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                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Sugarbeet and Bean Research: East Lansing, MI
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The new fruit harvesting robot (patents pending) developed by Dr. Renfu Lu’s team enables fast and efficient picking of apples, which aims to address the growing shortage and rising cost of labor for the U.S. apple and other specialty crop industries.
 **Centennial Celebration** Celebrating 100 years of collaboration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University. Read about our celebration story here! Listen to our Sugarbeet Program Story here at Brownfield Ag News!
 The ASABE award-winning, patented in-field sorting system developed by Dr. Renfu Lu’s team can grade and sort apples based on color and size for up to 12 fruits per second in orchard. The technology enables growers to remove or segregate inferior fruit at harvest, so as to achieve cost savings in postharvest handling and reduce postharvest loss.
 Yellow Bean Breeding Line at Flowering Growing at Organic Farm
 Photo Caption:  1920's Historical photo of truck hauling sugarbeets. Read more about our centennial celebration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University: MSU News LinkBrownfield News Link
 Yellow Kidney Bean Seed  Photo Credit: Jon Shaff
 Photo Caption:  1920's Historical photo of mother beets. Read more about our centennial celebration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University: MSU News LinkBrownfield News Link
 Photo Caption:  Greenhouse photo from the 1980's. Read more about our centennial celebration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University: MSU News LinkBrownfield News Link
 Photo Caption:  The use water to cut the top of beets in the 1970's. Read more about our centennial celebration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University: MSU News LinkBrownfield News Link
 This plate is an isolate of Cercospora beticola growing on a pH indicator medium, showing one of the types of impacts a fungus can have on its environment.
 Photo Caption:  Pollen collection in the 1970's. Read more about our centennial celebration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University: MSU News LinkBrownfield News Link
 Response of sugar beet varieties to Cercospora leaf spot.  On the left is a susceptible variety and on the right is a resistant line developed by the USDA-ARS breeding program.
 Photo Caption:  A tissue culture in the 1970's. Read more about our centennial celebration in sugarbeet research between the USDA ARS and Michigan State University: MSU News LinkBrownfield News Link


Mission


People Aguilar, Anel Alameldin, Hussien Cichy, Karen Goodwill, Tom Hanson, Linda Lu, Renfu Naegele, Rachel Peters, Michael Scanlan, Madalyn Starr, Cynthia Stiefel, Melissa


Midwest Area   renfu.lu@usda.gov


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