Study documents conversion of grassland to crops
A new study documents a loss of 1.3 million acres of grassland over a five-year period in the Western Corn Belt - a rate not seen since the 1920s and 1930s.
Ecology
Feb 21, 2013
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News tagged with corn belt
Lower nitrogen losses with perennial biofuel crops
Perennial biofuel crops such as miscanthus, whose high yields have led them to be considered an eventual alternative to corn in producing ethanol, are now shown to have another beneficial characteristic–the ability to reduce ...
Environment
Jan 10, 2013
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Price increases caused by US biofuel mandate hurts poor countries
(Phys.org)—Price increases for corn—a direct result of the U.S. biofuels mandate—added $11.6 billion in costs for countries importing the food staple between 2006 and 2011. More than half the increase fell on poorer, ...
Economics & Business
Oct 18, 2012
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Asia, US plains facing water extraction crisis
Heavily-populated regions of Asia, the arid Middle East and parts of the US corn belt are dangerously over-exploiting their underground water supplies, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Environment
Aug 8, 2012
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'Darwinian Agriculture' explains how evolution can improve agriculture
The largest drought in 50 years has severely damaged much of the nation's "corn belt" and is threatening the viability of Minnesota's 2012 corn crop. While an extreme, this summer's condition is a reminder of a larger challenge ...
Evolution
Jul 25, 2012
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Bigger refuges needed to delay pest resistance to biotech corn
Genetically modified crops that produce insect-killing proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have reduced reliance on insecticide sprays since 1996. These proteins are lethal to some devastating crop pests, ...
Ecology
Jun 3, 2012
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Global prices of pollination-dependent products such as coffee could rise in the long term: study
In recent years the economic value of pollination-dependent crops has substantially increased around the world. As a team of researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Technical University ...
Ecology
Apr 27, 2012
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New discovery turns seaweed into biofuel in half the time
University of Illinois scientists have engineered a new strain of yeast that converts seaweed into biofuel in half the time it took just months ago. That's a process that's important outside the Corn Belt, said Yong-Su Jin, ...
Biotechnology
Aug 29, 2011
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Researchers predict record Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' due to Mississippi River flooding
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring is expected to result in the largest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" on record, according to a University of Michigan aquatic ecologist and his colleagues.
Environment
Jun 15, 2011
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Unique gene combinations control tropical maize response to day lengths
Tropical maize proves to be a valuable genetic resource, containing genetics not found in USA Corn Belt maize. Most tropical maize varieties respond to the long summer day lengths that occur in U.S. growing regions by flowering ...
Biotechnology
Jun 14, 2011
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