ag research | Harvest Public Media

Changing The Rock Dust Applied To Farm Fields Could Help Reduce Carbon Emissions

By Jonathan Ahl • Sep 2, 2021

Agriculture is responsible for more than 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and some in the industry are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

One of those efforts is replacing the kind of crushed rock farmers use to neutralize their soil’s acidity, from limestone to basalt.

Scientists are running tests in fields around the world to see if the swap will work to keep the soil healthy, increase yield and reduce agriculture's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers Looking To Soybean Oil To Improve Industrial Metal Cutting

By Jonathan Ahl • Aug 22, 2020

Two Professors at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla are working on using soybean oil to replace a mixture of water and petroleum in industrial metal cutting.

The fluid is needed to lubricate and cool metals in industries including automotive, aerospace and medical manufacturing.

Right now, it takes buckets of the oil-water mix to do the job, and the researchers think they can replace that with just a few drops of soybean oil.

'We have one Earth': Researchers Work To Boost Farm Production Without Causing More Harm

By Amy Mayer • Jun 19, 2020

At the edge of a corn field on a clear but windy June day, microbiologist Tom Moorman lifts a metal lid and reveals a collection of bottles, tubes, meters and cables in a shallow pit. The system is designed to capture runoff from 24 plots.

Federal Farm Research Offices Set To Move From D.C. To Kansas City

By Frank Morris • Jun 13, 2019

(This story was updated at 5:15 p.m.)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans Thursday to move headquarters of two large research agencies from Washington, D.C., to the Kansas City area, promising the region more than 550 research jobs.

Does Mint Grow In Space? These Kansas City, Kansas, Middle-Schoolers Are Eager To Find Out

By Luke X. Martin • Feb 21, 2019

When Uhunoma Amayo found out his science experiment was one of just 34 selected to be carried out this spring on the International Space Station, he was shocked.

"They pulled me out of class," says Amayo, a seventh-grader at Coronado Middle School in Kansas City, Kansas. "I was dumbfounded."

Amayo is one of four students at Coronado who designed the experiment, which will explore whether mint grows as well in orbit as it does here on earth.

Kansas City-Area Congressional Delegation To USDA: Move Your Research Here

By Erica Hunzinger • Aug 17, 2018

Updated Aug. 22, 2018 — Two research arms of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be moving out of Washington, D.C. Three of Missouri’s U.S. representatives and one from Kansas said Kansas City is the perfect place for those agencies.