The tomato spotted wilt virus has shown signs of making a move into some peanut fields, with leaves suddenly turning yellow in fields where the virus has moved in. John Baldwin, an Agronomist with the University of Georgia Extension Service says tomato spotted wilt has increased since heavy rains the first week in September. He adds another disease is also being found in peanut fields. "The disease called rust. Rust appears as a rust colored spore on the bottom of the leaves, the plants will yellow from that. If you have not been on a good spray schedule you need to tighten up to about a ten day schedule, particularly on these late May-early June planted peanuts". John Baldwin with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who adds farmers need to scout their peanut fields closely for symptoms of these two diseases. Growers also need to watch for velvet bean caterpillars, especially prior to digging, since high numbers of these insects could cut the pegs on the plants, causing the pods to fall off before peanuts are harvested. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton.

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Gardeners and farmers know all to well that nematodes kill plants by invading their roots, preventing nutrients from getting to the rest of the plants. But University scientists have found nematodes can help keep people from getting sick or killed by toxic chemicals. An electronic mouse is used in the environmental experiments, instead of a live mouse. A computer, with a special TV camera, tracks the nematodes that live in the soil. "Some of their biological characteristics are very similar to ours, one being the nervous system. And so, we could use them to predict effects in human nervous systems". Phillip Williams with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who adds nematodes could determine if toxic waste sites are safe for humans by using the small worms to find out. If they can live in the dirt, then humans would probably be safe as well. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton.

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Many people walk, jog, or ride a bicycle during the spring and summer, hoping to burn calories and sweat off pounds. But when fall brings cooler weather and shorter days, some people retreat inside, and become couch potatoes. Connie Crawley, a Nutrition and Health Specialist with the University of Georgia Extension Service says it's important to stay active during the fall and winter months. Several holidays during the fall that involves a lot of eating adds to the importance of outdoor exercise when fall puts a chill in the air. "From Halloween on we tend to have a lot of eating holidays where it's quite possible to overeat and gain some weight that may be very difficult after the holidays to lose". Connie Crawley with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, who adds walking continues to be one of the best forms of exercise for burning calories, and helping to keep unwanted pounds off. The weather is often ideal during the fall for walking and other outdoor exercise, since the temperatures are cooler, and the humidity is much lower. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton.

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Since the mind-nineties, university food scientists have been working with recycled, used frying oil. After repeated use, frying oils degrade and produce health hazzards, causing economic losses to restaurants, especially fast food operations. The research involves recycling used frying oils through active filtering aids. "And what we were doing is saying well is there an absorbant, filtering aid that you can put the frying oil through to take out any of the degraded compounds that are making the oil both brown as well as unsafe to use further". Marilyn Erickson with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The food scientist's research found recycling used frying oil thru these filtering aids can extend the oil's usable life, meaning restaurants that fry a lot of meats won't have to spend so much money on frying oil. Studies with consumers have found recycling oil does not have a bad effect on the flavor of chicken patties fried in regenerated frying oil. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton.

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Normally the storage life for sweet potatoes is only six months. But in 1998 university scientists began testing several different sweet potato cultivars and breeding lines under extreme storage conditions. They also wanted to learn the primary causes of storage losses caused by diseases, sprouting, and other problems. Stan Kays, a Scientist with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences says they have been able to increase the storage life of sweet potatoes. "From harvest to the next harvest season so approximately eleven months without tremendous difficulty and I think the important thing is that at much lower financial inputs for the storage conditions". Stan Kays with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who adds consumers will also benefit from the research because the sweet potatoes they buy at the grocery store will be higher in quality. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton.

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