CROP PRODUCTION

From increasing difficulty in accessing households due to new telephone technologies to concerns about data privacy and time constraints from farmers, the number of farmers participating in USDA surveys is on the decline.

Of the nearly 1,000 responses six different sides rose to the top: salad, West; green beans/casserole, Midwest; cornbread, South; rolls/biscuits, squash, Great Lakes Region; Northeast; and mac and cheese, Southeast.

MIT scientists have developed robotic insects that could aid farming through artificial pollination.