ɫ��ɫ Feeding a Growing Population News

Turning Food Scraps into Opportunities

Amy M Quinton — September 30, 2025

ɫ��ɫ researchers have created an online tool to track food scraps and turn them into useful products.

AI Tool to Help Farmers Measure Real-Time Crop Health from the Field

Andy Fell — September 24, 2025

Leaf Monitor, a new mobile tool backed by artificial intelligence and predictive modeling, could revolutionize how farmers monitor crops and make decisions by providing real-time nutrition and leaf trait information in the field.

Cheaper, Sustainable Plant Biomanufacturing on Earth and in Space

Andy Fell — September 15, 2025

Researchers at the ɫ��ɫ, have been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to develop new technologies and workforce training programs to grow plants in low-resource environments both on Earth and in space.

Wheat That Makes Its Own Fertilizer

Amy M Quinton — August 27, 2025

ɫ��ɫ scientists have developed wheat plants that produce their own fertilizer, opening the door for less air and water pollution and lower costs for farmers.

How Plants are Learning to Spot Sneaky Bacterial Invaders

Amy M Quinton — July 28, 2025

ɫ��ɫ scientists are using AI t help plants recognize a wider range of bacterial threats.

ɫ��ɫ Launches Small-Batch Wine Label

Amy M Quinton — June 11, 2025

ɫ��ɫ is selling wines to the public made by students, staff and faculty from Napa Valley and Yolo County grapes.

Targeting Gluten: Researchers Delete Proteins in Wheat Harmful to People with Celiac Disease

Emily C Dooley — May 05, 2025

A ɫ��ɫ study found that deleting a cluster of genes in wheat may reduce wheat allergies without harming breadmaking.

What to Know About Processed and Ultra-Processed Food

Jocelyn C Anderson — April 22, 2025

Scientists explain the difference between whole, processed and ultra-processed foods. Learn how they could affect our health and how the food industry can improve.

Novel Study Calculates the Cost to Cattle Ranchers of an Expanding Wolf Population

Amy M Quinton — April 21, 2025

ɫ��ɫ researchers found that one gray wolf can cause between $69,000 and $162,000 in losses due to lower pregnancy rates in cows and decreased weight gain in calves.

Cracking the Code of Pistachio Genetics

Amy M Quinton — March 20, 2025

ɫ��ɫ researchers have generated the most high-quality map of the DNA of the pistachio, allowing breeders to develop better varieties.

California Rice and Wildlife Report Released

Katherine E Kerlin — February 27, 2025

How many acres of rice are needed to support wildlife? ɫ��ɫ outlines a conservation footprint for the state's rice in a report for the California Rice Commission.

States Struggle to Curb Food Waste Despite Policies

Amy M Quinton — January 09, 2025

Current state policies aren't enough to curb food waste. Study shows states are falling short of the reduction goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Feeding Grazing Cattle Seaweed Cuts Methane Emissions by Almost 40%

Amy M Quinton — December 02, 2024

Scientists find making a seaweed additive more accessible to grazing cattle would make cattle farming more sustainable while meeting global demand for meat.

Making High-yielding Rice Affordable and Sustainable

Andy Fell — November 20, 2024

Rice is a staple food crop for more than half the world’s population, but most farmers don’t grow high-yielding varieties because the seeds are too expensive. Researchers from the University of California’s Davis and Berkeley campuses have identified a potential solution: activating two genes in rice egg cells that trigger their development into embryos without the need for fertilization, which would efficiently create high-yielding clonal strains of rice and other crops.

Engineers Find Best Ways to Make Coffee

Tatiana Muniz — November 18, 2024

Engineering experts are finding the best ways to make coffee, from sustainable farming to quality control to taste, improving the global coffee industry.

Extreme Weather Accelerates Nitrate Pollution in Groundwater

Amy M Quinton — November 13, 2024

Extreme weather from climate change, including droughts and heavy rains, may increase the risk of nitrates from fertilizers ending up in groundwater.

ɫ��ɫ and BioInnovation Institute Team Up to Improve Protein Nutrition on a Global Scale

James Michael Nash — October 09, 2024

The ɫ��ɫ today announced an expanded collaboration with the BioInnovation Institute (BII) to accelerate commercialization of discoveries in protein nutrition important to consumers around the world.

Smoke From Megafires Puts Orchard Trees at Risk

Amy M Quinton — October 02, 2024

ɫ��ɫ researchers say long-term smoke exposure from massive wildfires lowers the energy reserves of orchard trees and can cut their nut production by half.

The Promise of Alternative Proteins

Jocelyn C Anderson — September 09, 2024

ɫ��ɫ food scientists are studying how to make beef using cow stem cells.

How Plants Become Bushy, or Not

Andy Fell — August 06, 2024

For many plants, more branches means more fruit. But what causes a plant to grow branches? New research from the ɫ��ɫ shows how plants break down the hormone strigolactone, which suppresses branching, to become more “bushy.” Understanding how strigolactone is regulated could have big implications for many crop plants.

The study was published August 1 in Nature Communications.