U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Research Annual Report on Science Accomplishments FY 2021





- Advancing Human Nutrition Research
- Advancing Sustainable Aquaculture Production
- Advancing Sustainable Livestock Production
- Combating AMR
- Combating Citrus Greening
- Controlling Insect Pests
- Developing New Crop Varieties
- Expanding Public Access to Agricultural Information
- Improving Pasture and Rangeland Management
- Improving Rural Economies
- Monitoring and Mitigating Plant Disease
- Optimizing Agricultural Management to Mitigate Climate
- Optimizing Water Use Management
- Protecting Animal Health Disease Detection
- Protecting Human and Animal Health
- Protecting Pollinator Health
- Reducing Labor and Advancing Precision Agriculture
- Safeguarding the Food Supply

**Reducing Labor and Advancing Precision Agriculture through Automation** DOWNLOAD ONEPAGER PDF  **ARS advances labor-saving tools and technologies to aid in crop and livestock breeding and production, improve preharvest and postharvest processing, and enable nondestructive quality assessment and grading of commodities.**ARS researchers have developed precision irrigationtechniques and instrumentation, and made advances in technology, automation, informatics, and remotesensing. These cross-cutting efforts—which advance agricultural science, help the industry overcomelabor shortages, fine-tune management decisions, and conserve resources while meeting growingdemand for food—are highlighted by the following accomplishments in 2021. **New precision management tool optimizes cotton producer decision-making.**Quickly and accuratelydocumenting cotton crop emergence allows a grower to identify problem areas in fields and replantif needed. The small size of newly emerged plantsmakes them difficult to identify with remote sensing,and the time required for extensive data processingto accurately detect them often prevents remediationbased on the measurements. ARS researchers inPortageville and Columbia, Missouri, and University ofMissouri collaborators used unmanned aerial vehiclesto collect early-season images of cotton fields and thendeveloped and refined methods to quickly process theimages and provide emergence results. The methodidentified the number of plant seedlings in the field andrecognized weeds and other extraneous material withan accuracy rate of more than 90 percent. The nearreal-time processing with the new method was muchfaster than traditional image processing methods andwill enable cotton producers throughout the world tobetter manage their crops for more efficient productionsystems to ensure a stable supply of food (cottonseedoil), feed (cottonseed meal), and fiber. **Enhancing foodborne pathogen sampling at processing facilities.**Establishments producing rawground beef products develop sampling protocols that are used to determine if microorganism levels inproducts are below predetermined baseline levels and that control processes adequately protect againstcontamination. Sampling methods are critical since improper microbiological sampling can incorrectlyindicate that processing methods are effective. ARS researchers in Clay Center, Nebraska, developednew continuous (CSD) and manual (MSD) meat sampling devices for raw beef trim, and developed andvalidated protocols now used in commercial processing that address common variations in sampling.Findings indicate that the various alternative applications of CSD and MSD-based trim sampling forpathogen detection are equivalent or better than previous methods and provide additional benefits inreduced labor costs, other costs, and improved worker safety. **New highly efficient apple harvesting robotic arm.**Automated harvesting technology is urgently neededto address U.S. labor shortages and increasing labor costs facing the multi-billion-dollar U.S. tree fruitindustry. Although research into robotic harvesting has been reported in recent years, two technicalchallenges—picking fruit from clusters and finding fruit obscured by leaves and branches—still need to be resolved. An ARS engineer in East Lansing, Michigan, and Michigan State University scientists developed a new robotic apple harvesting technology that couples an innovative concept of vacuum sucking androtation with a simple and effective robot arm movement mechanism. When the new harvesting roboticarm was tested in 2020 during multiple commercial field trials, it effectively and skillfully picked fruit fromclusters and from deep within the canopy where apples were obscured by leaves and branches. A patentapplication for this technology has been filed. **Advances in precision agriculture improve sustainability of wheat, corn, and canola cropping systems.**ARS scientists are developing powerful mapping and imaging tools to fight weeds, improveplanting outcomes, and fight diseases in crops. ARS researchers in Pendleton, Oregon, and Oregon StateUniversity researchers developed a way to map weeds in real time during harvest operations. The highresolution weed maps were used to help explain variation in crop yield within the field and enable directspot spraying of weeds after harvest before they re-infest the next crop. ARS researchers in Columbia,Missouri, and University of Missouri researchers developed a method for using aerial drone images tomonitor corn emergence within the first week after planting; this method can be automated to help farmersscout fields for sections that need replanting. ARS scientists in Pendleton, Oregon, developed a procedurefor monitoring the timing of canola flowering from satellite or aircraft-based images that can be integratedwith meteorological data to predict canola yield and disease risk. These newly developed remote sensingtechniques are helping growers improve productivity and sustainability across a wide variety of nationalcropping systems. Cheung, Lance. Alexander Frick, Jr. uses a smart device to review data and plans his customized seed application for the day. April 13, 2021. USDA Photo. https://flic.kr/p/2m4Ka33


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov