Agriculture

It’s the sort of edge any trader would covet -- and one the authorities were actually hoping to prevent. Yet the U.S. Department of Agriculture may well be clearing the way for some Wall Street speed demons to trade on market-moving data before others. Abandoning decades of precedent, the agency has decided to only post its reports directly on the web, rather than also release them via accredited media. While that may seem like a democratic move, it actually could set the stage for a winner-takes-all arms race to grab the info first. [node:read-more:link]

To rescue her father’s ailing Wicomico County dairy farm, 31-year-old Rebecca Harcum had emptied her savings, maxed out her credit cards and taken a loan against her 401(k). She’d poured nearly $100,000 into the effort, and her father, William Blan Harcum Jr., had also exhausted his savings and credit. [node:read-more:link]

University of Missouri researchers continue to find volatility of the newer dicamba products. M-U researchers are in their second year of studying soybean plants, placed 12 inches above the crop canopy, in fields that have been sprayed with dicamba during temperature inversions. Preliminary results show damages to the plants are highest in the first 24 hours they are placed in the sprayed fields but damages can occur up to 96 hours afterward. The plants have no direct contact with dicamba. At the Pest Management field day at Bradford farms near Columbia, Missouri, MU weed scientist Dr. [node:read-more:link]

The paper also presents an overview of the current landscape of governance of genome editing, including existing regulations, international agreements, and standards and codes of conduct, as well as a discussion of factors that affect governance, including comparison with other approaches to genetic modification, environmental and animal welfare impacts of specific applications, values of producers and consumers, and economic impacts, among others.  Recognizing both that genome editing for crop and livestock improvement has the potential to substantially contribute to human welfare and sust [node:read-more:link]

A Baltimore startup that spun out of research at Morgan State University is looking to turn poultry litter into power for farmers. Cykloburn Technologies is developing a low-emission combustion system that converts biomass into energy. CEO Rob Meissner said the technology is being designed as an option for poultry farmers who use chicken litter as fertilizer. On the Eastern Shore, nitrogen and phosphorous from excess fertilizer is pegged as a prime pollutant in the Chesapeake Bay. [node:read-more:link]

The Cabinet has agreed to enable Ireland to prohibit or restrict the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Ireland.The Government approved the transposition of an EU Directive, which will enable Ireland to opt out of cultivation of GMO crops approved for cultivation elsewhere in the EU. [node:read-more:link]

Cargill reported $3.2 billion in adjusted operating earnings for the 2018 fiscal year, one of its best annual performances. The fourth quarter also was very strong for the company. [node:read-more:link]

A uniform, national food ingredient disclosure solution was passed  by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support. The law prevents the confusion and costly red tape associated with a 50-state patchwork of mandatory state labeling laws that could have raised the cost of food for families by up to $1,050 per year. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced new cooperative agreements with Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi and American Samoa, as well as renewed agreements with 43 other states, in support of efforts to implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. [node:read-more:link]

Mr. Trump’s suggestion that it is “impossible” for American farmers to sell their products to the European Union is wrong. In fact, the 28 countries of the European Union are the United States’ fifth-largest export market for agricultural goods, like tree nuts and soybeans, totaling $11.5 billion in 2017, according to the Department of Agriculture.But the United States did import about $10 billion more in agricultural products, like wine, beer and chocolate, from the European Union than it exported there. [node:read-more:link]