Goal 2: A Safe and Secure Food and Fiber System

Overview: North Dakota and the United States have seen an increased awareness of food safety issues. Food prepared in institutional or restaurant settings has the potential for large-scale outbreaks of food borne illness.

At the same time, North Dakota agricultural producers play a key role in supplying food for the nation and world. Efforts to safeguard that food supply by protecting crops is an important function of NDSU research and Extension. Pest management programs at NDSU have four thrusts: effective and efficient pesticide use, biological control, genetic resistance to pests, and preventative pest management. Taken together, these thrusts will result in pest management programs that are sustainable and have reduced inputs.

A series of eight food safety workshops targeting volunteer food handlers who prepare or serve food in senior citizen centers throughout North Dakota were held. Pre/post testing showed increased knowledge, and six-month follow-up surveys showed improved food handling techniques. Based on the results of this program, a train-the-trainer package, "Safe Food for All Ages" and several handouts were developed and distributed targeting volunteer food handlers for 2000-01.

Fusarium head blight epidemics rank among the worst ever recorded for any crop during this century, with losses at $2.6 million in this region. Extension specialists and experiment station researchers joined a multi-disciplinary 14 state team of scientists to evaluate fungicides and methods of Fusarium head blight (scab) control. Studies conducted at multiple sites and over years found certain systemic fungicides provided the greatest reduction in disease and increased yield and quality. Based on these studies, the EPA granted a section 18 emergency exemption for two fungicides. It was estimated that 800,000 acres of wheat were treated in ND and MN in 1998 to control scab with new spray techniques developed by our scientists.

As diseases, insects and weeds adapt to control methods, a significant focus of plant breeders is the development of crop varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases. A new wheat variety, Alsen, that is resistant to Fusarium head blight is expected to save producers millions in lost yield and fungicide applications while providing wheat that has good milling and baking characteristics.

A forecasting system (late blight hotline) has provided growers improved information for timing of sprays for potato late blight control. Heavy disease pressure in 2000 resulted in low losses for growers using the late blight hotline compared to heavy losses in previous years. The total economic gain for 1998, due to new spray techniques and section 18's, on new fungicides was estimated at $19 million.

Key Theme - HAACP

Increases in daycare, hospital and nursing home populations as well as a growth in restaurant and deli businesses means a growing portion of the population is at risk from such outbreaks. In addition, quantity food preparation presents unique challenges for safe food handling and preparation. In this environment, government regulation is demanding more attention to the development of food safety practices. As a result there is high demand for training and educational materials in food safety. The National Restaurant Association estimates that a single outbreak of foodborne illness will cost a restaurant at least $75,000.

A novel train-the-trainer program in collaboration with extension and research faculty targeted beef cattle producers, veterinarians, slaughter plant personnel, meat market managers, health department inspectors, extension personnel and consumers. The topics focused on pre-harvest food safety, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point for meat processors and food service workers, and consumer food safety. The training consisted of two full days of intense training, including field trips to a meat processing and fabrication plant and an injection site demonstration at a veterinary clinic.

Impact - In the past five years, more than 1000 food service managers and employees from restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, daycare centers and schools in 100 different North Dakota cities have attended NDSU Extension food safety workshops held through the state. The four to six-hour workshops focus on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach to food safety that was developed by NASA to ensure safe food for its astronauts.

A series of eight food safety workshops targeting volunteer food handlers who prepare or serve food in Senior Citizens Centers throughout North Dakota were held. Pre/post testing showed increased knowledge, and six-month follow-up surveys showed improved food handling techniques. Based on the results of this program, a train-the-trainer package, "Safe Food for All Ages" and several handouts were developed and distributed targeting volunteer food handlers for 2000-01.

A pilot project, with partial funding from the district office of the Food and Drug Administration, promoted the use of food thermometers and refrigerator thermometers in the home, based on the national "Thermy" campaign. The pilot group participants were Native Americans on the Fort Berthold Reservation in the northwest quadrant of North Dakota. Follow-up surveys have shown increased use of food thermometers and increased knowledge of food safety concepts. Other outputs of this program include new lesson plans, handouts, posters and evaluation tools.

Food entrepreneurs in North Dakota had an opportunity to attend two workshops. One workshop, presented by regional FDA staff, provided information on establishing a HACCP plan and setting up a sanitation programs in their workplace. The 17 attendees included regulators, food entrepreneurs and those involved in food processing. A second workshop, presented by the Nebraska Food Entrepreneur Assistance program, provided background in food safety, marketing and business plan development for the 32 attendees, which included food entrepreneurs, extension agents, and regulators. In addition, a food testing service was established with grant funding, and at least 100 potential products to be marketed in North Dakota were tested for pH and water activity levels. A website and food entrepreneur binder are in progress for release in late 2000.

The Family Nutrition Program targets limited income audiences with food safety information as well as information on improving nutritional practices, food security and stretching the food dollar. Follow-up surveys for the classes, displays and other methods used by the Nutrition Education Assistants/Agents have shown positive changes in food handling behavior.

Source of federal funds: Smith-Lever

Scope of Impact: Statewide Extension

Key Theme - Food Security: Pesticide Management

Pesticide management programs are directed at efficacious pesticide use practices based on efficient sampling and accurate risk assessment. This involves a thorough understanding of pest biology and interaction with the impacted crop system. It emphasizes the use of pesticides only when warranted by pest population size and economic impact. Fusarium head blight epidemics rank among the worst ever recorded for any crop during this century, with losses at $2.6 million in this region. Extension specialists and experiment station researchers joined a multi-disciplinary 14-state team of scientists to evaluate fungicides and methods of Fusarium head blight (scab) control. Studies conducted at multiple sites and over years found certain systemic fungicides provided the greatest reduction in disease and increased yield and quality. Based on these studies, the EPA granted a section 18 emergency exemption for two fungicides. It was estimated that 800,000 acres of wheat were treated in North Dakota and Minnesota in 1998 to control scab with new spray techniques developed by our scientists. Extension specialists developed a major educational program to explain the spray techniques. Research on wheat disease forecasting system provided advise leading to positive economic returns. Late blight of potato has been epidemic every year since 1992. Season-long control now involves 8-12 fungicide sprays, but growers have successfully reduced or delayed spray applications based on recommendations provided by NDSU's late blight hotline. On-farm practices, such as use of trap or cover crops, changes in planting dates, and the use of improved resistant/tolerant varieties are designed to prevent or limit pest populations from reaching economic size and reduce the need for pesticides.

Impact - Pesticide use based on an only-when-needed basis saves growers money, reduces environmental contamination, and justifies pesticide use to the public. Pesticide use based on an only-when-needed basis requires growers to be knowledgeable pest management decision makers and makes extension efforts in pest management more critical. A forecasting system (late blight hotline) has provided growers improved information for timing of sprays for potato late blight control. Heavy disease pressure in 2000 resulted in low losses for growers using the late blight hotline compared to heavy losses in previous years. The total economic gain for 1998, due to new spray techniques and section 18's, on new fungicides was estimated at $19 million.

Source of federal funds: Smith-Lever and Hatch

Scope of Impact: Multi-state Integrated Research and Extension. Growers in ND and MN benefitted from the potato late blight hotline. Cereal growers in ND, MN and SD have benefitted from the new spray technology, new section 18 fungicides, and the wheat disease forecasting system.

Key Theme - Food Security: Biological Control

Natural enemies are an essential components of a sustainable farm ecosystems. A major research and extension effort involving the departments of Entomology, Plant Science, and Animal and Range Science is underway to manage leafy spurge, a key weed pest of rangelands, that causes losses valued at $23.2 million per year in North Dakota. Insect predators of spurge are being evaluated for impact, and adaptability to local environments, and are being redistributed to speed their establishment and effectiveness. Interaction of insect natural enemies of spurge with possible spurge biotypes are being studied. Grazing animals such as sheep and goats are being incorporated in a management program with insect natural enemies and limited pesticide use to sustain leafy spurge populations at sub-economic levels. Biocontrol programs using predators, parasites, and pathogens of insect pests such as banded sunflower moth, sunflower midge, sugar beet root maggot, and Colorado potato beetle are underway. Sclerotinia, a major limiting disease of most broad leaf crops in the area, is targeted for control by several parasitic fungi. Basic research on the biocontrol of soilborne diseases is being conducted to find new ways of combating serious root diseases of crops such as Binucleate Rhizotonia (BNR).Root diseases cause substantial losses and are difficult to control. Transformation with carboxin resistance was accomplished for BNR. Two of the transformants showed biocontrol activity.

Impact - Biological control of leafy spurge is expected to be valued at $58 million per year by 2025 by restoring thousands of acres of rangeland to productivity and by reduced herbicide costs. Once established, biological control of leafy spurge and other pests will provide self-sustaining control without further input cost to the grower.

Source of federal funds: Smith-Lever and Hatch

Scope of Impact: Multi-state Integrated Research and Extension. Growers in ND and the surrounding states benefit from the leafy spurge biological control program. Leafy spurge flea beetles are redistributed in ND, MN, WY, SD, NB and MT.

Key Theme - Food Security - Genetic Resistance to Pests

The identification of pest resistant genes, their characterization, and genetic nature are major goals for research programs of insect and disease pests of a number of crops. Sources of resistance to the sunflower midge are being sought in existing sunflower germplasm and varieties. Improved methods to screen for resistance and to characterize the functional nature of sunflower midge resistance are being made. Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused disastrous losses in small grains in the Dakotas and Minnesota between 1993 and 2000. Plant pathologists and breeders developed testing programs for FHB and tested thousands of lines in the field and greenhouse programs. The NDSU released variety Alsen combines FBS resistance with other traits to reduce losses from the disease. This should significantly reduce losses due to FHB. The potato breeding program has a major objective of developing cultivars with late blight resistance. One objective of dry bean pathology is to identify new sources of resistance of rust and white mold for the bean breeding program and incorporate this resistance into new varieties. Incorporating disease resistance genes into soybean cultivars has major impact on improving soybean production and profitability for growers. Extensive research in this area is now producing soybean cultivars with disease resistance.

Impact - Genetic crop resistance to pests provides growers with a simple pest management tactic that works under conditions unfavorable to natural enemies and pesticides. Genetic crop resistance eliminates or reduces the need for other pest management inputs and reduces grower expense. Genetic crop resistance saves growers management time because of reduced need for monitoring of pest populations. The economic impact of the FHB resistant wheats should result in millions of dollars saved over growing FHB susceptible cultivars. This will also save huge amounts in reduced fungicide sprays. Late blight resistance in commercial potato production could save millions in reduced spray applications and improved yields. Resistance to rust and white mold in dry beans would be elimination of two of the major problems in the dry bean industry. Incorporating disease resistance in soybean cultivars has had a major impact on improving soybean production especially in the area of root rot.

Source of federal funds: Smith-Lever and Hatch

Scope of Impact: Multi-state Integrated Research and Extension. Growers in the tri-state area of MN, ND, and SD and in Manitoba profit from resistance to pests in the major crops. Resistance to FHB alone is worth millions to cereal growers. In addition breeders and pathologists have added resistance to important pests in the major crops.

Key Theme - Food Security: Preventative Pest Management

Emerging pests can cause severe economic losses for growers if their potential impact is not anticipated and if controls are not available. New crop varieties, tillage and other farming methods, changing weather patterns, and federal programs influence production practices. In turn, these changes affect the pest insect and pathogen populations that are part of our agricultural ecosystem and can result in emerging pest problems. Although Lygus bugs have always been part of our agricultural landscape, historically their populations have been low and it is only in the last two years that they have become economically important. Changes in cropping practices are thought to have made the environment more favorable for Lygus bug populations to increase to the point where they are impacting sugar beet and sunflower, and possibly canola. Studies are underway to understand Lygus population dynamics, its impact per insect, and determine if Lygus will be a long term problem. Over 700 wheat fields and 150 barley fields are surveyed for leaf and head diseases, and insect problems. Every county was surveyed. Survey reports were summarized and provided information for the Crop and Pest Reports, which are widely distributed and discussed at several meetings. A new race of leaf rust was identified on commonly grown spring wheat varieties in the mid 1990s. This race increased and caused severe losses during the late 1990s. Producers abandoned the most susceptible varieties. Unfortunately, the abandoned varieties had some of the best levels of FHB resistance. A new variety with FHB and leaf rust resistance was released in 2000. This was the last potato growing area where the form of late blight, A2, was not found, so an extensive field and storage survey was established. A new mating A2 was found in the disease storage survey. Late blight of potato has been epidemic in North Dakota every year since 1992, partly because of the appearance of the new A2 mating types (US 8), which are more aggressive and resistant to the fungicide metalaxyl that previously controlled the disease. Potential new or invasive pests species include the cabbage pod weevil, cereal leaf beetle, soybean aphid, star thistle, salt cedar, knapweed, toad flax, and purple loosestrife. These are being monitored for establishment and impact.

Impact - Unexpected pest problems arising from emerging or new pests can result in severe economic impact for growers. Preventative pest management assesses potential problems and devises pest management solutions before the pests become economically important. Pest alerts and management solutions are provided so that growers can make educated decisions regarding their options. The economic impact of wheat leaf rust on scab tolerant cultivars was estimated at over $20 million. The release of the new rust and FHB resistant cultivar should alleviate much of this loss. An annual survey reports new diseases or insects and the severity of these pests. This information is widely used for management and spray decisions. The economic impact of the new A2 mating type in late blight has been a complete change in management practices by the potato industry. NDSU has led the development of these new management practices.

Source of federal funds: Smith-Lever and Hatch

Scope of Impact - Multi-state Integrated Research and Extension. Growers in ND profit from the disease and insect survey and corresponding management recommendations. Information is also beneficial to areas surrounding ND i.e., Red River Valley. Growers especially in ND but also the tri-state region will benefit from the release of the new wheat leaf rust and FHB resistant wheats. Growers in the potato growing areas of the tri-state area profit from the development of the new management practices for the new A2 mating type in potato.

Key Theme - Food Security: Sclerotinia Disease Development in Sunflower

Sclerotinia is a major disease of broadleaf crops in northeastern North Dakota. Due to the increased plantings of susceptible broadleaf crops, this particular disease is becoming a greater problem over larger areas than in past years. In the fall of 1999, wet weather enabled sclerotinia head rot disease of sunflower to be a statewide problem with losses reaching 60 to 70 percent in some areas. Especially hard hit were confectionary sunflower producers who produce seeds for human consumption and bird feed. Sclerotinia tolerance levels are very low for confection seed producers and if sclerotia bodies or damage to the seeds exceeds 3 percent the field is rejected for human consumption. Producers in 1999 and 2000 were faced with the problem of what to do with highly contaminated confection sunflower seeds. Extension specialists worked with a group of farmers in north central North Dakota to determine if significant reductions in sclerotia contact could be obtained through harvest machine adjustments or in cleaning of the grain sample after harvest. Field studies in the fall determined that some techniques might reduce harvested sclerotia body content, but a more thorough cleaning with specialized equipment would be necessary to reduce sclerotia content, and to some degree dark seed content, in confection seeds. Information gathered in the study was ultimately compiled into an extension publication that was widely used in the fall of 2000 as this problem reoccurred.

Impact - Producers in the north central region stored sunflower seed following best harvest practices were able to clean the seed and many producers were able to market clean loads that sold for contracted price of $0.13 versus $0.05 for bird seed or confection market.

Source of federal funds: Smith-Lever

Scope of Impact: Statewide Extension. Sunflower is the fifth-largest seeded crop in North Dakota and the value of its production is greater than $20 million. The impact of this project affected producers throughout the north and east central parts of North Dakota as that is where the bulk of the confection sunflower seed is raised.

Key Theme - Food Safety: Improved Food Safety Undergraduate Education

We have been pleased to partner with the USDA HEP to develop a unique educational experience for undergraduates. We have developed and received approval of four new courses in food safety and a minor program of study in food safety, which we believe is the first such minor in the country. Additionally, the Great Plains Institute of Food Safety (GPIFS) has been established. As proposed in the grant, the first offering of these courses and the minor occurred during the summer of 2000.

Impact - These courses were taken by 27 students. Most have gone on to receive a minor in food safety. Several of these students have graduated, and some have been offered jobs directly related to their backgrounds in food safety. Although evaluation of the courses and minor by the educational consultant is on-going, the students and faculty involved in the program felt that it was very successful.

In addition, we have offered our experiences to others as a model of an educational initiative designed to respond to our stakeholders' needs in minimal time. Further, our experiences demonstrate the incorporation of experiential learning into a multidisciplinary curriculum in order to develop the problem-solving abilities of our students. Finally, this program is being used to demonstrate the development and implementation of a complex, multidisciplinary curriculum by a team of 19 faculty from widely different backgrounds.

Source of federal funds: USDA Challenge Grant

Scope of Impact: Regional and national impact. Current distance educational efforts with South Dakota State University, Michigan State University, and JIFSAN (University of Maryland and the FDA) should greatly extend the reach of the program.

Key Theme - Food Safety: Academic Minor

A new interdepartmental minor in Food Safety was developed for initial offering beginning June 12, 2000 in the first Summer Institute in Food Safety. Nearly 50 NDSU students expressed interest in the minor, and 23 students enrolled in each of the four program courses. External companies and agencies have expressed substantial interest in direct participation, receipt through distance formats, or expansion into a full major.