Cornell harvest brings healthy food by the ton to needy dinner tables

This harvest season, families across the Southern Tier have received 81 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables thanks to faculty and staff at Cornell University's Homer C. Thompson Farm in Freeville. (November 15, 2005)

Organic farms produce same yields as conventional farms

Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes.

Cornell ecologist's study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel from corn and other crops is not worth the energy

Turning plants such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers into fuel uses much more energy than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates, according to a new Cornell University and University of California-Berkeley study.

Environmentally conscious agricultural practices by U.S. farmers would ease drain on world water supply

In a world plagued by shortages of water, three facts stand out in an analysis by Cornell ecologists: Less than 1 percent of water on the planet is fresh water; agriculture in the United States consumes 80 percent of the available fresh water.

Onion a day keeps doctor away? Cornell researchers find some onions do indeed have excellent anti-cancer benefits

According to a new study by Cornell University food scientists, led by Rui Hai Liu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of food science, shallots, Western Yellow, pungent yellow and Northern Red onions are higher in anti-cancer chemicals than other varieties tested. (Oct. 7, 2004)

New York farmers brace for an invasion of the swede midge, a little fly that could cause extensive crop damage

A tiny, voracious fly called the swede midge, which already has eaten its way across eastern Canada's cabbage and broccoli fields, now is threatening to descend on crops in states along the northern U.S. border. On Feb. 11 an educational session on the swede midge will be held for registered growers at the 2003 New York State Vegetable Conference in Liverpool, N.Y

Ethanol fuel from corn faulted as 'unsustainable subsidized food burning' in analysis by Cornell scientist

Neither increases in government subsidies to corn-based ethanol fuel nor hikes in the price of petroleum can overcome what one Cornell University agricultural scientist calls a fundamental input-yield problem: It takes more energy to make ethanol from grain than the combustion of ethanol produces.

Soybean aphids, a potential agricultural threat, found by Cornell entomologists in New York state

Potentially damaging soybean aphids have been detected in several central and western counties of New York state, according to Cornell University entomologists.

Plants' battle against disease is 'trench warfare at the molecular level,' BTI and Cornell scientists discover

By observing the battle between bacterial speck disease and tomatoes, biologists have discovered how plant cells resist some ailments. Researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc. and Cornell can now demonstrate how disease-causing organisms deliver destructive agents to plants, and how the plants fight back.