WASHINGTON, June 11, 2009 – USDA’s National 4-H Headquarters and NASA will send the 4-H flag, depicting the familiar 4-H Clover, into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on June 13, 2009, as part of the STS-127 mission.

“The inclusion of the 4-H flag on this mission is reflective of the commitment 4-H has to building young leaders in science, engineering and technology,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.  “As the global economy expands, these leaders will strengthen the United States' global competitiveness and leadership in these fields.”

4-H promotes positive youth development, facilitates learning and engages youth in the work of the land-grant universities and USDA to enhance their quality of life. Nearly 7 million youth, ages 5-19, participate in 4-H youth development experiences in all 50 states, territories and military installations worldwide.

The STS-127 mission will deliver the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. The 16-day mission will include five spacewalks and the installation of two platforms outside of the Japanese module.

Azeem Ahmed, 17, who is an avid space enthusiast and 4-H member from Alabama and President of the Alabama 4-H Council, made the original request to NASA to have the flag flown with a future space shuttle mission.

“4-H is more than green and white – it is a collage,” Ahmed said.  “It is agriculture and it’s also healthy living, leadership and citizenship and science, engineering and technology.  Science, engineering and technology is one of the missions of 4-H, and by flying a 4-H flag into space, I hope we shine a new light on 4-H.”

Ahmed has been a 4-H member for seven years.  He has participated in a variety of leadership and science, engineer and technology programs on the state and national level and wants people to see 4-H as he and thousands of other youth do.

The 4-H Youth Development Program began at the start of the 20th century to help rural youth gain technical and leadership skills.  More than 100 years later, the organization continues to promote positive youth development in the areas of citizenship; healthy living and science; engineering; and technology.  According to a two-year study in New York, young people who participate in 4-H clubs do better in school, are more motivated to help others, develop skills in leadership, public speaking, self-esteem, communication and planning and make lasting friendships.

National 4-H Headquarters, along with its private partner National 4-H Council, has set the goal of preparing one million new young people to excel in science, engineering and technology (SET) by 2013.  National 4-H Headquarters seeks to promote positive youth development, facilitate learning and engage youth in the work of the land-grant universities and USDA to enhance their quality of life.

More information is available at www.national4-hheadquarters.gov. Information on the SET initiative can be found at www.4-h.org/4Hset.html.

National 4-H Headquarters is a unit within USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).  Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.

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“Demand for food is expected to double over the next 25 to 50 years, and a lot of future food production will depend on the use of fertilizers and other nutrients that, when incorrectly applied, can harm the environment,” Hefferan said.  “This global partnership has the opportunity to develop and encourage sustainable food production practices to help meet rising food demand.”

The partnership was launched as a means to exchange information between the scientific community and policy makers from around the world.  The goals of the partnership are to raise awareness and disseminate information, facilitate the exchange of experiences and good practices and encourage action by all stakeholders.  A web-based platform will be developed with information, tools and training opportunities for partner organizations.  The UN Environment Programme is the Secretariat for GPNM and organized the global partnership.

CSREES staff assisted in the organization and launch of the partnership.  CSREES also supports research, education and extension activities to study, develop and promote the best management strategies to reduce or eliminate these potentially harmful compounds and pathogens.  These efforts help protect surface and ground waters, food products, and the air.  More information about the CSREES manure and nutrient management program is available online.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.

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Media Contacts
USDA: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188
NIH: Geoffrey Spencer, (301) 402-0911

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that an international consortium of researchers has published the genome of domestic cattle, the first livestock mammal to have its genetic blueprint sequenced and analyzed. The landmark research will bolster efforts to produce better beef and dairy products and lead to a better understanding of the human genome.

The sequencing and analysis of the bovine genome was funded in part by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and Agricultural Research Service (ARS), who jointly contributed approximately $10 million. Approximately $25 million was contributed to the project by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the NIH, which is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services.

"The cattle industry is extremely important for U.S. agriculture with more than 94 million cattle in the United States valued at $49 billion," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Understanding the cattle genome and having the sequence will allow researchers to understand the genetic basis for disease in domestic cattle and could result in healthier production of meat and milk while reducing producers' dependence on antibiotics."

"The domestic cattle genome sequence opens another window into our own genome," said Acting NIH Director Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D. "By comparing the human genome to the genomes of many different species, such as the domestic cattle, we can gain a clearer view of how the human genome works in health and in disease."

In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers from the Bovine Genome Sequencing Project estimate that the genome of the domestic cattle (Bos taurus) contains approximately 22,000 genes and shares about 80 percent of its genes with humans. The researchers also report that the organization of human chromosomes is closer to that of domestic cattle than to those of rats or mice.

The analyses, which involved comparing the domestic cattle genome sequence to those of the human, dog, mouse, rat, opossum and platypus, provide critical insights into the structure and function of the human genome. The findings will also assist researchers working to improve the quality and safety of beef and dairy products. In addition, genomic information can be used to develop better strategies for treating and preventing diseases that affect cattle. Some of those diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease, also can be transmitted - although very rarely - to humans.

Like humans and other mammals, the chromosomes of domestic cattle contain segmental duplications, which are large, almost identical copies of DNA present in at least two locations in a genome. Segmental duplications in the human genome are associated with a variety of human disorders, including a form of mental retardation and other neurological and birth defects.

In the domestic cattle genome, researchers found that some of these chromosomal rearrangements affect genes related to immunity, metabolism, digestion, reproduction and lactation. For instance, researchers think some of these changes may explain the unique ability of cattle to convert grass and other low-energy food sources into high-energy muscle, fat and milk.

Segmental duplications in the domestic cattle genome have also resulted in specialized roles for genes involved in immune response, such as those that make antimicrobial proteins in milk and their intestines. Researchers think these genes developed over time in response to the diversity of microbes that domestic cattle encounter and the vulnerability of animals that live in large herds to the spread of infectious diseases.

The breed of cattle selected for genome sequencing was Hereford, which is used in beef production. The effort to sequence and analyze the domestic cattle genome took six years and involved more than 300 scientists from 25 countries.

A related paper also appears in today's issue of Science. In that paper, the Bovine HapMap Consortium unveils a map that charts key DNA differences, called haplotypes, among the diverse branches of the bovine tree. The scientists compared the Hereford genome sequence with those of six other breeds: the Holstein, Angus, Jersey, Limousin, Norwegian Red and Brahman. Follow-up studies were then done on 497 cattle from 19 geographic and biologically distinct breeds. The species represent the humpless taurine cattle most commonly found in Europe, Africa and East and West Asia and the indicine cattle found in India, South and West Asia and East Africa.

Generally, the bovine HapMap indicates that present day cattle came from a diverse ancestral population from Africa, Asia and Europe, that has undergone a recent rapid decrease in population size, probably due to domestication. Researchers can use the bovine HapMap to track DNA differences between cattle breeds to assist discovery of traits for better meat and milk production.

"The bovine HapMap will be a valuable resource and will transform how dairy and beef cattle are bred," said Richard Gibbs, Ph.D., at Baylor College of Medicine's Human Genome Sequencing Center in Houston. "Genetic tools are already being developed and proving useful to the dairy industry and we predict they will be applied to improve the beef industry. We hope the information will also be used to come up with innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of cattle, such as greenhouse gases released by herds."

Along with the Science papers, researchers published 20 companion reports describing more detailed analyses of the domestic cattle genome sequence in journals from the open access publisher BioMed Central. All of the articles can be freely accessed at www.biomedcentral.com/series/bovine.

The Bovine Genome Sequencing Project was led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, part of NHGRI's Large-Scale Sequencing Research Network, USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Georgetown University and CSIRO Australia. The Hapmap project was led by Baylor College of Medicine, ARS and the University of Missouri.

Sequencing the bovine genome is part of USDA's "Blueprint for USDA Efforts in Agricultural Animal Genomics," a 10-year plan developed in 2007 for research, education and extension in animal genomics in an effort to improve animal production practices.

Funding for the $53 million cattle genome sequencing project was provided by an international group consisting of CSREES; ARS; the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health; the state of Texas; Genome Canada through Genome British Columbia; the Alberta Science and Research Authority; CSIRO; Agritech Investments Ltd., New Zealand; Dairy Insight, Inc., New Zealand; and AgResearch Ltd, New Zealand; the Research Council of Norway; the Kleberg Foundation; and the National, Texas and South Dakota Beef Check-off Funds.

A high-resolution photo of the Hereford domestic cattle, named L1 Dominette 01449, whose DNA was sequenced is available at: http://genome.gov/pressDisplay.cfm?photoID=72.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -"The Nation's Medical Research Agency" - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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Media Contact: Jennifer Martin, (202) 720-8188

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2009 – Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today unveiled an updated version of USDA's Research, Education and Economics Information System (REEIS), which allows the public to measure the impact and effectiveness of the Department's research, education and extension programs. The latest version adds additional data sources, opens data to Google Search and provides for extended data analysis.

"The new version of the USDA's information system provides the public with access to up-to-date research information and tools to understand how their funds are being used to advance our knowledge of agriculture," Vilsack said. "This is another step President Obama and USDA are taking to provide transparency and accountability to the American taxpayer."

REEIS version 5.0 includes the following new features:

• Project information will now include data from 2007 Accomplishment Reports from the Plan of Work System, and active and recently completed projects in the Current Research Information System (CRIS) database;
• More than 40,000 new and recently completed research projects and more than 1,000 planned programs are now easily accessible through Google Search; and
• Extended data analytics provide new reports and charts that focus on formula grant rankings and project trends by state, region, institution and knowledge area.

Examples of previous research funded by CSREES, which would now be included in REEIS include an environmentally-friendly wood adhesive made with renewable resources; an edible vegetable- and fruit-based film that is used to provide a layer of protection for meats, fruits and vegetables from E. coli and other bacteria and research that identified a gene in rice that allows it to survive flooding, saving the world's poorest populations $1 billion a year in lost rice crops.

Since its initial development in 2002, REEIS has grown and expanded its data repository. REEIS currently houses information from several government agencies, including the Agricultural Research Service, CSREES, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service and U.S. Forest Service.

REEIS offers information ranging from agricultural and forestry research projects, to state accomplishment reports, statistics on funding, publications, institutions, faculties and students. For more information on REEIS, visit www.reeis.usda.gov.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.

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WASHINGTON, April 10, 2009 – USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service co-hosted a conference April 2-3, 2009, with The Ohio State University and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service to address the occurrence of antibiotic resistant microbes in the food chain, which is becoming a global food safety and public health concern.

The conference, “Food Safety and Public Health Frontier: Minimizing Antibiotic Resistance Transmission through the Food Chain,” was held in Arlington, Va.  The conference brought together scientists from academia, government and industry to address this issue.  It will provide a multidisciplinary platform to address the antibiotic resistance issue as it relates to the food chain, focusing on commensal bacteria and pathogenic bacteria in antibiotic resistance evolution, maintenance and transmission.

Participants discussed and made recommendations on risk assessment and antibiotic resistance reduction strategies, proposed future research directions and developed education and outreach approaches for the industry, regulators, public health authorities and consumers to combat the worldwide antibiotic resistance problem.

More information about the conference is available on the Ohio State University Web site. 

CSREES supported the conference though a grant from the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative (NIFSI).  More information about NIFSI is available online.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.

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WASHINGTON D.C, April 7, 2009 - USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) today awarded $5 million in grants to 11 universities and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to conduct research, education and extension projects aimed at improving and protecting air resources by reducing agricultural atmospheric emissions.

“Developing research-based information on air quality issues is critical for America's farmers and ranchers,” said Colien Hefferan, CSREES administrator. “Understanding the sources and fate of agricultural emissions is critical for developing effective mitigation strategies and best management practices to protect our natural resources and environment.”

The awards are administered through the CSREES’ National Research Initiative (NRI) Air Quality competitive grants program.  This grant program seeks to improve knowledge of the environmental fate of agricultural atmospheric emissions, as well as increase adoption of best management practices to improve air quality and protect human and environmental health. The CSREES Air Quality program has awarded more than $25 million in the past five years.

Funded projects include research at Kansas State University to study the concentrations and emission fluxes of particulate matter, selected volatile organic compounds and greenhouse gases from a large cattle feedlot. Researchers at the University of Arkansas will develop a relatively simple and inexpensive ammonia emission mitigation system for commercial broiler chicken houses. A University of Colorado project will determine the impact on air quality from the production of four biofuel crops.

The fiscal year 2008 grants are being awarded to the following institutions:

• University of Arkansas, $97,123
• University of California, $529,885
• University of Colorado, $398,253
• University of Illinois, $599,928
• Indiana University, $399,689
• Indiana University, $399,986
• Kansas State University, $399,981
• Princeton University, $100,000
• Texas A&M University, $174,404
• USDA-ARS, $599,825
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute, $597,998
• Washington State University, $354,788

CSREES’ NRI program has been the largest peer reviewed, competitive grants program at USDA. Its purpose was to support research, extension and education grants that address key problems of national, regional and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of agriculture.  The 2008 Farm Bill did not renew the NRI, but did authorize the creation of the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).  More information about AFRI can be found online.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov.

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LOTHROP, Mo., April 7, 2009 - While visiting with farmers in Lothrop, Mo., today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is making more than $17 million in grants available under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Vilsack also described recent initiatives, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), designed to help producers and keep farmers on the land.

"This program underscores President Obama's commitment to support the nation's beginning farmers and ranchers," Vilsack said. "Through the beginning farmer and rancher grant program, we can help ensure that we are doing all we can for the next generation of America's farmers and ranchers."

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program is an education, training, technical assistance and outreach program designed to help U.S. farmers and ranchers -specifically those who have been farming or ranching for 10 years or less. Congress authorized the FY 2009 funding for this program in the 2008 Farm Bill, with another $19 million in mandatory funding for FY 2010. Under the program, USDA will make grants available to state, local, tribal, regional, non-profits, community based organizations, academic institutions, and networks of appropriate private and public organizations to design programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers.

The projects will be limited to 3 years. Budget requests in the proposals, which are due May 13, 2009, must not exceed $250,000 per year. USDA is looking for proposals from these areas:

• Mentoring, apprenticeships, and internships;

• Resources and referrals;

• Assisting beginning farmers or ranchers in acquiring land from retiring farmers and ranchers;

• Innovative farm and ranch transfer strategies;

• Entrepreneurship and business training;

• Model land leasing contracts;

• Financial management training;

• Whole farm planning;

• Conservation assistance;

• Risk management education;

• Diversification and marketing strategies;

• Curriculum development;

• Understanding the impact of concentration and globalization;

• Basic livestock and crop farming practices;

• The acquisition and management of agricultural credit;

• Environmental compliance;

• Information processing; and

• Other similar areas that would be useful to beginners.

More information about the program is at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/beginningfarmerandrancher.cfm.

Vilsack also discussed recent USDA initiatives to help producers and to reinvest in rural communities. In March alone, Vilsack announced the:

• Transfer of 200 million pounds of nonfat dry milk from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to USDA's Food and Nutrition Service for use in domestic feeding programs;

• Beginning of payments for producers participating in USDA's Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program;

• Purchase $60 million of turkey, $25 million of pork, $2 million of lamb and $29.7 million of walnuts; and the

• Reversal of the previous Administration's proposal to eliminate base acres on federal land.

In addition, Vilsack also discussed how the ARRA will revitalize rural communities. Under the stimulus bill, $2.5 billion will be invested in broadband for rural, underserved communities and to date, nearly $180 million has been disbursed to farmers for direct operating loans.

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