FOCUS on Agriculture

The Donald Danforth Center in St. Louis, Missouri is the largest non-profit plant science research institution in the world.  In today's episode, we spoke with Dr. Jim Carrington, who leads the Center in its mission to improve the human condition through plant science.  One topic of conversation was the lack of access to technology in third world countries, and how the Danforth Center is working to alleviate this problem.  Listen to learn about this and other exciting research with the potential to radically change agriculture.

You can learn more about the Danforth Center on their website, www.danforthcenter.org or follow them on Twitter @DanforthCenter.  You can also view Jim's TED talk on The Science in our Food. 

Dr. Chinmay Soman is the co-founder of Earthsense, an ag startup that is developing teams of robots which can collect data on every individual plant in a field.  It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but is much closer to reality than you might think.  Listen to learn how Chinmay's passion for making a difference in the world has led him to the intersection of technology and agriculture.

You can learn more about EarthSense on their website: www.earthsense.co or by following them on twitter @earthsense_inc.

Brown marmorated stink bugs are the latest in a long line of insect invaders which causes severe damage to agricultural crops.  They were first collected in Pennsylvania in the late 1990s, and since that time, have steadily continued westward across the United States.  This pest not only damages crops, but also likes to congregate in homes and other buildings as fall weather begins each year.

Kelly Estes monitors and studies this and other insect pests for the Illinois Natural History Survey.  In this episode she discusses the biology of the brown marmorated stink bug, and its history and migration within the US.  She also discusses the risk it poses to Midwestern crops and the long-term outlook for its management.

To learn more, you can contact Kelly directly through email: [email protected] or follow her work on Twitter and Facebook (@ILPestSurvey).  Since 1858, the Illinois Natural History Survey has been the guardian and recorder of the biological resources of Illinois.  To learn more about the work of its staff of over 200 scientists and technicians, visit www.inhs.illinois.edu.

John and Eve Ackerman are owners of Ackerman Family Farms which is located in the Pumpkin Capital of the World, Morton, IL.  Each fall, thousands of visitors to this popular agritourism destination are able to choose from an wide range of pumpkin varieties, feed farm animals, or explore a corn maze.

In this episode, John shares the story of the evolution of his family's farm over the past century and describes how he and his wife decided to become involved in agritourism.  He shares advice for other farmers who may be considering diversifying in a similar manner, and we learn a bunch of fascinating pumpkin facts along the way.

If you are interested in learning more about John's operation, please visit www.ackermanfamilyfarmsllc.com.  To learn more about the Morton Pumpkin festival, visit www.mortonpumpkinfestival.org.

John Kowalchuk is a farmer in western Canada who grows canola, malt barley, wheat, yellow peas, faba beans, and red lentils on his 2,000 acre farm.  He enjoys actively sharing the stories of his farming journey and promoting agriculture through social media.  In this conversation, we learn about John's farm and he shares tips to encourage his fellow farmers to become active in sharing their stories with consumers.

You can follow John on Twitter: @kowalchukfarms1, TikTok: @kowalchukfarms, Instagram: kowalchukfarms, or through his blog: http://johnkowalchuk.blogspot.com/.  Check out John's popular TikTok video featuring his dad's tractor: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8ADGqw2/.

We're all familiar with the tendency of apples to turn brown shortly after cutting them up in preparation for eating.  Okanagan Specialty Fruits is a biotechnology company that has developed a technique to turn off this browning reaction, allowing apples to maintain a favorable appearance and flavor for extended periods.  Listen to this episode to hear company president Neal Carter describe RNAi technology, and how this process can help reduce the worldwide problem of food waste.

You can learn more about Okanagan Specialty Fruits at their website: www.okspecialtyfruits.com or Arctic Apples at www.arcticapples.com.  You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms.

Tar Spot is a devastating disease of corn that was first identified in the upper midwestern United States in 2015.  The disease led to devastating yield losses in farmer fields in 2018 and 2021.  Dr. Matthew Helm is a research molecular biologist with the Agricultural Research Service arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS) and is stationed at Purdue University.  Dr. Helm's current research involves understanding the molecular interactions between the tar spot pathogen and its host to ultimately develop plants that can prevent and/or tolerate infection.

For more information on this topic, follow Dr. Helm on Twitter (@mattdhelm19) or email him at [email protected].

Kato Ssentamu is a farmer from Uganda and visiting researcher at the University of Illinois.  In this eye-opening episode, we compare and contrast farming in the United States to his home country.  Kato's unique perspective allows him to explain the benefits of modern technology in agriculture.

Farmers are aware of the multitude of insects and diseases that attack their crops, but consumers may be unaware of the amount of effort that goes into protecting crops from diseases.  Dr. Dean Malvick is a plant pathologist at the University of Minnesota and conducts research to support farmers in this battle.

One corn disease that has attracted a lot of attention among farmers over the past several years is Tar Spot, which has traveled from Mexico and invaded the upper Midwest.  For this episode, Dr. Malvick joined Preston and Jason to discuss the latest research on the control of this and other diseases.

In this episode, Dr. Tammy Horn Potter, Kentucky State Apiarist, describes the fascinating history of honey bees in America from World War I to today.  Listeners may be surprised to learn that bees were so integral to the war effort in WWI that beekeepers were exempt from the draft.  Listen to also learn how traumatized veterans found mental healing in beekeeping.

Tammy keeps bees with her husband and is the author of several books, Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation (2005), Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Teach us About Local Trade and Global Markets (2012), Flower Power: Establishing Pollinator Habitat (2019), and Work I Knew I Must (2021).  You can email her at [email protected].