Caution urged for holiday travel with dogs due to virus

With holiday travel approaching, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is urging dog owners to be aware of a “mystery illness” that is sweeping the nation.

The illness affects dogs’ respiratory systems, causing an unusual increase in coughing, sneezing, loss of appetite, eye and nasal discharge, fever and lethargy.

Pepper wars: Michigan grower disputes Pepper X’s record for world’s hottest pepper

Guinness World Records recently announced that the world’s new hottest pepper is a veggie known as Pepper X, grown by Puckerbutt Pepper Co. of Fort Mill, South Carolina.

But Ryan Karcher, a veteran pepper grower from Howell, Michigan, is contesting Pepper X’s spice and flavor with his own pepper. It will be featured in a January 22 television show called Superhot: The Spicy World of Pepper People. 

Scientists test mushrooms as cancer treatment

Hundreds of years ago a lord of the Tohoku region in Japan offered villagers a deal – equal weight in silver to any who could find a rare mushroom. 

The villagers danced with joy when they found the valuable fungus, inspiring the mushroom’s name, “maitake,” or “the dancing mushroom.”

Kids raise prehistoric fish as a science lesson

Sturgeon can live 50 years or more in rivers and lakes, but the first six months of one sturgeon’s life will be spent in Katie Bryant’s seventh grade science classroom. 

The kids love the program, and they’re “all about feeding the fish and taking care of the fish,” Bryant said.

High fertilizer costs hit Michigan farmers

Fertilizer is an essential resource for farmers, but as prices rise, paying for it makes their job more difficult.

A 2023 study by the MSU Agriculture Product Center showed that fertilizer accounts for the highest cost per acre compared to other products, such as seed and machinery repairs. 

Ohio white-tailed deer get coronavirus – from people

A recent study discovered a fast evolution of coronavirus in free-ranging white-tailed deer throughout Ohio. It implied possible animal-to-human transmission.

The study, published this year in August, found that the virus SARS-CoV-2 was introduced from humans to white-tailed deer more than 30 times in Ohio from November 2021 to March 2022.

Water consumption drops in Great Lake cities, study finds

Residents of major Great Lakes cities, including Lansing, are using less water, a trend that has economic, societal and environmental implications, a new study found.

And the relationship between per capita water use and socioeconomic factors such as income and race may prove significant as policymakers address inequities in the distribution and affordability of water

Thumb counties hit by high colorectal cancer rates

Residents of three agricultural counties in the Thumb have a disproportionately high rate of colorectal cancer, including a higher death rate from the disease, according to a new study.

Colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.