OSU Agriculture News: OSU researchers seeking to make hops a new Oklahoma crop

By Alisa Boswell-Gore STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State University just kicked off its football season with a change to one of football’s biggest staples. Beer. Last month, Stillwater’s Iron Monk Brewing Company released a beer called 1890 Original, a crisp blonde ale brewed for OSU Cowboys, which is now the official craft beer offered at OSU football games. But what fans inside Boone Pickens Stadium don’t know is that the university has had…

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Livestock biosecurity a diligent and serious task

By Gail Ellis STILLWATER, Okla. – From county jackpots to statewide shows, Oklahoma’s youth livestock arena is competitive and fun, but animal health is a priority. Not all 4-H and FFA exhibitors can bring home a grand champion ribbon, but they’re still winners when sound biosecurity measures protect livestock from viruses and infectious disease. The public’s awareness of illness and proper hygiene has grown during the past two years, and animal health is no…

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OSU research aims to save billions for beef industry

By Alisa Boswell-Gore STILLWATER, Okla. – Scientists in the Oklahoma State University Department of Animal and Food Sciences are working hard to stop the waste of billions of dollars of beef each year. The U.S. beef industry loses $3 billion annually to meat discoloration. When beef is brown on the surface, it is discounted in price, and extensive discoloration leads to people throwing nutritious food in the trash. Why does meat turn brown? Most people…

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USDA-ARS and OWRC scientists improving water control structures

By Alisa Boswell-Gore STILLWATER, Okla. – One year into a five-year project to improve dam infrastructure, scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Oklahoma Water Resources Center (OWRC) are adding some high-quality technology to their tool bag. Dams age and wear down over time just as buildings and roads do, and nearly 12,000 of the 22,000 dams in the U.S. are reaching the end of their planned life spans.…

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OSU scientists studying wild turkey population decline

By Alisa Boswell-Gore STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State University scientists launched a five-year project this year to study the state’s wild turkey population. The number of turkeys in Oklahoma has steadily declined over the past 15 years, and there are a variety of factors that could be contributing to the problem, according to Colter Chitwood, assistant professor of wildlife ecology in the OSU Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. “This is part of a…

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