HUGE SALES EVENT!

Naturally fireresistant cotton lines

By Jessica Ryan, USDA

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) bred four cotton lines that can be used to make self-extinguishing textiles when exposed to fire and will reduce the need for flameretardant chemicals to be embedded in consumer products, according to a recent study published in PLOS ONE.

The cotton lines were developed from cultivated cotton varieties and possessed a novel flame-retardant trait. When exposed to an open flame, the fabric from the new cotton lines self-extinguished whereas regular cotton fabric burned entirely in seconds.

“Use of these lines to develop commercial cultivars creates an opportunity to improve the safety of cotton products while reducing the economic and environmental impacts of chemical flame retardants,” said Brian Condon, senior author of the study and retired research leader at the ARS Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research Unit in New Orleans. “These lines will significantly benefit growers, producers, and consumers.”

Cotton typically produces flammable fibers and is treated with chemicals to be flame retardant when used for consumer products like clothing, mattresses, upholstery, and carpet. The new cotton lines were created by a multi-parent breeding approach that resulted in new opportunities for natural genes to interact and develop the unexpected trait of flame retardancy.

During a standard 45° incline flammability test, regular cotton (top) burned instantly when exposed to an open flame. In the same test, the fire-resistant cotton (bottom) self-extinguished when exposed to an open flame. (Video by Doug Hinchliffe)

ARS researchers Johnie Jenkins and Jack C. McCarty, supervisory research geneticists at the ARS Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research Unit in Mississippi, bred cotton lines to identify genes that affect agronomic traits such as yield and pest resistance and fiber quality traits such as length, strength, and fineness.

“ARS scientists study every step of cotton production from ‘Dirt to Shirt’ including genetic diversity, field management practices, fiber quality attributes, and end-use textile characteristics,” said Jenkins.

Although all of the parental cotton lines produced flammable fabric, researchers found that flame retardance did not come from a single gene. Instead, they found that multiple genes created a phenotype for fibers with significantly lower heat release capacities. The new cotton lines also possessed the desired agronomic and fiber quality traits, making the lines sought after for breeding and consumer usage.

“We look at fabric quality and chemical finishes that create permanent press, wrinkle-free, and flame-retardant fabrics. Now we have found lines with a novel and natural genetic mechanism for flame retardance,” said Condon.

What does a rain cloud wear under her dress? Thunderwear!

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Put a little boogie in it! #####

What kind of room doesn’t have doors? A mushroom!

Saving their soil

For brothers Dave and Dan Rech, utilizing cost-share dollars to improve their farming operation over the past few decades has been a simple action with big impact. The Rechs have worked with the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District (NRD) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to add terraces and outlets to their row crop acres. Erosion control was their primary objective, as they were seeing significant soil loss on their hillier acres.

“With terraces, tiled outlets, and no-till farming, we can pretty much eliminate erosion,” said Dave. In addition to keeping the topsoil, adding these measures has also made farming easier in places. “If you get these terraces in and you control that erosion, you’re eliminating a lot of ditches to cross,” he said.

It’s been a long-term project to install these upgrades. The Rechs were committed to making the land improvements happen a little at a time, each year making use of the maximum cost-share dollars. Previously the maximum amount available for cost-share for land treatment practices with the NRD was $5,000 per year per landowner. The amount has since been increased to $7,500.

“Over the last 40-some years, most every part of our land that needed some treatment got it,” Dave said. “It’s been a lifelong battle. You do a little bit every year, and that’s how you get things done.” Dave has been farming with his brother for many years and today both men’s sons have also joined the operation. Dave is pleased that when it is time to turn over the farm to the next generation someday in the future, that he will have done his part to make the land as profitable and sustainable as possible.

The Rechs have been experimenting with cover crops to further reduce erosion and to improve soil health. They currently have rye as a cover crop on about 25 percent of their row crop acres and plan to plant more in the next five years. They have a cow-calf operation of about 400 head and the rye provides early spring grazing for the cattle. In the winter, the cattle graze crop residue, which Dave says is the most cost-effective way to fatten the cows and build the soil. Twenty years ago, when he went no-till then started planting cover crops, Dave says he caught some flak from other producers in his area who thought his fields were full of “trash.” As his strategy has proven successful, his naysayers have started following his lead. Now the practices are becoming much more common in his area, he said.

“There are still some people that do full tillage. They’re not happy unless they are stirring dirt somewhere. They call it recreational tillage,” Dave said. However, the labor and cost savings involved with no-till makes the practice a bedrock of the Rechs’ operation. “We used to work up the soil once or twice, but now we just go out there and plant and we’re getting good stands and raising good crops,” he said.

These practices have provided a measure of protection for the Rechs’ farm when it comes to weather extremes like the wind, hailstorms, and drought Nebraska experienced in the 2022 growing season. “It’s hard to prepare yourself for something like that,” Dave said, referencing the storms. “I’ve never seen so much damage and destruction. Up and down Interstate 80…it was just terrible.”

After all that wild weather, Dave said he could see the impact of conservation activities at harvest: on ground that had been more recently tilled, he saw a 40 bushel per acre yield hit. “The difference really showed up,” he said. Better soil structure and keeping the ground covered provided a buffer against the drought.

“It’s hard to fight Mother Nature,” Dave conceded. “You

Saving their soil

CONTINUED FROM PAGE C32 think you’ve got it figured out and Mother Nature throws a whammy at you and then you’ve got to rethink. Hailstorms, drought, you never know what you’re going to be up against from one year to the next.” With the help of the NRD and NRCS, the Rechs’ operation is better prepared for whatever Mother Nature might throw at them next.

Interested in land treatment cost-share? See what the NRD has to offer at www.upperbigblue.org/cost-share.

*Prices listed may include Cash and/or Financing Incentives, other Rebates may be available. Restrictions may apply.

*Dealer’s Doc Fee is not included in price listed. See store for more details and questions.

February Spotlights

Coming in February

2020 Ram Bighorn 1500 4X4 5.7L Engine, 25,275 miles

Maroon Exterior, Black Interior

2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

3.6L V6 Engine, 54,800 miles White Exterior, Black Interior

2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

3.6L V6 Engine, 133,038 miles

Yellow Exterior, Black Interior

2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

3.8L V6 Engine, 97,300 miles

Black Exterior, Black Interior

2021 Ford Explorer Limited AWD

2.3L V6 Engine, 41,415 miles

Bronze Exterior, Black Interior

For more information on the incoming vehicles, please give us a call. 406-826-3381

Pre-Owned Vehicles

2013 and newer, under 140,000 miles are covered by the Ford Royal Shield Limited Warranty for the first 12 months or 12,000 miles at no cost to you. See store for more details

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“Johnny, why did you kick your brother in the stomach?” exclaimed the angry mother. “It was pure accident, Mama. He turned around.”

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Q: Which pet makes the most noise?

A: A trumpet.

Metabolic pathway in honey bees

By Kim Kaplan, USDA

Agricultural Research Service scientists and their Chinese colleagues have identified a specific metabolic pathway that controls how honey bees apportion their body’s resources such as energy and immune response in reaction to stresses such as winter’s cold temperatures, according to recently published research.

This cellular pathway has the strongest connection yet found to the large overwintering colony losses that have been plaguing honey bees and causing so much concern among beekeepers, and farmers, especially almond producers, during the last 15 years, said entomologist Yanping “Judy” Chen, who led the study. She is with the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.

The “signaling” pathway governs the increased and decreased synthesis of the protein SIRT1, one of a family of proteins that help regulate cellular lifespan, metabolism and metabolic health, and resistance to stress.

“In honey bees merely exposed to a cold challenge of 28 degrees C (82.4 degrees F) for five days, we saw almost three-fold lower levels of SIRT1 and significantly higher levels of colony mortality compared to bees maintained at 34-35 degrees C (93.2-95 degrees F), which is the optimal core temperature of a honey bee cluster inside a bee hive in winter,” Chen said.

Overwintering bee colonies

Honey bees survive winters in cold climates by forming a thermoregulating cluster around the honey stored in the colony. Recent research showed overwintering colony losses are linked to a specific metabolic pathway connected to how bees apportion their energy resources. (Photo by Jay Evans and Judy Chen, ARS).

The researchers also found that bees under cold stress were associated with an increased risk of disease infections, which in turn led to an increased likelihood of colony losses.

For example, when honey bee colonies were inoculated with the intracellular microsporidia parasite Nosema ceranae, and kept at 34 degrees C, they had a survival rate of 41.18 percent while the mortality rate of the colonies exposed to the cold stress of 28 degrees C for 5 days was 100 percent.

“So that showed it is primarily cold stress that the SIRT1 signaling pathway is responding to rather than pathogens,” Chen said. “Our study suggests that the increased energy overwintering bees use to maintain hive temperature reduces the energy available for immune functions, which would leave overwintering bees more susceptible to disease infections; all leading to higher winter colony losses.”

Chen points out this research also offers a promising avenue for new therapeutic strategies to mitigate overwintering and annual colony losses. One way could be by raising the production of the SIRT1 protein by treating honey bees with SRT1720, a specific SIRT1 gene activator being experimentally used as an anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer treatment.