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November 2014

Nov 24, 2014

Changing nighttime temperatures present new crop production challenge

As nighttime temperatures rise faster than daytime temperatures, agricultural production faces a new challenge being explored by NC State University’s Dr. Colleen Doherty. Doherty, an assistant professor of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, studies how plants perceive and respond to changing temperatures and other stressors that keep them from attaining optimal yields. 

Nov 24, 2014

Quantitative un-easing

The Federal Reserve took extraordinary steps to try to contain the negative effects of the recession. Does the Federal Reserve have to worry about how to move back from these steps now that the recession is past? N.C. State University economist Mike Walden responds. 

Nov 21, 2014

NIFA chief delivers wide-sweeping seminar on challenges facing 21st century agriculture

Calling a booming world population “the mother of all wicked problems,” National Institute of Food and Agriculture Director Sonny Ramaswamy called upon an NC State University audience to press forward in their attempts to deliver on the promise of biophysical and social sciences in ensuring food security for a population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. 

Nov 21, 2014

You Decide: What’s happening to the middle class?

Mike Walden discusses why saving, protecting and even expanding the middle class may be the issue of the century. 

Nov 19, 2014

Warmer temps limit parasites’ impact, boost pest populations

Climate change is expected to disrupt ecosystems by changing insects' and other organisms' life cycles in unpredictable ways -– and scientists are getting a preview of these changes in cities. NC State University research shows that some insect pests are thriving in warm, urban environments and developing earlier, limiting the impact of parasitoid wasps that normally help keep those pest populations in check. 

Nov 18, 2014

Kim Allen receives professional award

Dr. Kim Allen of NC State University’s Department of Youth, Family and Community Sciences has received a 2014 Center for Credentialing & Education professional development award from the NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors Inc. 

Nov 18, 2014

Something resistant this way comes: an insect mystery

In fall 2013, Dr. Dominic Reisig got a phone call from a farmer in rural Hyde County. The farmer was growing corn, and it was literally falling apart in the field. What was going on? Reisig, an entomologist at NC State University, is a sort of science detective who specializes in insects that pose a threat to crops. And the farmer had presented him with a mystery. 

Nov 17, 2014

Albertson named Agent of the Year

Amy-Lynn Albertson has been named North Carolina Extension Agent of the Year by Carolina Farm Stewardship. The award was announced at the 2014 Sustainable Agriculture Conference held Nov. 10-12 in Greenville, S.C. 

Nov 17, 2014

Jonesville farmer elected chair of the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board

Zach Myers is the co-owner of Myers Dairy Inc., a commercial dairy farming operation that milks more than 900 cows daily. 

Nov 17, 2014

What will oil producers do?

To drivers’ delight, gas prices have dropped to around $3 a gallon. Many thought this day would never come. N.C. State University economist Mike Walden explains why the drop happened and whether lower prices will continue.