BARC is a National Resource for Consumers and Farmers

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BARC is a National Resource for Consumers and
Farmers
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From Field to ForkPlus the Flowers on the Table
BARC has it all!
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Who Are We?

• ARS is the in-house research arm of USDA
• BARC is the flagship
• location of ARS
• BARC is the largest
• single location in ARS
• BARC is the only
• location in ARS with work
• covering the entire ARS
• research portfolio

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Science In Your Shopping Cart

• Lactose-free Milk
• Concentrated frozen orange juice
• Seedless grapes
• Roma tomatoes
• DEET insect repellent
• Glenn Dale azaleas
• Technology for first frozen dinners
• First wrinkle-free fabrics
• Commercial Poinsettias, Easter Lilies and
  chrysanthemums
• Dehydrated potatoes
• Super-absorbents for diapers
• Turkeys with lots of white meat

ARS research impacts everyone, not just farmers
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• Its Not Your Grandpas Farm

Before the end of 2007, BARC will release, with
its commercial partners, a DNA assay that will
reduce the cost of evaluating genetic merit of
dairy bulls from 50,000 to 200 per bull and
reduce the time it takes from 5-7 years to days.
This will not only reduce costs for dairy
producers, it will keep down the price of milk
for consumers
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Anniethe First Transgenic Cow
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BARC is a Leader in Research on Colony Collapse
Disorder (CCD)
Bees contribute 15M/yr to the economy
through increased production due to
pollination Some beekeepers have lost 60 or
more of the their colonies to CCD
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Retail Meat Survey
BARC was instrumental in helping pork producers
control toxoplasma
There is miniscule risk of toxoplasma in retail
meats
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Coccidiosis Costs the Poultry Industry
One effect of coccidiosispoor growth
Understanding the chickens immune system will
help us develop control measures to replace
drugs, to which the parasites are becoming
resistant
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Commercial Turkeys are allBred by Artificial
Insemination
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Preserving the Bay

• Improved management
• of drainage ditches on
• the Eastern Shore to
• reduce nutrients
• entering the Bay
• Optimize use of cover
• crops for maximum
• nutrient uptake
• Methods to use radar
• imaging for wetland
• management to reduce
• pollutants into the Bay

• BARC spends about 6M/yr on research to
  improve health of the Bay

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Understanding Water MovementHelps Us Help the Bay
Water moves in underground channels and through
macro-pores Knowing this helps us
evaluate movement of pesticides and nutrients in
groundwater
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Yes, There Are Citrus Trees in Maryland!
Citrus Tristeza Virus
Xylella fastidiosa
BARC developed the best, most sensitive
assays for these and other citrus diseases
Without good diagnostics, cutting down trees
for disease control can result in removal of
healthy trees
Citrus Canker
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Wall-Less Bacteria Cause ManyPlant Diseases
The existence of Spiroplasmas was discovered at
BARC
Corn Stunt Disease caused by Spiroplasma Kunkelli
A phytoplasma disease
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
The comparative and analytical study of the kinds
of living and fossil organisms (species), includin
g their description, distributions, and the
relationships that they share Systematics is
the foundation for the study of all Biological
Diversity on earth Systematics goes a step
beyond taxonomy by integrating all information
about taxa (groups of species) to draw
inferences. Classical (morphology) and molecular
(DNA) techniques are both very important.
My Family Tree
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
Leafy Spurge
Native of Europe and Asia, leafy spurge is an
aggressive, persistent, deep-rooted perennial
weed that invades a wide variety of habitats in
the U.S. and Canada.
A noxious weed in 35 states, leafy spurge crowds
out desirable plants, is toxic to cattle and
horses, and costs producers and taxpayers 144
million a year in just four states alone (MT, WY,
ND, SD) Aphthona flea beetles are natural pests
for spurge. In 3 years they reduced leafy spurge
from 60 cover to 10.
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Biological control of noxious, exotic weeds
Outside of systematics, BARC does other work on
invasives, such as developing remote sensing
methods to assess their spread Here, leafy
spurge near Devils Tower, WY.
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
Brown Citrus Aphid
Brown Citrus Aphid originated in Asia. During
early 1990s, SEL noticed it spreading through
Central America and Caribbean. We warned
Florida of imminent danger to citrus
industry. When Brown Citrus Aphid showed up in
FL in 1995, preventive measures were already in
place.
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Systematics
The invisible safety net for food security and
the environment
Emerald Ash Borer
We provided critical link to world expert who
confirmed EAB was not native Worked with Forest
Service to identify natural enemies that might
impact or control EAB populations Recently
identified larvae detected in MD Each time a
possible new spread is detected it must be
verified Experts who devote their lives to
knowing these organisms are crucial
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Soybean Rust
ARS scientists screened 18,000 accessions of
soybean germplasm and found no genetic
resistance to soybean rust But we did find rust
resistance in common beans Proteomics is also
helping us understand how the soybean
plant fights infections
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Impacting National Export Markets
US wheat exports to Brazil were rejected in 2000
because of suspected Wheat Seed Gall Nematode
infections. BARC nematologists, working with
Brazilian scientists, were able to convince
Brazil to reverse its actions. Wheat exports to
Brazil rose from 0 in 2000 to 76 million in
2001.
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• Witches broom in cacao

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Powerful Multi-Disciplinary Research
Producing a natural protein in plants to use for
disease prevention in dairy cattle
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What to Do with All Those Poultry Feathers?
Biodegradable
Production soon to begin on the Eastern Shore
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The condition of crops and soils can be sensed
from aircraft and satellites
AeroView International is a new company in Bowie
thats based on BARC research with unmanned
vehicles
BARC collaborated with NASA and Spectrum Mapping
Technologies in Easton, MD, to develop airborne
imaging system that is the core of the companys
remote sensing business
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BARC and the Patuxent WildlifeResearch Center
make up the largest open green space between
Boston and Charlotte
Our forests and wetlands are important to our
research programs And we have several
globally rare plant communities at BARC, as well
as endangered species found nowhere else in
Maryland
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• The National Arboretum Helped Save
  Washingtons Cherry Blossoms

Cherry blossoms attract 600,000 visitors each year
A major part of the 7B tourism industry in
Washington
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The US National Arboretum Develops New Plants
for The Landscape Industry And Our Yards!
650 new introductions for the landscape industry
Greenhouse/nursery industry in MD
is 304M/year Second only to poultry in the ag
sector
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Working to Improve Food Safetyfor All Americans
Food-borne illness creates 3B in health care
costs and costs the economy 20-40B/yr
BARC has formed a new Food Safety Lab to
strengthen our work on these problems
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Working to Improve Food Safetyfor All Americans
Food-borne illness creates 3B in health care
costs and costs the economy 20-40B/yr
Hyperspectral imaging will replace human
inspection based on carcass color and odor.
Commercialization through major poultry
equipment manufacturer.
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Working to Improve Food Safetyfor All Americans

• Intralytix, Inc., Baltimore, is collaborating
  on a project to use bacteriophages as sprays on
  fresh-cut fruits and vegetables to prevent growth
  of food-borne human pathogens.
• Testing needed for FDA
• approval is pending.
• Sales of fresh-cut produce in
• the US are estimated at about
• 9-12B per year.

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Online Apple Safety Inspection
Line-scan Hyperspectral/Multispectral Imaging
System
Electron Multiplying CCD (16 bit, 10 MHz)
Spectrograph
C-mount Lens
Quartz Halogen Lamp (Vis/NIR Reflectance)
Micro Discharge Lamp (MDL) UV Light (Fluorescence)
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In the Pipeline

• New and better insect repellent (to replace DEET,
  invented here 60 yr ago). Insect repellent
  market in US estimated at 2B/yr

gt1M from DOD for Deployed Warfighter Protection
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USDAs Job Nutritionfor Healthy People
More than half the information used to set
nutrient and dietary recommendations comes from
USDA research
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Real People, Real Food
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Food Survey Data
Are important to evaluate programs such as
school lunches and food stamps
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Healthy DietsHealthy People

• National Food Consumption
• Survey
• National Nutrient Database
• The science behind the Dietary
• Guidelines and recommended
• nutrient intakes
• Clinical studies with
• real food and real
• people