Agriculture News
A US prison says farming is no longer “meaningful” work for inmates
Quartz | Posted on November 1, 2016The cows are being put to pasture—forever. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections is preparing to end a program that puts convicts to work alongside state farm employees to maintain animals and gardens. The program is being slashed to make more room for “more meaningful career training opportunities,” the prison system said. But not everyone agrees with that logic. At least 50 state employees will lose their jobs as the program is phased out, which has rankled the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association. The group has organized several protests outside prisons and at auction sites where state cattle are being sold.
Farmers are using beed to spread nature's own pesticides
Popular Science | Posted on November 1, 2016The bumblebees inside the boxes don’t seem to like it, either. My host from Bee Vectoring Technology, a Toronto startup, tells me the insects prefer calmer days and warmer temperatures. In better weather, I might have seen the pollinators buzz out of the nickel-size holes at the ends of the boxes at a regular clip, dipping from flower to flower in the surrounding field, each carrying an unusual delivery: a white dust formulated to protect the strawberries from a type of rot known as Botrytis cinerea, or gray mold. The dust contains a benign fungus, Clonostachys rosea. It colonizes the inside of plants, blocking the growth of the nastier mold—a biologically based alternative to a cocktail of synthetic fungicides, which are getting more difficult to use. Todd Mason, BVT’s lead scientist, strides into the strawberry field, ruddy-faced and in short-sleeves despite the weather. He raps on a hive. The buzzing crescendos, but no bees come out to investigate the source of the disruption. Mason shrugs and then surveys the field, rubbing his hands together. “I’m going to take some samples,” he says, grabbing a handful of Ziploc bags. His goal: to gather strawberry blooms so he can measure how much of the white dust the bees left on more pleasant days. This field is one of several demo trials in North America and abroad. BVT is already convinced—based, in part, on decades of research from scientists at the University of Guelph in Ontario—that the white dust can fend off the gray mold that afflicts strawberries and numerous other crops. The purpose of the trials is to prove to farmers that this unconventional pesticide, with its unconventional delivery method, works in real fields, where the weather—and the bees—don’t always cooperate.
Michigan: New database will track Environmental Assurance Program's effectivenessctiveness
Michigan Farm Bureau | Posted on November 1, 2016One fundamental tenet the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) impresses upon those seeking verification is the importance of good record-keeping. It’s hard to evaluate progress without marking where you started and documenting gains made by implementing on-farm conservation practices. Now the program itself is taking that same lesson to heart with the implementation of a new MAEAP database its organizers will use to better track, document and promote the program’s stewardship achievements statewide.
Wisconsin loses almost 400 dairy farms in last year
Capital Press | Posted on November 1, 2016A report from the federal Agriculture Department shows that Wisconsin lost almost 400 dairy farms in the last year, though one official says the news isn’t all that bad. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that about 94,000 dairy herds were active in the state as of Oct. 1 — 4 percent fewer than in 2015. Wisconsin Dairy Business Association President Gordon Speirs says the number of lost farms this year is low compared to previous years, when annual losses reached as high as 1,000. He says that’s “a real victory for our industry” given low milk prices in the past year and a half.
Would You Buy a Genetically-Engineered Cashmere Sweater?
The Atlantic | Posted on November 1, 2016Cashmere is not merely goat hair.
No, no. Most hair on a goat—even a so-called cashmere goat—is coarse and thick, unsuitable for the neck of lady. Cashmere comes from a second undercoat that goats grow only in the winter, where the hairs are fine and soft and downy. But even goats specially bred to produce cashmere grow pitifully little—about half a pound per goat. Hence, your very expensive cashmere sweater. In China, the world’s top producer of cashmere, scientists have been trying to breed more productive cashmere goats. They’ve now used CRISPR, the genetic editing technique, to disrupt a single gene in cashmere goats. The change made hair in their undercoats even longer and more numerous—but not, crucially, any thicker. The genetic tweak boosts yield by about three ounces.
EPA Probes Dicamba Use
DTN | Posted on November 1, 2016The drama over possible illegal use of dicamba continues. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that it executed federal search warrants at several southeastern Missouri locations as part of an investigation into alleged misuse or misapplication of dicamba onto herbicide-tolerant soybeans and cotton. The agency said in a formal statement that the activity was part of an ongoing criminal inquiry and stems from widespread complaints of damage to sensitive crops across Missouri and several other states in the Midwest and Southeast. Special agents of the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division (EPA-CID) served the warrants during the week of October 10 in Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, New Madrid and Stoddard counties of Missouri. The Missouri Department of Agriculture received 124 dicamba-related complaints this summer, mostly within the four counties included in the EPA probe. The complaints allege damage across more than 41,000 acres to soybeans, peaches, tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe, rice, purple-hull peas, peanuts, cotton and alfalfa, as well as to residential gardens, trees and shrubs, according to EPA's news release. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is currently investigating 47 dicamba-related complaints. In Arkansas, 28 dicamba complaints are pending.
Failure of EU trade deal would leave Canada in tough position
Reuters | Posted on October 27, 2016The looming failure of free trade talks with the European Union would derail Canada's push to reduce its dependence on the United States and potentially complicate negotiations with other nations, such as India and China. The EU's hopes of signing the pact this week appeared to evaporate on Monday as the Belgian government failed to win the consent of regional authorities necessary to approve the deal. The European deal would have given Canada preferential access to a market of 500 million people, more than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), at a time when the U.S.-Canadian partnership is under pressure.
EPA Probes Dicamba Use:Federal Search Warrants Issued in Missouri
DTN | Posted on October 27, 2016The drama over possible illegal use of dicamba continues. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that it executed federal search warrants at several southeastern Missouri locations as part of an investigation into alleged misuse or misapplication of dicamba onto herbicide-tolerant soybeans and cotton. The agency said in a formal statement that the activity was part of an ongoing criminal inquiry and stems from widespread complaints of damage to sensitive crops across Missouri and several other states in the Midwest and Southeast. Special agents of the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division (EPA-CID) served the warrants during the week of October 10 in Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, New Madrid and Stoddard counties of Missouri. The Missouri Department of Agriculture received 124 dicamba-related complaints this summer, mostly within the four counties included in the EPA probe. The complaints allege damage across more than 41,000 acres to soybeans, peaches, tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe, rice, purple-hull peas, peanuts, cotton and alfalfa, as well as to residential gardens, trees and shrubs, according to EPA's news release. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is currently investigating 47 dicamba-related complaints. In Arkansas, 28 dicamba complaints are pending.
Harmful Algal Blooms and Agricultural Nutrients: State Responses to a Growing Issue
National Ag Law Center | Posted on October 27, 2016A webinar: Science points to runoff from agricultural fields as a cause of elevated levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorous in our nation’s waterways, leading to Harmful Algal Blooms, hypoxia and other water quality issues. In this webinar, Hall will present an overview of different approaches states are taking to address water quality impacts from the surface application of agricultural nutrients, from voluntary to mandatory efforts. Hall will highlight the most recent and innovative state-based efforts, share data on water quality improvements related to reduction efforts and analyze how different approaches may impact agricultural producers.
JBS cancels reorganization after shareholder veto
meatingplace.com | Posted on October 27, 2016Brazil's JBS SA will evaluate alternatives to unlock the company's value after shareholder BNDES Participações (BNDESPar) vetoed its corporate reorganization plans announced in May, global CEO Wesley Batista told analysts in conference calls. Batista did not detail what alternatives the company will consider. The world's largest meat processor previously considered listing its Brazilian poultry and processed foods unit Seara, and JBS USA as a strategic alternative.