benefits of combinations of chardonnay grape pomace and chardonnay grape extract.  As expected, the enriched flour is high in fiber and has a lot of bioactive material, which means it will react favorably with organs, tissues, or cells in the human body.  How this material interacts with the gut microbiome could be key to seeing these nutrients translate into actual health benefits.While Keim is looking at the health benefits of white grape pomace, Yokoyama is studying the health benefits of waste from red wine grapes. Red wine grapes are high in polyphenols, which are compounds found in plants that act as antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. Polyphenols have been linked to lowering cholesterol and protecting against certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. But Yokoyama is studying whether polyphenols from red grapes can reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Wendy Shaw, a registered dietitian formerly with the National Agricultural Library, discusses the importance of nutrition, from the world’s elite athletes to the weekend warriors.  Give it a listen.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Wheat is a big crop in the United States.  Stripe rust is one of the most important diseases for wheat.  ARS Research Plant Pathlogist, Xianming Chen and researchers with ARS’s Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research Unit in Pullman Washington are testing and developing new varieties of wheat that are resistant to the crop’s major disease threats, including stripe rust.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS scientists are coming up with new ways to produce clean energy by developing a large filter-type application out of discarded almond shells that could capture and then store hydrogen, as well as other components for energy purposes. Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Apple growers have a mystery on their hands. Something is killing popular dwarf apple trees, but researchers are unsure if the cause is environmental, viral, soil-based, or something else. ARS scientists are on the case!Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researcher Bradley King, a research agricultural engineer at ARS’s Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research lab in Kimberly, ID, is utilizing AI technology to help wine growers determine the best times to water their vineyards.  King and his colleagues developed a validated, automated model that uses artificial intelligence to remotely calculate the daily crop water stress index so wine growers know when to water their vines, and how much, to achieve maximum results for great tasting wine.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

The U.S. imports around $5 billion in cocoa and chocolate products annually, and we produce millions of pounds of chocolate for consumers. The health benefits of dark chocolate are well known, mainly it has more antioxidants than milk chocolate because it contains more cacao solids. But dark chocolate can be brittle and taste bitter.  What if we could make milk chocolate as healthy as dark chocolate, without sacrificing taste? And what if we could do it by adding a low value agricultural byproduct, such as peanut skins?Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Meet ARS researcher Jacob Corcoran, a research molecular biologist at ARS’s Biological Control of Insects Unit in Columbia, MO.  Corcoran and his team are working on a new age, next generation approach to biological control to slow down the reproductive process to protect wine vineyards from dreaded vine mealybugs.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Nanoparticles help protect your body from germs and other microbials, it also fights body odor, especially from sweating.  ARS researchers have figured out a better way for for attaching nanoparticles to clothing.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Hydration is so important to our bodies during exercise, perhaps more important than the exercise itself. Not properly hydrating during athletic competitions or every day exercising – even walking – can have damaging effects on our bodies. Of course, there are the physical effects, such as fatigue, exhaustion, and heat stroke. But there are also psychological factors that you may not be aware of. Learn more about how hydration affects your body in this podcast.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Learn about innovations and research that ARS scientists are conducting to turn cotton waste into agro-based biodegradable polymers.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Get the inside story of how ARS researchers created an automated, objective method for detecting imperfections on a hide - a method that greatly benefits U.S. leather producers.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS scientists are turning agricultural waste (Biomass) into environmentally friendly products that can replace non-biodegradable plastics.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers have developed an in-field apple sorting machine that not only improves apple picking efficiency, but also scans and grades apples. Think of it as a 21st century solution to apple picking and harvesting.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researcher Lance Cadle-Davidson, a research plant pathologist at ARS’s Grape Genetics Research Unit in the finger lakes region in Geneva, NY, is helping protect wine vineyards that produce European style wines in the U.S.  Cadle-Davidson and his team have created an automated process utilizing high resolution cameras with illumination to see fungal disease easily from LED lighting with artificial intelligence to quantify disease and robotics that capture images quickly in an automated system that speeds up the process of detecting and treating disease to keep wine growers one step ahead of deadly pathogens in upstate New York.  Check out the Blackbird robot in action at the link below. https://youtu.be/zqjGxJp3rk0Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Ancient grains refers to a category of grains – particularly pseudo-cereals – that possess a very unique health benefit that provide essential nutritional requirements for our health.  ARS Research Leader, Dr. Sean Liu at the Functional Foods Research Unit in Peoria, Illinois is researching ways to make ancient grains more nutritional, and he wants to make them more attractive to consumers. Click on the link below to view our Cooking With Science videos on Buckwheat and several other tasty recipes. https://aglab.ars.usda.gov/sights-and-sounds/cooking-with-scienceConnect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Wouldn’t it be great if the oils and margarines you cook with were actually healthy for you and still enhanced the flavor of your foods? Researchers at ARS’s Functional Foods Research Unit in Peoria, Illinois, are mixing common cooking oils with natural waxes to create oleogels – which you can say is the secret sauce behind a healthier cooking oil.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

“I’m your huckleberry.” Learn about the origins of the Huckleberry Gold Potato and other interesting facts about potatoes.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS Research Geneticist, Dr. Dolores Mornhinweg at the Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit in Stillwater, OK is developing new Barley crop lines that are resistant to pests such as the Russian Wheat Aphid.Barley is an important part of the U.S. economy, bringing in over a billions dollars in crop value.  The Russian Wheat Aphid is a major pest to barley production in the U.S.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

When you grow anything indoors, you can control a lot of the conditions, including temperature, irrigation, insect and disease resistance, and water quality and consumption. ARS researchers are using indoor recirculating systems to improve the health and yields of rainbow trout while maintaining great taste and market size.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Fish farmers are using natural contained aquifers to grow fish to market size at an incredible fast rate. That’s because aquifers can provide optimal conditions for fish rearing. Unfortunately, you can’t scale-up aquifers. ARS researchers are working with fish farmers to develop and implement best management practices to increase fish yields, health, and size of fish reared in aquifers.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Dr. Tara McHugh may be the GOAT when it comes to creating foods that are both healthy and tasty.  Dr. McHugh and her team have a created a variety of delicious treats and eats, but perhaps her signature creation was a wrap made from fruits and vegetables.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Did you know that many of the advances in wool and leather clothing were developed in Wyndmoor, PA, including a technique to get rid of the yellowing of wool?Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

We travel to Corvallis, Oregon, to meet with ARS research geneticist John Henning.  Here at the Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit, John and his team recently released two new beer hop varieties: Vista and Triumph.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researcher Bill Kustas, a Research Hydrologist and Distinguished Senior Research Scientist at ARS’s Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville, MD, is part of a collaborative team called GRAPEX.  The GRAPEX research program involves using satellites and even unoccupied aerial vehicles to identify vine water use and stress throughout a vineyard. Growers can use these data to determine if certain areas are getting too much, too little, or just the right amount of irrigated water.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Corn is grown all over our planet and is an important crop in all parts of our lives. ARS Research Entomologist Xinzhi Ni, at ARS’s Crop Genetics and Breeding Research Unit in Tifton, GA, is looking at how corn plants get stressed, and how those stressors invite diseases and pathogens to proliferate inside the crop. Ni is hopeful the work will help future entomologists and breeders find solutions to these perennial problems.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

We travel to Byron, Georgia, to the ARS Fruit and Tree Nut Research Unit, and visit with Research Horticulturist Chunxian Chen. Dr. Chen and his group recently released three new peach cultivars: Rich Joy, Crimson Joy, and Liberty Joy.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Check out our newest strawberry, and hear how new strawberry cultivars are created.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Learn how a USDA breeding program was responsible for the development of the blueberry growing industry in the southeastern United States and how ARS scientists have developed and are continuing to work with farmers to create new cultivars of blueberries that we all get to enjoy.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Where was the Roma tomato developed? Rome? Nope, the answer may surprise you.  Learn this and more interesting facts about the Roma tomato.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers make sure the science, chemistry, and math all add up to great wine grape production across the U.S.  Learn about ARS’s crucial roles in wine grape production as our researchers’ find answers to the biggest problems facing the nation’s wine grape industry. For this season of Science in Your Shopping Cart, we’re hitting the virtual wine trail to learn the science behind wine grape growing and how everything in our environment, including wildfires, can influence the characteristics that pour into a glass of wine.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researcher Kerri Steenwerth, a research soil scientist with the Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit in Davis, CA, battles weather extremes and ways to keep wine grape growers ahead of the environmental curve.  Her research involves regenerative viticulture practices, which is similar to regenerative farming, or farming with sustainability and the environment in mind. Regenerative farming focuses on building and sustaining healthy soil, and it’s not a new practice; it’s been adopted by most wine growers for decades. Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) protects and helps the wine industry thrive in the United States.   Learn some fun facts to share at your next wine tasting including the birthplace of American wine.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers are working with the National Grape Research Alliance (NGRA) to help wine grape growers adapt to ever-evolving weather patterns as well as extreme weather conditions.  Believe it or not, it may not be all bad. One of the unintended consequences of shifting weather patterns is the ability of certain regions to produce grape varieties they’ve never been able to grow before. This is also creating a resurgence of grape production in areas that were once prominent for wine growing.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers work with the National Grape Research Alliance (NGRA) to initiate novel research projects and programs to solve industry challenges. And there’s no bigger challenge today than dealing with extreme weather and shifting weather patterns.  Thankfully, ARS researchers are on the job, working with the NGRA to solve problems and find solutions in the areas that grape research is needed most.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers have been instrumental in developing cereal crops and enhancing food for the American people. In this season of Science in Your Shopping Cart, we’re taking a trip down the cereal crop aisle, where we’ll dive into the challenges of growing popular cereal crops, explore the growing popularity of ancient grains, and taste a rice that’s fit for an emperor.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS Ecologist, Martin Williams at ARS’s Global Change and Photosynthesis Unit in Urbana, IL is researching ways to help farmers to deal with their weeds. Williams’ research is aimed at ways to control those pesky weeds and manage their crops.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS research leader Shahryar Kianian and his colleagues at ARS’s Cereal Disease Lab in St. Paul, MN are leaning on the art of negotiation to help oat producers deal with a deadly disease, called Crowned Rust. Listen and learn how ARS is protecting oats, some of the healthiest grains you can put in your body. They are a great source of fiber, and they contain lots of vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS researchers have developed and strengthened our food supply. Listen to learn some fun facts about cereal crops and other foods that can enhance your diet.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

At the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas, ARS geneticist Shannon Pinson studies specialty rice that is beneficial to human health. Her work includes research on colored rice that has traditionally been given to pregnant women for the nutritional benefits it provides during pregnancy.Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Honey bees and their pollinating cousins are essential to human life. Without honey bees, we cannot grow a lot of the food we love. Honey bees have been around for millions of years, but they face many challenges in today’s environment, and their populations ebb and flow. So how do bees fit into this podcast, Science in Your Shopping Cart? Well, if it wasn’t for honey bees and their pollinator friends, there would a lot less food to put in your shopping cart. Oh, and of course there’s honey, which you can put in your shopping cart, so there you go.Click on the link below to get a step-by-step set of instructions to perform the test for amitraz resistance in Varroa destructor in honey bee colonies.https://youtu.be/-YUyj_RrtB0?feature=sharedAnd find out how you can help honey bees by clicking on the extension service link below.https://extension.org/find-cooperative-extension-in-your-state/Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Humans have been breeding honey bees for centuries to help them adapt to new environments, and with technology improving at a rapid pace, breeders may now have the tools to build a perfect bee. Join us at the Honey Bee Lab in Baton Rouge, LA, where bee experts discuss the challenging and exciting art of bee breeding.Find out how you can help honey bees by clicking on the extension service link below.https://extension.org/find-cooperative-extension-in-your-state/Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

ARS research entomologist Dr. Shawn Steffan works in cranberry country, USA – aka Madison, WI. Here, bees are vital to cranberry production, so keeping them healthy and happy are crucial. Steffan is studying the relationship between bees, their microbiome, and the environment in which they live and work. Listen how building a perfect symbiosis may be the key to long-term health of honey bees.Find out how you can help honey bees by clicking on the extension service link below.https://extension.org/find-cooperative-extension-in-your-state/Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars

Join us at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., where we talk with ARS researcher Matthew Buffington, who explains how a deadly predator to the honey bee recently arrived in the U.S.  Is the Norther Giant Hornet still a threat to our precious honey bee population? Listen to find out.Find out how you can help honey bees by clicking on the extension service link below.https://extension.org/find-cooperative-extension-in-your-state/Connect with us: Twitter: @USDA_ARSFacebook: @AgriculturalResearchServiceLinkedIn: @usda-ars