The U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed 320 new inventions from USDA laboratories in fiscal 2018, along with 471 licenses, 120 patent applications and 67 actual patents, according to its latest "Technology Transfer Report." Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue discussed the release of the report at the Forbes AgTech Summit in Salinas, Cal., during a fireside chat with Mike Federle, chief executive officer of Forbes.

“Long before anyone ever coined the modern-day phrase of ‘technology transfer,’ it was part of the culture at USDA to deliver solutions to the people of America,” Perdue said. “Today, USDA is still helping to drive technological innovation – both on the farm and off. Studies show that every dollar invested in agricultural research returns $20 to our economy. Innovations produced by USDA scientists and through public/private partnerships add value to American agriculture and the U.S. economy, create jobs and help American producers compete in the global marketplace.”

Discoveries include a repellent made from coconut oil to ward off blood-sucking insects that cost the cattle industry more than $2.4 billion annually, technology that keeps almond crops from being lost to heavy rains and a treatment for peanut allergies.

Among other notable discoveries, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in St. Paul, Minn., have developed a system that can remove nitrate from contaminated water and concentrate it for reuse as fertilizer. The system runs on electricity from solar panels, so it is suitable for remote locations.

A feasibility test was successfully conducted on a contaminated trout stream with a nitrate concentration of more than 20 parts per million (twice the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency safety standard of 10 ppm). The system was able to remove an average of 42% of the nitrate from water passing through it, concentrating it in a tank that ultimately reached a concentration exceeding 500 ppm, which was subsequently used elsewhere as fertilizer. This approach could be used to recover nitrate from streams and contaminated wells, ponds and lakes.

Another finding is a test strip for major foodborne pathogens that reduces testing time from 24-72 hours to about 30 minutes, allowing food to be tested more often at less expense. This research was published in 10 peer-reviewed journal articles, and a patent was issued. The food safety aptamers, the technology behind the test strips, have been acquired by CibusDx, which will begin marketing the test strips in conjunction with its portable biosensor in 2018.

In an important development, ARS scientists in Orient Point, N.Y., investigated the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing as a potentially more robust and efficient system to produce live recombinant African swine fever (ASF) viruses. Compared with traditional genetic engineering techniques, the CRISPR-Cas9 system resulted in the successful development of a recombinant ASF virus in record time. These results demonstrate the potential advantage of using CRISPR-Cas9 over traditional methods and should significantly improve the ability to develop a first-generation modified live ASF vaccine.

The bacterium Streptococcus suis is an important and common cause of disease in pigs and costs the swine industry millions in losses annually. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, and University of Cambridge collaborators identified five candidate proteins of S. suis that were formulated into a vaccine with different adjuvants to help stimulate an immune response. This technology may markedly improve the health and welfare of pigs while reducing pork production costs and the use of antibiotics in pigs by lessening the occurrence of diseases caused by an important bacterial pathogen.

USDA issues the report each year on technology transfer activities for USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, ARS, Economic Research Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Forest Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service, National Institute of Food & Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Rural Development.