Late fall is often an ideal time to remove invasive buckthorn species, which have spread widely across Minnesota. Buckthorn outcompetes native plants, suppresses the growth of canopy tree seedlings and reduces habitat quality for wildlife.
A University of Minnesota-led team of researchers received the first round of funding from a $10 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to follow up on their work with VitisGen2, a multi-disciplinary, collaborative project focused on cultivating disease-resistant grapes that can be grown sustainably with reduced pesticide and fossil fuel use.
Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas, like carbon dioxide or methane. Often overlooked in climate change discussions because it’s less abundant in the atmosphere, its potency is about 300 times greater than carbon dioxide and researchers say its warming potential, especially via agriculture, demands attention.
If you enjoy a Honeycrisp, Haralson, SweeTango or First Kiss apple at your local orchard or farm stand this fall, you can thank the University of Minnesota apple breeding program for putting it there.
