Nibbles: American goats, Ancient dogs, Colorado sheep, Beer vs Wine, Vitis breeding, Southern cooking, Pennsylvania farming, Cherokee seeds

A distinctly US flavour to Nibbles today, for some reason. A map of every goat in the US. Texas is the goat hotspot. Not there with dogs yet, but at least we now know when they arrived. How about sheep, though? Interestingly, there are more wineries than breweries in Texas. Saving the winegrape, molecule by …

The tainted history of rice in the South

photograph by @vincentjmusi Former Rice Field, Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, ACE Basin West African slaves cleared vast tidal swamps for the cultivation of rice in the 1700's. The work was monumental, transforming the coastal landscape through a series of impoundments where water could be held and drained through an elaborate system of dikes. These …

Different approaches to breeding and drought-resistant maize

Bestriding the world on the shoulders of giants, as we do, can cause dizzying glimpses of the obvious. Allowing farmers to participate in studies to improve their farming, for example, is a central tenet of research in poorer countries. Elsewhere, it seems to be less common and less visible, which may be why we sit …