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.

FOCUS on Agriculture

Episode 57: Neal Carter - RNAi Technology and the Arctic Apple

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 helm6@purdue.edu.

Episode 56: Matt Helm - New Tools in the Battle Against Tar Spot of Corn

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.

Episode 55: Kato Ssentamu - Farming in Africa and 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.

Episode 54: Dean Malvick - Plants Get Sick Too: Tar Spot

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 tammy.potter@ky.gov. 

Episode 53: Tammy Horn Potter - Bees in America, Part II

Dr. Tammy Horn Potter is currently the Kentucky State Apiarist.  Although she grew up on a farm, she was determined never to be involved in science, agriculture, or math as a career.  That all changed when she helped her grandfather with his bees in 1997, and her career shifted to focus on them.  Tammy 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). In this episode, Tammy describes the fascinating history of honey bees in America, through the late 1800s.  In part 2, we will discuss the importance of bees in the 20th century and beyond.

Episode 52: Tammy Horn Potter - Bees in America, Part I

This episode is the second part of our conversation with Dr. Stephen Powles, one of the world's foremost experts on herbicide resistance in weeds.  In this conversation we discuss novel methods of managing herbicide resistant weeds.  Listen for Steve's explanation of his seemingly counterintuitive advice, "When you're on a good thing, change it."  If you haven't listened to Steve tell the fascinating story of his educational and career journey, be sure to check out the previous episode. To learn more about this topic or to start a discussion with Dr. Powles, follow him on Twitter @sbpowles or email him at stephen.powles@uwa.edu.au.  More information can be found at the University of Western Australia website.

Episode 51: Steve Powles - Herbicide Resistance Part II: When you find a good thing, don't stick to it.

Dr. Stephen Powles is one of the world's most highly respected and cited plant scientists.  He has received countless awards for his pioneering work in the area of herbicide resistance and published over 250 research papers on the subject.  You may be surprised to learn that Steve's career began inauspiciously when he dropped out of high school to help support his family.  In part one of this two-part series, we discuss Steve's fascinating history as his lifelong quest for knowledge carried him across the globe in his educational journey. To learn more about this topic or to start a discussion with Dr. Powles, follow him on Twitter @sbpowles or email him at stephen.powles@uwa.edu.au.  More information can be found at the University of Western Australia website. 

Episode 50: Steve Powles - Herbicide Resistance Part I: From Poor to Prof

Happy 2nd anniversary to the Focus on Agriculture Podcast.  In this brief update, we discuss the 5 most downloaded episodes from the past year.  Be sure to rate and review us on your favorite podcast app.

Episode 49: Second Anniversary - A description of the top episodes of the 2020-21 season.

Dr. Nick Seiter is an entomology professor and extension specialist at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign.  His research focuses on identifying new ways for farmers to battle insect pests.  Listen as Nick describes his latest research, including the use of parasitic nematodes as a biological control for Corn Rootworm, a pest that is often called the "Billion Dollar Bug" due to the economic impact of the damage it causes each year.  You can learn more about the parasitic nematodes in this article: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2020/02/03/nematodes-eat-insect-guts-breakfast. You can get the latest information from Nick and other University of Illinois researchers at Crop Central (go.illinois.edu/cropcentral) or follow Nick on Twitter @nick_seiter. If you are interested in learning more about Corn Rootworm, check out these earlier episodes: Episode 6: Joe Spencer - Rootworm, the Billion Dollar Bug Episode 7: Matthew Carroll & Bill Moar - Future Bug Tech

Episode 48: Nick Seiter - Killing Corn Rootworms with Parasitic Nematodes

Dr. Leandro Mozzoni is a soybean breeder with the University of Arkansas. He utilizes conventional plant breeding and advanced breeding tools in the areas of genomics and phenomics to maximize farmer’s profit. His research involves exploring niche-market, food-grade or modified-seed-composition varieties, and identifying breeding solutions for diseases and abiotic stresses of soybean.  Our conversation with Leonardo focuses on his research and advice for students.  We also discussed the similarities and differences between farming in the United States and Argentina, and the unique challenges faced by growers in his native country. To continue the discussion, you can contact Leandro at lmozzon@uark.edu.

Episode 47: Leandro Mozzoni - Modern Soybean Breeding and Farming in Argentina

Farmers across the globe face similar challenges, but there are also many differences in their operations.  In this episode we chat with Bernardo de la Vega about his farm in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.  For the past few years, Bernardo has been growing Vitala corn.  Listen as he discusses the unique problems facing Mexican farmers and how the launch of short stature corn has helped address some of those challenges.  You can also learn more about short corn from Bayer Crop Science: www.cropscience.bayer.com/who-we-are/events/how-sustainable-short-stature-corn-can-change-future-food.

Episode 46: Bernardo de la Vega - Short Corn Part II and Farming in Mexico

Dr. Kelly Gillespie is a crop physiologist with degrees from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She currently leads corn and soybean crop efficiency portfolio strategy for Bayer Crop Science.  Kelly also sits on the executive board of the North American Plant Phenotyping Network and the advisory board of the Iowa Soybean Research Council. Listen in to hear Kelly discuss a revolutionary innovation in corn production, the development of shorter statured hybrids.  In this conversation she explains the benefits that this technology will provide to farmers once it is fully commercialized in the next couple of years.  In the next episode of this two part series we will talk with a Mexican farmer about his experiences with the product. To learn more, you can connect with Kelly on LinkedIn or Twitter @kmgillespie.  For a deeper dive into the topic of short corn, check out this Future of Farming panel discussion on short corn: https://www.cropscience.bayer.com/who-we-are/events/how-sustainable-short-stature-corn-can-change-future-food. 

Episode 45: Kelly Gillespie - Short Corn Part I

The World Food Prize was created by Nobel Peace Prize winner and father of the Green Revolution, Dr. Norman Borlaug to honor those who have made significant and measurable contributions to improving the world's food supply.  To date, there have been 50 laureates, with the 2021 World Food Prize winner to be announced in May. Barbara Stinson was named the second president of the World Food Prize Foundation in 2020.  In a career spanning over 3 decades, she has focused on improving global food security and safety while addressing the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity.  Her work emphasizes policies and programs that support smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, by bringing institutional support and access to new tools, technologies and data to improve the quantity, quality and availability of food. You can learn more about the World Food Prize at www.worldfoodprize.org.  Visit their website to read about past laureates, programs and events, or to nominate someone for one of the awards described by Barbara in this episode. To learn more about Dr. Borlaug and the Green Revolution listen to Episode 42 where we discuss the impact of his life and career.

Episode 44: Barbara Stinson - The World Food Prize

In this episode we chat with Monticello, IL farmer Wyatt Muse.  Wyatt was recently honored with a Young Alumni Award from the college of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois.  He grows both conventional and organic crops on his east-central Illinois farm.  In this interview, he discusses some of the challenges and benefits of each system.  If you want to learn more about this topic, you can email him at wyattmuse@gmail.com or follow him on twitter @wyattmuse1.  At the end of the interview, Wyatt even shares his phone number in case you would like to contact him directly.

Episode 43: Wyatt Muse - Pros and Cons of Conventional and Organic Farming

Join Preston Schrader and Jason Carr, field technology reps in the Ag industry, as they talk all things row crop agriculture. From digital ag, pests, and sustainability to increasing yield, they cover a variety of topics to help growers succeed and open a dialogue with consumers.

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FOCUS on Agriculture

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