Grapes, blackberries, poultry immune system enhancement methods among patents recognized at annual Ag Awards

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — New fruit varieties and a means to enhance poultry immune systems developed by University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture scientists were among 10 patents recognized Friday during the annual Agriculture Awards.

PATENTS — Jason Norsworthy, Distinguished Professor and Elms Farming Chair of Weed Science in the crop, soil and environmental sciences department, center, accepts a patent award from Parker Cole, left, associate director of technology commercialization, and Jean-François Meullenet, director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and senior associate vice president for agriculture-research for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Mary Hightower)

All of the patents arose from discoveries made by scientists within the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Cooperative Extension Service and some with the help of graduate students within the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

“I’m always excited about what our innovative researchers are doing,” said Lisa Childs, assistant vice president for technology commercialization for the Division of Agriculture. She is also a patent attorney.

“Once again this year, we have patents that reflect some of the broad range of commercially interesting research in the division,” she said. “We’ve had patents issue from horticulture, the rice research and extension center, entomology and plant pathology, poultry science, and crop soil and environmental science, and they all have in common the desire to make our world a better place to live in.”

Recognized this year were:

• Burkholderia Cenocepacia and Pseudomonas Fluorescens Compositions and Methods of Using the Same: Alejandro Rojas – department of entomology and plant pathology; and Ruben Morawicki – department of food science

• Table Grape Named A-1400 ‘Southern Sensation’: John Clark – department of horticulture

• Herbicide-Resistant Grain Sorghum: Jason Norsworthy and Muthukumar Bagavathiannan – department of crop, soil, and environmental sciences

• Robust Water Trading and Irrigation Performance Meter Measurement System: Christopher Henry – Rice Research and Extension Center

• Pseudomonas Protegens and Products Thereof to Control Bacterial Panicle Blight of Rice: Alejandro Rojas – department of entomology and plant pathology

• Blackberry Plant Named ‘APF-404T’: John Clark – department of horticulture

• Blackberry Plant Named APF-409T: John Clark – department of horticulture

• Table Grape Named ‘Compassion’: John Clark – department of horticulture

• Novel Mucosal Adjuvants and Delivery Systems: Amanda Wolfenden-Bray, Billy Hargis, Guillermo Tellez-Isaias, Marion Morgan, Neil Pumford, and Srichaitanya Shivaramaiah – department of poultry science

• Compositions and Methods of Enhancing Immune Responses to Eimeria or Limiting Eimeria: Billy Hargis, Lisa Bielke, Olivia Faulkner, and Srichaitanya Shivaramaiah – department of poultry science

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Arkansas rice companies partner with University of Arkansas campus food pantry

By Robby Edwards
Director of Communications
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In 2023, three Arkansas-based rice companies helped address food insecurity at the University of Arkansas by donating hundreds of pounds of rice to the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry.

RICE DONATION — Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Director Jean-Francois Meullenet, left, and Assistant Director Nathan McKinney, right, joined student volunteers Katelyn Helberg and Caroline Wilson for the intake of rice donations to the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry at the University of Arkansas. (University of Arkansas System photo by Karli Yarber)

Cormier Rice Milling Co., Riceland and Producers Rice Mill donated to the food pantry and pledged to donate even more. Cormier recently sent 625 pounds to Fayetteville while Riceland and Producers sent 200 pounds each, with more to follow.

Caroline Wilson, the chair for Full Circle Food Pantry, emphasized the needs of the pantry, specifically with rice. She noted how demand for rice means it goes quickly at the pantry.

“Rice is a staple crop and food that so many people use every single day,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of international students on campus who are clients at our pantry because, for international students, we are the only food resource that they are allowed to use. Most food assistance programs are limited to U.S. citizens only. For our international clients, this is literally their only option.”

Wilson also explained that international students at the University of Arkansas on a visa struggle even more because they legally cannot work more than 20 hours weekly. This creates strain on their finances and the ability to afford groceries and other essentials. 

“It’s really important for us to provide foods that are used daily in peoples’ diets,” she said. “The rice on our shelves right now may look like a lot, but that will not even last us through the semester. We just go through it so quickly because it's something that so many people love.”

Katelyn Helberg, the alternative assistance coordinator for the pantry, also said the pantry is often in need of rice. 

“Rice is something that a lot of our clients typically want,” Helberg said “We’re currently serving around 1,100 clients a month. You can imagine how many people we’re trying to distribute to, and rice is something more expensive for us to buy and supply in the pantry.”

Back in the fall 2022 semester, a group of students visited with the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Dean’s Partnership Council. The students shared information about food insecurity on campus with Jean-Francois Meullenet, interim dean of the college. 

Meullenet, while serving as interim dean since July 2022, is also senior associate vice president for agriculture research with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Meullenet recognized an opportunity to use his food industry connections to help. 

“We are the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and that ‘food’ part is very important,” Meullenet said. “It was eye-opening to learn how many people in our community are in need of food. I have connections with industry, so contacting them was really just an easy first step in assisting the food pantry.” 

Meullenet worked with Nathan McKinney, assistant director of the experiment station, to coordinate the rice donations.

Wilson said McKinney came to the pantry first with a generous donation. While there, he offered his business card and said if the pantry ever needed more rice, to contact him. 

“So, we did,” Wilson said. “And we’ve continued that partnership, even when there were times when there wasn’t any rice available to donate. He stayed connected and let us know as soon as there was availability. It’s been so impactful to have that reliable source of donations coming in.”

McKinney gives all credit to the producers in the state. 

“Arkansas rice producers and rice millers have always been generous and gracious with their products, and they will continue to do so.” McKinney said. “They have pledged to give even more in the future.”

“They always give to efforts like this,” Meullenet said. “They will just bring entire pallets of bags of rice and I can tell they are excited to be aware of a need that serves a community well, like the Full Circle Food Pantry.”

Following the first donation, Helberg is anticipating more rice soon. 

“We’re expecting more than 600 pounds,” she said. “With all these 25-pound bags, we take those and portion them out based on our pantry’s portion guides. We try to portion it out so that we can distribute it more equally to many different households. We anticipate that, with this much rice, it will last us even into the spring semester.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average retail value of a pound of rice is about $1.

“We’re just so appreciative of this donation and all donations that come into the pantry,” Wilson said. “I’m really excited to continue any and all partnerships that come our way.”

According to the Division of Agriculture’s 2023 Arkansas Agriculture Profile, Arkansas was the No. 1 rice producer in the United States in 2022. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that Arkansas accounted for nearly 50 percent of U.S. rice production last year. 

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.

Agri-Food Innovation Summit inspires entrepreneurial scientists to make big impacts

By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The inaugural Agri-Food Innovation Summit offered entrepreneurial scientists and inventors inspiration to make “moonshot” impacts on society and insight on obtaining startup funds.

AGRI-FOOD INNOVATION — Jean-François Meullenet, left, director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, speaks during a panel discussion at the Agri-Food Innovation Summit with Mickey A. Latour of Arkansas State University and Ranu Jung with the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research (I³R) at the University of Arkansas. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

Venture capitalists and representatives from federal funding agencies expressed the importance of collaborating and building strong teams to solve problems. The event was held Nov. 2-3 at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences in Fayetteville. More than 200 participants registered over the two-day summit co-hosted by the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, the University of Arkansas Division of Economic Development, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, and Catalyst/Research and Technology Transfer at Arkansas State University.

Citing Arkansas’s rankings in food insecurity, maternal mortality and infant mortality, scientists and inventors at the summit were encouraged to think strategically about how their work could solve these and other major societal problems.

“Where there is no food, there is also no health access, so I think this link between healthy people and access to food, especially in a state like ours, is something we should be thinking about,” said Ranu Jung, associate vice chancellor and Distinguished Professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Arkansas. “Somehow, when we think about the ag side, we should be thinking about what this means for the health and well-being of the people. If you improve access to food, you might likely also influence other things like health access.”

Jean-François Meullenet, senior vice president for agriculture-research and director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, said he would like to see an intensification of collaborative efforts by scientists in Arkansas.

“We are a small enough state that we have a unique opportunity to partner that other states may not have,” Meullenet said.

Mickey Latour, dean of the College of Agriculture at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, reiterated that sustainable protein supply chains were an area where Arkansans could lead the charge toward more innovation.

SMALL BUSINESSES — Nurun Nahar provides tips on applying for federal grants to small businesses during the Agri-Food Innovation Summit. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

Navigating federal grants

Day one of the two-day summit included presentations on applying for Phase I and Phase II grants through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, also known as SBIR/STTR. Nurun Nahar, SBIR/STTR program specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, said it was essential to review the most recent request for proposal rules since they may change slightly each year. Nahar said about 18 percent of proposals get rejected immediately for not following simple submission rules. It was also important to remember the deadlines are based on the Eastern U.S. time zone, she added.

Melinda Coffman, SBIR/STTR program coordinator with USDA-NIFA, said there will be an outreach event to help applicants on April 2, 2024, in Little Rock.

Dennis Goodes, deputy assistant administrator for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, encouraged inventors to work with the service early in their startup process to create a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, which increases the likelihood of Phase I SBIR/STTR funding. The inventor retains all patent ownership with the CRADA, Goodes noted.

To provide examples of SBIR/STTR grant success stories, summit attendees heard from two Arkansas-based company leaders: Danielle Dozier of the vertical hydroponic system manufacturer GSS Group, and Joseph Batta-Mpouma, co-founder of CelluDot, which developed a nanocellulose product to mitigate herbicide drift. Katie Thompson, executive director of Science Venture Studio, led the grant success stories session. Science Venture Studios helps Arkansas science and technology-based startups apply for federal funding.

Teamwork makes the dream work

A highlight of the event was the number of private funding organizations in attendance, said event co-organizer Trey Malone, agri-food economist and assistant professor with the Division of Agriculture.

The summit provided a panel discussion led by Mike Malone, vice chancellor for economic development at the University of Arkansas, with economic developers, seed-fund managers and venture capitalists, including Bill Arnold of Big Idea Ventures GFRF Fund; Bob Kucheravy, director of science and technology for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; Brandon Day of The Yield Lab Institute; Jeff Amerine of Cadron Capital Partners; and Kim Davis of the Walton Family Foundation.

All panel members said that displaying proof of a strong team was crucial to their decision to provide startup funding. Davis said there was also a need to build a strong relationship with transparency and solid communication for successful endeavors.

Helping connect small and big businesses in the food and beverage industry is a mission for Kim Bryden, Arkansas-based founder and CEO of Cureate. Bryden was on hand at the summit to introduce four Arkansas food and beverage entrepreneurs offering hors d’oeuvres at the event. The companies represented included Margaret Ruth’s salad dressings and marinades, Firelight Farm in Searcy, Dogwood Hills Guest Farm in Harriet and Bartleby’s Food in Fayetteville.

“The Agri-Food Innovation Summit uplifted the incredible work happening across our food system from local farmers and entrepreneurs to researchers tackling the big questions,” Bryden said.

Bryden said the business owners featured “exemplify the future” as entrepreneurs building businesses and contributing to healthier food systems for their rural communities. 

“The conference represented a critical first step toward developing additional support systems for agri-food innovators across the state of Arkansas,” Trey Malone said. “Arkansans are proud of their storied heritage of innovation and entrepreneurship in the agri-food system. We are excited to provide a path forward for modern-day agri-food innovators and we look forward to collaborating with all thought leaders across the state to find moonshot solutions to 21st and 22nd-century problems.”

In addition to Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff also brought a team to the summit which had 134 participants on the first day and 95 on the second day.

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.