| Post Harvest Plant Pathology
Post Harvest Plant Pathology: The fate of the harvested crop.
Research and outreach programs surrounding post harvest storage of small-grained cereals and other commodities were a direct response to Minnesota agribusiness concerns. Historically, much of the freshly harvested or stored grain from the Northern Great Plains was, and still is, shipped to Minnesota either for processing (milling or processed foods) or for further national and international export. The availability of inexpensive, bulk shipping via waterways made Minnesota a magnet for export businesses.
Raw and processed commodities are exported from Minnesota by truck, rail, and barges on the Mississippi River or on ocean going ships from the ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin on the Lake Superior. To support grain handling, storage, processing and shipping activities in Minnesota, improved control of post harvest diseases was necessary and became a subject of intensive research.
Clyde M Christensen (PhD 1937) pioneered grain storage research in Minnesota during World War II. His work on the physical requirements and succession of microorganisms associated with grain deterioration during handling and storage were seminal and greatly assisted in controlling losses of commodities during shipping.
Cooperative research with the College of Veterinary Medicine demonstrated toxic effects in cattle, swine and poultry from consumption of contaminated grains. In the 1960s collaboration began between Clyde Christensen and Chester Mirocha to isolate and identify mycotoxins from grain storage fungi. That collaboration along with later research and outreach contributions of Richard Meronuck on improved farm storage of grains contributed to advances in grain and feed storage technology and enhanced health of livestock and poultry in Minnesota. The total program rapidly reached international acclaim between 1950 and 1985. In the latter years, some of that research was taken over by the College of Veterinary Medicine at Minnesota and in addition, much of it was transferred to USDA at its national facilities for grain storage research.
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