November 2024 Arkansas Ag Research Report
Poultry science professor Xiaolun “Jack” Sun, left, is working with Ph.D. student Bilal Alrubaye, to develop a vaccine for necrotic enteritis, a multi-billion-dollar problem in the poultry industry.
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Poultry scientists are working on a vaccine for necrotic enteritis, a multi-billion-dollar problem.
- Exploring new approaches to combat bovine respiratory disease.
- Drought mapping project shows driest spots in Arkansas and results in a user-friendly app to analyze two decades of data.
- What works for fleas and ticks on your pet could work as a mosquito and fly larvicide, too.
- A proactive approach to mitigating pathogens in pecans.
Big News
Finding a preventative solution to a billion-dollar poultry problem
To help the poultry industry solve a $6 billion problem, Xiaolun “Jack” Sun is working with a new $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to advance research on necrotic enteritis.
Sun is developing a vaccine and exploring the use of bile acids to fight this serious and costly disease that is impacting producers’ productivity and profits.
Sun’s team for the four-year project includes Ph.D. student Bilal Alrubaye and master’s student Janashrit Shrestha.
Jack Sun, left, Bilal Alrubaye, Thamer Alanazi and Janashrit Sherstha are working to develop a vaccine for necrotic enteritis in poultry.
Top Notch
Exploring new approaches to combat bovine respiratory disease
Samantha Howe, a post-doctoral fellow in the Animal Science Department, received a two-year, $225,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to explore the use of probiotics in bovine respiratory disease prevention.
Bovine respiratory disease is the most costly illness affecting cattle in North America. Despite extensive research and treatment efforts over the years, it continues to lead to high rates of sickness and death among livestock.
Howe’s research project aims to develop probiotics derived from healthy cattle to prevent bovine respiratory disease.
Samantha Howe, a post-doctoral fellow for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station in the animal science department.
Roni Mathis of the Arkansas Food Innovation Center at the Market Center of the Ozarks (AFIC@MCO) won the 2024 Top Chef NWA competition this month.
“We are incredibly proud of Chef Mathis for this well-deserved recognition,” Darryl Holliday, executive director of AFIC@MCO, said. “Her culinary expertise and commitment to our mission — fostering the innovation and prosperity of northwest Arkansas’ small food businesses — are invaluable assets to AFIC@MCO.”
The Arkansas Food Innovation Center at the Market Center of the Ozarks is a unit of the of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Chef Roni Mathis of the Arkansas Food Innovation Center at the Market Center of the Ozarks won the 2024 Top Chef NWA contest sponsored by the Rogers Public Library Foundation.
Listen — Food, Farms & Forests Podcast
A Berry Big Deal: $7 M USDA-NIFA Grant Supports Grape Research
New research is exploring combining the best traits of traditional table grapes with muscadines to create disease-resistant, flavorful grapes consumers will love.
In this episode of Food, Farms & Forests, Margaret Worthington, associate professor of horticulture, explains the project she co-leads to create a new grape variety.
Grape Expectations – Breeding the Future of Grapes and Muscadines
“We’re introducing a new fruit,” said Renee Threlfall.
In this episode of Food, Farms & Forests, Threlfall, associate professor of food science, shares her work on a USDA-funded project to develop a new generation of muscadine grapes.
New episodes every other week! Subscribe on your favorite platform!
Research Spotlights
From pets to pests: Researchers explore new tool to fight disease-carrying insects
Emily McDermott, assistant professor of medical and veterinary entomology, and Ph.D. student Blythe Lawson in the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department are testing a product commonly used to treat ticks and fleas on pets to target fly and mosquito larvae.
Their study on fluralaner as an outdoor larvicide, which was supported by a U.S. Department of Defense program, was published in the Acta Tropica journal.
“We’re still several steps away from a commercial application,” McDermott said. “With further testing and development, this yeast-based larvicide could provide a new tool for vector-control efforts and public health.”
Blythe Lawson, Ph.D. student in the entomology and plant pathology department, performs tests in the lab as part of research investigating how fluralaner could potentially be used as a larvicide.
To maintain microbial safety in the pecan market, Jennifer Acuff, assistant professor of food microbiology and safety in the Food Science Department, conducted a study to develop data on methods of sanitizing pecans soilborne pathogens.
The research, supported by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, found that chemicals like lactic acid and chlorine did not sufficiently sanitize pecans infected with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, also known as STEC, but was effective at inhibiting cross-contamination in the water used for washing pecans. Soaking pecans in 185 degree water for five minutes worked best at sanitizing the pecans. The study was published in the Journal of Food Protection.
Erin Ramsay, a food science graduate student, authored the study on pecan sanitizing which was published in the Journal of Food Protection.
Geospatial mapping study shows drought trend in ag-dominated Arkansas Delta
Hamdi Zurqani, an assistant professor of geospatial science for the Arkansas Forest Resources Center and the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, used satellite imagery to study the drought dynamics in Arkansas.
He comprehensively analyzed drought dynamics to reveal a trend of drought in two areas of the Arkansas Delta and other short and long-term climate trends in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Vegetation Drought Explorer, a user-friendly web app, was another result of the study. The free web app gives users access to maps showing drought levels in Arkansas by county, year and month.
Hamdi Zurqani developed the Arkansas Vegetation Drought Explorer app as part of a drought mapping study.
Watch
Samuel B. Fernandes – From Data to Insights
Samuel Fernandes grew up on a ranch and studied agronomy. But he always wanted to study computer science too. As a researcher in the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics and the Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Department, Fernandes combines these two passions to help plant breeders develop new varieties for growers and consumers.
Samantha Robinson – Smarter Decision-Making with Data
Samantha Robinson, a statistician and educator, turned a childhood love for numbers into a career. Robinson is an associate professor in the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics and the School of Human Environmental Sciences. She’s dedicated to blending research and teaching to empower the next generation of statisticians and researchers.
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