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Articles by Joe Funk
Can next-generation agriculture become a climate change solution - rather than a carbon generator?
The GLP Needs Your Help It is easier than ever for advocacy groups to spread disinformation on pressing science issues, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. No, vaccines are not harmful. Yes, the use of biotechnology, GMOs or gene editing to develop antigens for treatments including vaccines are part of the solution. To inform the public about what’s really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. We can’t do this work without your help.
New Plants for Carbon Farming
Carbon sequestration — it’s a buzzword that’s slowly trickling down into agriculture practices. But how could breeding for carbon farming actually help the industry? The extent to which agricultural crops and farming practices will be called upon to play a role in affecting Earth’s future climate changes hinges on the extent to which atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is involved in effecting changes in the Earth’s climate.
As he Enters Retirement, Joe Funk Looks Back on a Life Covering the Seed Industry
Since 2017, Joe Funk has been a contributing writer for Seed World Group, and a dear friend to all our editorial staff. In May 2021, Joe decided to retire so he could enjoy the company of his lovely wife, Donna, and travel around the globe. Over the past 20-plus years, as editor of another seed journal, I visited more than 250 seed companies and interviewed countless seed producers across the United States, in several Canadian provinces and in 10 or 11 nations.
Variability Makes Uniform Testing Challenging
The overall level of seed testing uniformity depends upon what aspects of testing are measured, which crops are being tested and maybe even who you ask. The simpler the test being performed and the easier the crop being tested, the test results will generally display less variation. Conversely, the more challenging the crop, e.g., native species with seed dormancy and the more complex the test, e.g., TZ viability test, the less uniformity there is likely to be among multiple tests.
Hybrid Wheat: Beyond Yield
A global effort is underway to lower the cost of hybrid wheat seed production. Each year, Australian wheat growers plant one of the world’s largest wheat crops (China, India and Russia plant the world’s most extensive wheat acreage). In terms of total production, Australia produces the tenth-largest crop of wheat. Whether or not hybrid wheat can boost Australian wheat yields and raise its position among wheat-producing countries will depend on several significant developments.
Better Defense for Better Tomatoes
Thousands of years ago, when farmers in South America began domesticating tomato’s wild ancestors, Solanum pimpinellifolium, they were working with weedy-looking plants that produced small albeit intensely flavored fruit. Over time, through continued selection, tomatoes evolved into the larger, modern cultivated tomato. What modern tomatoes gained in size, they lost in disease resistance and ability to withstand abiotic stress.
Better Defense for Better Tomatoes
As Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus infects tomato and pepper plants across the globe, seed companies are working on breeding a resistant tomato. Thousands of years ago, when farmers in South America began domesticating tomato’s wild ancestors, Solanum pimpinellifolium, they were working with weedy-looking plants that produced small albeit intensely flavored fruit. Over time, through continued selection, tomatoes evolved into the larger, modern cultivated tomato.
What’s the Holdup with Hybrid Wheat?
Although hybrid wheat has found a market in Europe, it’s falling behind in the U.S. In the 1970s, there were some very active, commercial programs in the United States working to develop hybrid wheat. At that time, there was only one committed U.S. public program. It was located at North Dakota State University. They were doing all kinds of work, but it was tedious hard work. Eventually, a commercial company running perhaps five project programs would come up with a good hybrid.
Taste, Colour and the Search for the Perfect Drink
Craft distillers and brewers are looking for color and taste — different grain varieties provide that. More than 100 years ago during the U.S. Prohibition era, most locals knew where to get the best illicit homebrewed spirits (aka moonshine, white lightning or hooch). No longer a clandestine, back-woods, “by the light of the moon” operation, today’s brewmasters blend and finesse their mash recipe as carefully as a French winemaker does to obtain a precise color and flavor for their products.
Experimenting for Taste and Color
Craft distillers and brewers are looking for color and taste — different grain varieties provide that. More than 100 years ago during the U.S. Prohibition era, most locals knew where to get the best illicit homebrewed spirits (aka moonshine, white lightning or hooch). No longer a clandestine, back-woods, “by the light of the moon” operation, today’s brewmasters blend and finesse their mash recipe as carefully as a French winemaker does to obtain a precise color and flavor for their products.
Bringing Improved Protein Quality to Popcorn
David Holding, Associate Professor of Agronomy and Horticulture, and his team is pollenating popcorn hybrids at their East Campus field. July 17, 2019. Photo by Craig Chandler / University Communication. Research paves the way for improved popcorn. Notwithstanding its ubiquity and widespread use, dent corn (zea maize) is an imperfect food crop with incomplete protein quality.
GE Plants in a COVID-19 Vaccine? Maybe!
Everyone’s frantically looking for a COVID-19 vaccine, but could genetically engineered plants be the solution? Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions of the 20th century. In recent decades, recombinant technologies have enabled the design of experimental vaccines against a wide range of diseases using plant viruses and virus-like particles as central elements to stimulate protective and long-lasting immune responses.
Making a Better Popcorn
Experts chat about the history and breeding of our favorite movie food: popcorn. Popcorn is a unitasker. It doesn’t have a long list of functions to justify its existence. It serves only one purpose: it’s snack food. But it serves that function very well. Popcorn is perhaps nature’s best snack treat. It is a healthy, whole grain, relatively inexpensive, non-GMO food that tastes great, especially when dressed with melted butter and a good sprinkle of salt.
Solving the Asian Soybean Rust Puzzle
In September 2019, an international research collaboration announced it had successfully assembled a complete reference-quality genome sequence of Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the fungal pathogen that causes Asian soybean rust (ASR) which has a devastating impact on soybean production, an internationally important crop with 380 million tons produced globally. Soybean rust poses a threat to U.S. soybean production and is a crucial challenge for soybean growers around the world.
Upping Our Global Wheat Game
While wheat is considered a more challenging crop, breeders around the world are working to improve wheat’s genetic potential. Globally, wheat is a gold-medal crop. It is grown on more land than any other crop. But in terms of plant breeding and genetic improvement, wheat is a stepchild. Genetic improvements for wheat have lagged behind corn and other major crops.
Upping Our Global Wheat Game
Globally, wheat is a gold-medal crop. It is grown on more land than any other crop. But in terms of plant breeding and genetic improvement, wheat is a stepchild. Genetic improvements for wheat have lagged behind corn and other major crops. Since 1955, U.S. average wheat yields have increased at a rate of 0.39 bushels per acre per year, while improved genetics and crop production techniques have increased corn yields at a fairly constant annual 1.9 bushels per acre per year.
Plant Breeding: Art or Science?
Office-bound plant breeders would miss the anomalies that can be really important and informative. Given a large enough brush, you could paint most groups with one of two colors. In prehistoric times, people were either hunters or gatherers. In the Broadway musical Oklahoma, settlers were either farmers or plowmen. In most of Western civilization, people tend to have either a scientific or artistic perspective on life.
Some organic farming advocates poised to embrace CRISPR and other New Breeding Techniques because of their sustainability benefits
There is a new ongoing debate as to what plant breeding technologies constitute genetic modification. The transgenic GM crops introduced more than 20 years ago remain verboten for organic food production. If the pro-organic Cornucopia Institute and other organic food industry proponents have their way, all forms of gene editing and [New Breeding Techniques] would be classified as GM and join the list of practices prohibited for the production of food products eligible to be certified USDA Organic.
Epigenetics: A New Frontier
Bringing epigenetics and computational sciences together. New plant breeding technologies (NBTs) are a group of techniques which encompass a wide variety of approaches, methodologies and unique characteristics to develop new varieties. They may either be used alone in the breeding process or they may be used in combination with other NBTs, conventional breeding approaches or with genetically modified (GM) technologies.
Epigenetics: A New Plant Breeding Technology
Bringing epigenetics and computational sciences together. New plant breeding technologies (NBTs) are a group of techniques which encompass a wide variety of approaches, methodologies and unique characteristics to develop new varieties. They may either be used alone in the breeding process or they may be used in combination with other NBTs, conventional breeding approaches or with genetically modified (GM) technologies.
Soil Health for Feeding the Seed
Soil health has become increasingly important, but how does the root microbiome fit into the equation to feed the seed? When viewed from a cosmic perspective, life on planet Earth depends on a razor-thin continental crust that makes up less than 0.4% of the Earth’s total volume. Within this extremely thin “skin” is an even thinner layer known as the root microbiome, or rhizosphere, where plant roots meet soil, minerals, water and soil microbes. Without this interactive zone, life could not exist.
Stay on Top of Your Game When It Comes to Precision Ag
Precision ag is continuously growing and changing, and experts say it’s important to stay on top of it to fully understand it. Farmers have traditionally relied on experience and historical knowledge to make decisions each season about their farming practices and the use of crop inputs. In the last 20 years, unprecedented, low-cost access to real-time data has changed farmers’ ability to analyze data, practice precision agriculture (PA) and automate their equipment and devices via the internet.
Stay on Top of Your Game When It Comes to Precision Ag
Farmers have traditionally relied on experience and historical knowledge to make decisions each season about their farming practices and the use of crop inputs. In the last 20 years, unprecedented, low-cost access to real-time data has changed farmers’ ability to analyze data, practice precision agriculture (PA) and automate their equipment and devices via the internet.
Associations are Evolving for the Future
In 1887, the U.S. Congress funded agricultural experiment stations to support various types of agricultural research under the direction of land-grant universities. By the early 1900s, universities were supplying a steady stream of new plant varieties with significantly higher yields compared to traditional varieties. Seed supplies of these new varieties were increased by foundation seed programs at each university and released to the public for sale to farmers.
Artificial Intelligence Delivers at a Global Scale
Experts believe that AI has the potential to set the stage for the next Green Revolution. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science of training machines to perform human tasks. The term was invented in the 1950s when scientists began exploring how computers could solve problems on their own. We take for granted how our brains effortlessly calculate the world around us, every second of every day. AI is the concept that a computer can do the same.
Hemp's Future on the Farm
Part V: Path Forward Aside from the CBD boom, analysts say farmers have a real reason to grow hemp. There’s a need to spur agriculture’s commodity markets forward, and hemp might be a trigger. “There are economic reasons the United States should be involved in hemp markets,” says Erica Stark of the National Hemp Association. “Growers have been struggling, and it’s gotten worse with soybean tariffs.
Consumer CBD Craze, Demand Surge
Part IV: End Use Products When you think of the industrial hemp market, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? CBD oil and its claimed benefits are all the buzz. Said to relieve pain, reduce anxiety and depression and even reduce acne flare ups, the CBD oil industry is booming. And what’s good enough for humans is good enough for our four-legged friends.
Certified Seed Needs
Part III: Hemp Breeding For farmers to reap the full benefits and maximize market opportunities, the right germplasm needs to be created. “The need for certified seed is very strong,” says Andrea Schiavi, CEO of Schiavi Seeds. “It’s going to take time for seed companies to produce stable varieties that will satisfy the demand in the coming years.
Production Pains
Part II: Hemp Agronomics Despite its history, hemp remains a mystery to most U.S. producers. While the National Hemp Association and most groups have been focused on advocacy and policy, there’s a big hole to fill when it comes to grower education. Michael Bowman, who authored Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill and is a founding chair of the National Hemp Association, admits education is a big challenge and that they are trying to work with the national corn and soybean associations.
Cannabis Breaks Free
Part I: Hemp Policy Due to hemp’s familial relationship with marijuana, individual states and the U.S. government began to criminalize all cannabis throughout the 20th century. A lack of understanding about the plants’ differences led to laws that restricted or prohibited growing cannabis. It was 1970 when the U.S. Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act abolished its legalization by means of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act.
Cover Your Bases with Cover Crops
As the demand for cover crops increases, it’s time to learn the basics about how to effectively use and manage them. In the historyof agriculture, U.S. farmers have been slow to recognize the value of cover crops. Over 3,000 years ago, Chinese farmers knew how to use cover crops to reduce soil erosion and increase fertility. Although farmers in the United States have been slow to embrace cover crops, they are becoming fast learners.
Cover Your Bases with Cover Crops
In the historyof agriculture, U.S. farmers have been slow to recognize the value of cover crops. Over 3,000 years ago, Chinese farmers knew how to use cover crops to reduce soil erosion and increase fertility. Although farmers in the United States have been slow to embrace cover crops, they are becoming fast learners.
Are Biostimulants Finally Finding Their Place?
Biostimulants were considered “snake oil” for decades, but with a new definition in the Farm Bill, are they finally finding their place amongst seed treatments in the United States? Biostimulants, a nebulous group of biological products intended to enhance crop production, may finally be coming into focus. These products have a long history of agricultural use, yet they lack a legal definition in the United States.
Yield Contests - Seed World
These grower-led competitions are a proving ground for new products and production practices. Genetics is seldom a limiting factor when it comes to corn yield. Every year, in every field, something limits yield. It could be weather, pests, soil characteristics, agronomic practices or management decisions.
The $1 Billion Pest Meets Its Match
Soybean cyst nematode is one of the world’s most destructive soybean pests. How can we begin to combat it? Widely described as the world’s most destructive soybean pest, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is estimated to cause losses exceeding $1 billion each year in the United States and Canada alone. What makes this pest so hard to manage? Cysts containing eggs can survive dormant in the soil for 10 or more years. Once a field is infected with SCN, there’s no way to rid them; growers must manage them.
The $1 Billion Pest Meets Its Match
Widely described as the world’s most destructive soybean pest, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is estimated to cause losses exceeding $1 billion each year in the United States and Canada alone. What makes this pest so hard to manage? Cysts containing eggs can survive dormant in the soil for 10 or more years. Once a field is infected with SCN, there’s no way to rid them; growers must manage them.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
A regulatory agency unlike any other, designed to support the industries it regulates. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has broad responsibility for safeguarding the health and value of U.S. agricultural and natural resources. So far-reaching is its mission that it touches the lives of most Americans every day.
Technology Driving Change
Rural America is facing different changes at every level, but the biggest influencer? Technology. From top to bottom, rural America is changing, and seed companies respond with new marketing strategies. At every level, change is being driven by technology. Precision farm technology enables farmers to collect massive amounts of data that can be used to inform production input decisions.
Technology Driving Change
From top to bottom, rural America is changing, and seed companies respond with new marketing strategies. At every level, change is being driven by technology. Precision farm technology enables farmers to collect massive amounts of data that can be used to inform production input decisions.
Ushering in a New Era of Wheat Genetics
Researchers have been breeding new varieties of wheat using conventional cross-breeding approaches for a long time, but the process is expensive, time-consuming and unpredictable because it’s impossible to guarantee offspring will inherit just the right mix of genes from their parents. But this narrative is changing. In August, after working 14 years on a project to crack bread wheat’s genome, researchers from 19 countries, published their findings in the journal Science.
Precision from Beginning to End
Seed technology and advancements in the industry were the focus of a new Seed Expo tour, hosted by the American Seed Trade Association during its annual Corn, Sorghum and Soybean Seed Research Conference in Chicago. The tour included stops with 10 exhibitors that are involved in the seed treatment space from beginning to end. They talked about everything from the importance of eliminating dust to dust-off testing, and from safety to new chemistries coming to the marketplace.
A Sunny Future for Sunflowers
As demand for sunflower oil increases, the outlook for seeds is optimistic. At the start of 2019, U.S. sunflower growers have a generally optimistic outlook. Demand for sunflower seed has steadily grown, escaping the trade war that has adversely affected soybean exports. In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided an indirect boost to consumer confidence that sunflower oil is a healthy product.
Game Preview: Kent State
Minnesota has faced it's toughest non conference games and walked away 1-1. Now they are returning home for, what looks like on paper, their easiest game. The Golden Flashes from Kent State make their first trip to the state of Minnesota seeking their first ever win against a Big Ten school.
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