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UF researchers test natural predators to control sago palm threat

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In a prime example of how an exotic insect can wreak havoc on landscape plants and cause millions of dollars in damage, the Asian cycad scale has invaded South Florida and quickly spread throughout the state.

Filed under Research, Environment, Florida, Agriculture on Thursday, May 10, 2007.

UF report: Florida to have fewer dairy farms, higher milk production costs in 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s human population is growing but the state has fewer dairy farms and cows, according to University of Florida researchers, who say retailers may need to rely more on out-of-state milk in the summer and fall when local supplies run dry.

Filed under Research, Florida, Agriculture on Monday, March 19, 2007.

Potato farmers, scientists still fighting disease that devastated Ireland

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Each year, the world celebrates St. Patrick for ridding Ireland of snakes, but scientists are still trying to control an ecological menace that strikes the Emerald Isle’s best-known crop, says a University of Florida expert.

Filed under Research, Florida, Agriculture on Tuesday, March 13, 2007.

UF researchers design folate-packed tomato

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Leafy greens and beans now aren’t the only foods that pack a punch of folate, the vitamin essential for a healthy start to pregnancy. Researchers at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have developed a tomato with a full day’s worth of the nutrient in a single serving.

Filed under Research, Health, Sciences, Agriculture on Tuesday, March 6, 2007.

New UF partnerships help solve Florida’s growth management issues

GAINESVILLE, FLA. — Finding realistic and equitable legal solutions to a wide range of important growth management issues – especially those that affect agriculture, green space, water resources and energy – is easier thanks to a new partnership between the University of Florida’s Extension Service and UF’s Levin College of Law.

Filed under Research, Environment, Florida, Law, Agriculture on Monday, February 19, 2007.

Genetic modification turns plant virus into delivery vehicle for green-friendly insecticide, say UF researchers

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A plant-destroying virus farmers call one of their worst enemies may soon be an ally in the fight against crop pests and mosquitoes, say University of Florida researchers.

Filed under Research, Environment, Sciences, Agriculture on Tuesday, December 12, 2006.

New consortium aims to promote better research to protect state’s forests

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Each day, Florida gains an average of 1,000 residents and loses more than 200 acres of forest—but University of Florida experts say rapid urbanization doesn’t doom the state to a treeless existence.

Filed under Research, Environment, Florida, Agriculture on Thursday, November 30, 2006.

With spinach, it may be what’s on the inside that counts

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As investigators narrow the search for the source of E. coli-tainted spinach to just a few farms in three California counties, researchers suggest it may be just as important to examine how the plants acquired and carried the bacteria as it is to find the original point of contamination.

Filed under Research, Agriculture on Wednesday, September 27, 2006.

Energy does grow on trees

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Road warriors, it may be time to hug a tree. In a few years, you could find yourself filling your gas tank with ethanol derived from specially bred black cottonwood trees — and at prices not seen since the 1990s.

Filed under Research, Sciences, Agriculture on Thursday, September 14, 2006.

UF launches one of the nation’s first organic agriculture degree programs

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With revenues from U.S. organic food sales climbing by almost 20 percent each year, the demand for skilled workers in this field is booming – and a new University of Florida academic program will help meet producers’ needs.

Filed under Research, Education, Agriculture on Thursday, August 31, 2006.