GovernmentExecutive.com

Never let it be said that the Agricultural Research Service isn't focusing on issues of importance to Americans. Olfactory importance, that is. "Unmistakable cattle manure odors have become a bigger issue during the last several years as more and more people move from cities and suburbs to rural areas," the agency noted on its Web site yesterday. So scientists at the agency's Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Neb., are "studying beef cattle diets to see if they can change them to reduce unpleasant odors while still raising productive animals."