A specific gene in corn seems to confer resistance to three important leaf diseases, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their university colleagues. This discovery, published in 2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could potentially help plant breeders build disease-resistance traits into future corn plants. The research team included Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant geneticists Peter Balint-Kurti, Jim Holland and Matt Krakowsky in the agency's Plant Science Research Unit in Raleigh, N.C., and scientists with the University of Delaware, Cornell University, and Kansas State University. ARS is the USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency.

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service¹s Ranch Management University is scheduled April 9-13 at the G. Rollie White Visitor's Center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station.

Under pressure from farm groups, the Labor Department has agreed to modify a plan that's intended to keep children away from some of the most dangerous farm jobs. The proposal now will include broader exemptions for children whose parents are part owners or operators of farms, or have a substantial interest in a farm partnership or corporation, officials said. The rules would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment and prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.

John Deere announced today it has established a strategic agreement with MacDon Industries Ltd. to better serve existing and future John Deere self-propelled windrower customers globally.

"This agreement allows us to expand the John Deere hay and forage product portfolio to better serve our dairy, livestock, commercial hay and small grains customers," said William F. Norton, Vice President, Global Hay & Forage Platform.

Merck Animal Health announced it has signed an agreement with the Department of Medical Microbiology of the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University to embark on the development of innovative vaccination strategies against bacterial udder infections (mastitis) in dairy cattle.

Wilbur-Ellis Company employee Dan Wray, general manager of the North America forage operations, has been appointed president of the Export Processors Council (EPC), a division of the National Hay Association (NHA), which works to advance industry issues and guarantee the safe export of forage products. Wray is also on the board of directors of the NHA. As president, Wray will work with the EPC to promote the NHA’s mission in foreign markets by collaborating with foreign agriculture governmental agencies and foreign trade associations to set policies and guidelines in hay exports.

Corn grown in rotation with soybeans requires less nitrogen fertilizer than continuous corn, while producing higher average yields per acre, according to a recent research study by Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business. "Our research shows that corn residue acts like a 'sponge' immobilizing the fertilizer, making it temporarily unavailable to the corn plant," says John Shanahan, Pioneer agronomy research manager. "Growers working with continuous corn need to be mindful of crop residue from the previous year and adjust (and likely increase) their nitrogen fertilizer rates accordingly."

A series of studies at Purdue University has shown that spray water pH and hardness can reduce the effectiveness of herbicides, making it vitally important for crop producers to test water sources. Hard water or water with pH values as low as 4 or as high as 9 have been shown to lower the efficacy of herbicides, including glyphosate, nicosulfuron and saflufenacil, said Bill Johnson, Purdue Extension weed scientist and professor of botany and plant pathology. An ideal pH value would be 6-7.