Ag News and Views: October 2006

This fall, we may see an outbreak of armyworms and/or grasshoppers. If you have lush green winter pasture - or any pasture, for that matter - it may be a prime target.

Growing up, I remember going to my great-uncle's farm and looking through his barn/shop. Behind the old wooden doors, jugs of herbicides and insecticides, barrels of oil and grease, tools, his welder and whatever implements or tractor he had taken apart covered the dirt floor. When the floor got in bad shape, he would occasionally throw a shovel or two of soil over the top to "clean it up."

The Noble Research Institute is placed to become a national leader in the development of novel feedstocks, particularly for bioethanol production. In this article, I briefly explain how activities in Noble's Plant Biology Division will contribute to these efforts.

Some people are reluctant to hunt duck, or they try to give away their harvested ducks, because they think duck tastes bad. However, wild duck is like many meats: It can taste delicious when properly prepared, or it can taste terrible when poorly prepared.

Now that the Japanese market has reopened to U.S. beef, there is increasing demand for source- and age-verified cattle. Source and age verification must be documented and verified through a recognized United States Department of Agriculture program.

Most, if not all, cattle operations in the southern Great Plains have been adversely affected by two years of drought conditions. In our travels, we have noticed that the majority of the most...