December is filled with holiday observances and family gatherings, many highlighted by a seasonal feast. While the centerpiece for these feasts is as diverse as our nation, beef is a popular choice, particularly the standing rib roast, a traditional favorite. Last holiday season, the standing rib roast accounted for one fourth of all beef roasts marketed in retail outlets. [Read […]

She leans over her dead subject and deftly pushes a pin through its body, securing it to the foam below. To be clear, this is not about a morgue or a serial killer. This is about taxonomy, or the science of identifying, classifying, and naming organisms. The woman in question is a scientist, and her pinned subject is a bee. […]

Fire season is now about two months longer than it was in the 1970s. Before summer even begins, forests are primed for large fires that spread rapidly in trees that are dehydrated from drought, compromised from fighting off bugs, and often competing for space in overly dense forests. [Read More …] Plant Earth Water

With each holiday season, there are hundreds of people in the Midwest who are sickened after eating cannibal sandwiches – a dish featuring raw ground beef, often seasoned with spices and onions and served on bread or a cracker. [Read More …] Plant Earth Water

This time of year, I can’t help but think about cycles – everything coming full circle – from agriculture (planting through harvest) to the holiday season marking the end of one year and the start of the next. Here at USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), we are at an exciting time in the five-year cycle of the Census of […]

Malcolm Fox joins NSF with more than 20 years of experience [Read More …] Plant Earth Water