AgResearch

Objective Characterizing the fibre properties of individuals with different hair textures across several ethnicities is important for understanding how hair shape varies within and between groups, and how these may influence consumer needs. Here, we present a high‐throughput scanning electron microscope (SEM) method for simultaneous measurement of cross‐sectional single hair shape parameters from hundreds of hairs per sample, which has not been feasible previously. We demonstrate the power of the method through application on a population with diverse hair types. Methods Scalp hairs were collected from individuals located in the United States of America. Each hair sample (consisting of up to several hundred fibres) was classified using two different methods, one during clinical collection [hair texture Types 1–4] and later another blind standard laboratory method [hair curliness classification Types I–VIII]. Additional clinical data were collected on age and self‐identified ethnicity. Hair shape parameters (cross‐sectional area, ellipticity, shape factors) were measured using a SEM sample preparation, imaging and image analysis method. SEM data were analysed with respect to clinical texture, age and self‐identified ethnicity and subsequent hair curliness classifications. Results The SEM method generated sufficient data from each sample to identify trends, and we found some statistically significant differences between SEM hair shape parameters and clinical sample types, as well as with laboratory curliness classifications. In the curliness classification, there was an expected tendency between hair curliness and aspect ratio: curlier hairs were more elliptical than straight hairs. In terms of the hair grouping types, in the age group, older individuals had thinner hairs than young ones. In the texture group, individuals in Texture Type 1 had thinner hairs than Texture Types 2, 3 and 4. Texture Types 3 and 4 had hairs with a more elliptical profile than individuals in Texture Types 1 and 2. Conclusion The SEM method was reliable to quantify cross‐sectional hair parameters within populations of donors with different types of hair. This approach corroborates clinically assessed hair type and curliness classification systems and provides a more thorough characterization of hair shape variation between and within individuals and ethnicities.

The presence of coconut rhinoceros beetle ( Oryctes rhinoceros ) was confirmed in Timor–Leste based on damage symptoms observed in photographs of coconut palms and subsequent trapping efforts. Specimens collected by the National Directorate of Quarantine and Biosecurity, Timor–Leste were identified as O. rhinoceros through morphological and molecular analysis. This is the first confirmed report of coconut rhinoceros beetle in Timor–Leste, highlighting the urgent need for a coordinated biosecurity response to assess eradication potential and prevent pest spread.

Introduction The nutritive value of forages is one of the main drivers of productivity for livestock. In many tropical regions, same grass species occur at different elevations, but few studies have evaluated nutritive value changes within elevation gradients. Methods The objective of this study was to analyze the changes in nutritive value of six grass genera across and within elevation gradients in Costa Rica. We synthesized elevation and nutritive data for crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) in a database (n = 1,192) containing five C4 grasses (Urochloa, Cynodon, Digitaria, Megathyrsus, and Cenchrus) and one C3 grass (Lolium). Urochloa, Megathyrsus, and Digitaria are grasses grown primarily at low elevation (0–999 masl), and Lolium at high elevation (>2,000 masl). Results Cynodon and Cenchrus overlap low to mid, and mid to high elevations, respectively. Greater CP and lower NDF concentrations were found for grasses grown at high elevation compared to those grown at low elevation (CP = 18.2–22.4 vs. 7.8–15.2%, NDF = 48.9–49.3 vs. 64.6–67.3%, and ADF = 32.2–33.2 vs. 37.4–44.3%). Consequently, IVDMD was greater for grasses grown at high than at low elevation (80.9–86.0 vs. 61.4–71.1% of DM). CP increased with elevation, especially for Lolium, while NDF and ADF tended to decrease for Megathyrsus, Urochloa, and Cenchrus. Discussion The groups of grasses classified by nutritive value in this study, provide a baseline for potential nutrient supply to livestock and rations adjustments accordingly.

The coconut rhinoceros beetle ( Oryctes rhinoceros ) is an invasive pest from South‐East Asia that poses a significant threat to coconut palms in tropical regions. First detected on the mainland of Papua New Guinea in 2009 near Jacksons International Airport, located on the southern coast of the mainland near the city of Port Moresby, coconut rhinoceros beetle spread rapidly throughout Port Moresby and along the coast. This study utilized historical records, satellite imagery, on‐site surveys and stakeholder interviews to assess the impact of coconut rhinoceros beetle in three Port Moresby locations: the Gateway Hotel gardens, the Kilakila settlement and the Pacific Adventist University plantation. Results indicated severe coconut palm losses, over 90%, 80% and 40% at the three sites, respectively, with significant economic repercussions, including a sharp rise in local coconut prices. These findings highlight the urgent need for comprehensive management and mitigation strategies to protect Papua New Guinea's coconut palm ecosystems and dependent livelihoods.

The international spread of the myrtle rust pathogen, Austropuccinia psidii, can be largely attributed to the “pandemic” biotype that has more than 450 host species. However, within South America, the putative native range of A. psidii, multiple biotypes have been characterised, each with a restricted known number of hosts. These biotypes may pose a significant biosecurity threat to countries already affected by the pandemic biotype. Here, we report the susceptibility of four species of Myrtaceae from New Zealand, pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium), kānuka (Kunzea ericoides), and rawiri mānuka (Kunzea ericoides ‘gumland ecotype’), to a strain of the Eucalyptus biotype of A. psidii. Symptoms and signs developed on inoculated plants of all species. Qualitative resistance phenotypes, with no disease development, were observed for all four species. However, no hypersensitive responses were observed. As seen for other biotypes, pōhutukawa had the greatest susceptibility, while kānuka had the lowest. These findings are consistent with prior work, showing that the Eucalyptus biotype can infect a broader range of species than its field host association implies. As well as uredinia (asexual spores), telia (sexual spores) developed on several plants, indicating that these species could provide a universal host for sexual reproduction and outcrossing between biotypes. Knowledge that the Eucalyptus biotype of A. psidii is virulent on several indigenous New Zealand Myrtaceae will inform future biosecurity risk assessments. These findings highlight the need to develop diagnostics tools to differentiate between biotypes and allow rapid responses to potential future incursions.

Background Ryegrass (Lolium spp.) is a key forage providing a $14 billion contribution to New Zealand's gross domestic product (GDP). However, ryegrass can also act as a weed and evolve resistance to herbicides used for its control. Farmers suspected that imported seed might contribute to resistance issues. Herbicide resistance frequencies were investigated in commercial ryegrass seed lines intended for multiplication in New Zealand. Samples from 56 basic seed lots and 52 unique cultivars sourced from regions including New Zealand, United States, Europe and Japan were planted in field trials. Seedlings were then sprayed with three common herbicides: glyphosate, iodosulfuron, and haloxyfop. Surviving plants were retested to confirm resistance. Results Resistance to haloxyfop and or iodosulfuron was detected in 79% of seed lines. However, frequencies were not significantly higher in imported lines (from United States and Europe) compared with New Zealand lines. Resistance was detected at frequencies between 0.00112% and 10% for haloxyfop and between 0.00212% and 14.28% for iodosulfuron Resistance to glyphosate was not found. There was no significant difference between the resistance detected in seed samples sourced from different seed companies. Conclusions It was found that 63% of resistant lines had resistance frequencies rarer than 0.1%, but this is potentially problematic considering typical sowing rates. Imported versus domestic seed sources were not significantly different; they pose similar levels of resistance risk to farmers. Lolium multiflorum had a higher resistance frequency compared to Lolium perenne (although only six L. multiflorum lots were evaluated). Breeders should screen progeny of early crosses for herbicide resistance. © 2025 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Propagule pressure is one of the key drivers of establishment success of non-native species, including insects. However, border interception data, which have the potential to act as a proxy for true arrival rates (i.e., propagule pressure) of insects into a country, are seldom used to predict invasions. This can be due to the limited amount of interception data in some countries, difficulties accessing such data, and when these data are available, difficulties in addressing biases caused by variation in interception probability for different taxa due to policy changes, and operational influences of import inspections. The type of interception data required to reliably estimate arrival rates is rarely available. To improve the use of interception data as a proxy for propagule pressure, we investigated the fraction of established species which had interceptions and vice versa by taxonomic group and by biological characteristics (development type and feeding group), using several national datasets from five continents. We identified higher fractions of established species that were intercepted for plant feeding insect groups compared to fractions of non-plant feeding groups, even in countries with more general import inspection strategies. This is likely to reflect greater search effort for and recording of plant-feeding insect groups during inspections. To address this variation in interception probability and improve establishment predictions based on interception frequency, we developed a methodology to account for such taxonomic variation. We apply this to three hazard lists of insects, containing potential pests for an industry or potential pests for a country, to assess its effectiveness.

Main conclusion Herbicide application to plants heterozygous for herbicide resistance results in distorted segregation favoring resistant allele transmission resulting in a conditional gene drive. Abstract Brassica napus plants heterozygous for an allele conferring sulfonylurea resistance at a single locus exhibit normal Mendelian inheritance. However, following application of the herbicide, highly distorted segregation of herbicide resistance occurs among progeny. Screening progeny from controlled crosses demonstrated that the herbicide imposes in planta gametic selection against pollen and ovules with the recessive allele for herbicide susceptibility, as well as embryonic selection against embryos homozygous for the susceptible allele. Such inducible biased inheritance represents a conditional form of allele transmission following herbicide application and mimics a natural gene drive. We postulate that natural gene drives are common in plant populations and can operate in a conditional manner resulting in non-Mendelian inheritance in response to abiotic and biotic stresses.

While the global agri-food system has fed a rapidly growing global population, industrialisation of agriculture is contributing to negative ecological and social outcomes. Strengthening humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the natural world has potential to address these negative outcomes. This paper focuses on the relationships a group of interviewed farmers have with the landscapes they farm and the responsibilities and actions that arise in care of these landscapes. We use an abductive approach to draw from the sense of place and care of place literatures in exploring interviews with these sheep, beef and deer farmers in the Upper Clutha of Aotearoa-New Zealand. Sense of place are the meanings and attachments held by these farmers toward the landscapes they farm. Care of place is who and what farmers feel responsibilities to and their motivations to care for agricultural landscapes. The analysis highlights a diversity of place meanings and attachments, and responsibilities in care of place among the farmers. The findings provide insights into how farmers’ different understandings of the relationship between nature and humans shape their place meanings when interacting with agricultural landscapes, and the actions they take in care of place. The few farmers who talked about sense of place as emergent through their interactions with the landscape referred to listening to landscapes to understand if the land was healthy. In care of place these farmers described activities and enterprises that contribute to the healthy ecological functioning of the landscape.

The objective of this study was to determine the combined effects of different freezing and thawing rates on the quality characteristics of aged lamb loins. A total of 105 lamb loins at 1 d postmortem were vacuum-packaged and aged for 2w kat −1.5°C. The loin samples were randomly assigned to 7 treatments, comprising 2 freezing (fast and slow) and 3 thawing rates (−1.5°C, 4°C, and 15°C), along with non-frozen (aged-only) control. Different freezing/thawing rates showed no influence on pH, shear force values, and color parameters of the aged lamb loins (P > 0.05). Fast freezing significantly decreased expressible moisture of the loins compared to slow freezing counterpart, regardless of thawing rates (P < 0.05). A significant interactive effect of freezing and thawing rates was found, where the slow freezing by fast thawing combination resulted in considerable increases in cooking loss. In contrast, fast freezing by fast thawing had a cook loss similar to never-frozen (aged only) control (P > 0.05). These findings suggest that fast freezing of previously aged meat will minimize the amount of moisture loss and thus improve quality attributes of the aged/frozen meat products, irrespective of thawing rates.

A plausible, but largely unexplored reason for many weed biocontrol agents failing to establish or being ineffective, could involve abiotically induced changes to an invasive plants’ biochemical phenotype and consequent enhanced herbivore resistance. Considerable literature demonstrates that chemically altered plant phenotypes can impair insect life history performance. Heather beetle, (Lochmaea suturalis), introduced to control invasive heather (Calluna vulgaris) in New Zealand (NZ) was difficult to establish and displays variable effectiveness. Using UHPLC-MS non-targeted metabolomics, we analysed primary and secondary metabolites of C. vulgaris from its native range (Scotland) and it’s introduced range (NZ), between which, differences in soil nutrients and ultraviolet light exist. We also explored secondary metabolite variation between sites within each range. New Zealand samples had the highest number of amplified metabolites, most notably defensive phenylpropanoids, supporting the concept of abiotically induced upregulation of key biosynthetic pathways. Analysis of secondary metabolite variation within each range revealed differences between sites but found little correlation of phenylpropanoid levels being influenced by variable soil nutrients. These results validate questions about the possibility of abiotically altered biochemical phenotypes in invasive plants, influencing weed biocontrol agent establishment and effectiveness, and show the potential for metabolomics in assisting future, or retrospectively analysing biological control programmes.

The coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros, CRB) is a serious pest of coconut and oil palms. It is native to South and Southeast Asia and was inadvertently introduced to Samoa in 1909. It has invaded many other Pacific countries throughout the last century. Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus (OrNV), a natural pathogen of CRB in its native range, was successfully introduced as a classical biocontrol agent and has effectively suppressed invasive CRB populations for decades. However, resurgence of CRB has been recorded, with new invasions detected in several Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Additionally, new populations of CRB are emerging in some invaded areas that have a degree of resistance to the virus isolates commonly released for CRB biocontrol. Here, we designed a fast and reliable tool for distinguishing between different OrNV isolates that can help with the selection process to identify effective isolates for management of new CRB invasions. A comparison of 13 gene/gene region sequences within the OrNV genome of 16 OrNV isolates from native and invaded ranges allowed us to identify unique Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). With these SNPs, we developed an assay using multiplex PCR-amplicon-based nanopore sequencing to distinguish between OrNV isolates. We found that as few as four gene fragments were sufficient to identify 15 out of 20 OrNV isolates. This method can be used as a tool to monitor the establishment and distribution of OrNV isolates selected for release as biocontrol agents in CRB-infected areas.

This article reviews nine soil carbon interventions to reduce soil carbon losses or increase stocks in grazing management systems, using their potential application in Aotearoa New Zealand (A‐NZ) as a case study. The interventions are classified into three strategies: (1) increasing carbon inputs through deep‐rooting and diverse species grasslands, reducing forage cropping and deferred grazing management; (2) increasing protection of carbon stocks by water table management on organic soils, reducing cropping on organic soils, full inversion tillage grassland renewal, the addition of clay minerals and enhanced rock weathering and (3) the adoption of integrated systems including establishing tree clusters into grasslands and agroforestry. We estimated the land area where these interventions could realistically be implemented in A‐NZ and assessed their potential impact on mitigating national overall agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The potential impact of each intervention ranged from <1% to 2.5% of national agricultural greenhouse gas emissions over 20 years. However, confidence in these approaches is hindered by a lack of research data where these approaches have been tested for different soil types and conditions. Notably, water table management, which reduces carbon loss from organic soils, was the only intervention that could achieve moderate, short‐ and long‐term impacts with a confidence level assessed as ‘likely’. We conclude that reducing further soil carbon losses and achieving modest increases in soil carbon stocks are possible but will require economic and political incentives that encourage the integration of multiple interventions at the farm scale.

The dairy industry plays a crucial role in global food systems; however, ensuring the safety and quality of raw milk and milk products is a complex challenge. This Research Topic, “Impact of dairy farming on the safety of raw milk and milk products,” presents a collection of studies that explore various aspects of dairy safety. The papers featured delve into microbial contamination, antimicrobial resistance, and the relationship between environmental factors and milk microbiota. By examining these critical factors, this Research Topic aims to enhance our understanding of dairy safety and propose strategies for improving milk quality, ultimately contributing to better public health outcomes.