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Researchers Pursue Automated Staking for Ag Labor Savings

By Dee Shore

With the North Carolina fresh-market tomato season in full swing, N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative‘s Makerspace team was sweating it out at North Carolina State University’s horticulture field station recently, assembling an imaging system that could be key to lowering the amount of labor it takes to bring fresh, locally grown tomatoes to market.

NC State Extension specialist Emmanuel Torres Quezada, of the Department of Horticultural Science, is working with Makerspace Director Andrea Monteza to automate the labor-intensive process of staking tomatoes and other crops.

Source : ncsu.edu

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Sow Reproduction in Free-Choice Barns - Dr. William Flowers

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In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. William Flowers from North Carolina State University explains sow reproductive performance and behaviors in free-choice gestation barns. He discusses social hierarchy, stress responses, feeding behavior, and the influence of housing design on fertility outcomes. Understand how sow interactions can affect production results and management decisions. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Overall, sows, even the dominant sows, choose to spend about 70% of their time in the stall portion.”

Meet the guest: Dr. William Flowers / william-flowers-998b348a is the William Neal Reynolds and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Animal Science at North Carolina State University. His teaching covers swine production and reproductive management, while his research focuses on improving fertility in swine. Dr. Flowers holds a B.S. in Animal Science from Virginia Tech and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri. Listen to The Swine it Podcast Show Canada with Dr. William Flowers on all major platforms.