Agriculture

Farming technology startup Indigo has raised more than $200 million from investors to fund its efforts to reform how crops including wheat, soybeans, cotton and corn are grown around the world.The Boston-based company announced on Wednesday an additional $47 million investment led by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, a state-owned sovereign wealth fund, bringing its latest financing round to $203 million. Indigo is valued after the latest round at $1.4 billion. The financing is one of the largest single investments into a private agriculture-technology company. [node:read-more:link]

Misinformation about food and farming that gets shared on Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels threatens gains in agriculture, the leader of Iowa's largest ag group said Wednesday. [node:read-more:link]

Democrats have warned that after passing a tax bill that adds to the national debt, Republicans will say it’s all the more urgent to cut Social Security and Medicare.While overhauling those popular programs is a long-term Republican goal, in the near-term conservative lawmakers are more eager to cut food stamps.Rep. [node:read-more:link]

Tyson Foods Inc., Springdale, Arkansas, terminated its contract with Atlantic Farm, a poultry production operation, after undercover video footage depicting animal cruelty was released by an animal rights group on Dec. 6. A representative from Compassion Over Killing posing as an employee recorded undercover video footage of what Tyson officials referred to as “egregious, inexcusable” actions by workers at the facility over the course of several weeks. [node:read-more:link]

The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer dropped 7 points in November, signaling a slump in U.S. agricultural producers’ confidence compared to a month earlier. At a reading of 128, the measure of producer optimism in November was the second weakest observed during 2017 and stood just 4 points above the 2017 low of 124, set in March (Figure 1). [node:read-more:link]

There appears to be lightyears of interpretation differences between the supporters and critics of antibiotic reduction. It’s clear that reducing antibiotics usage in one country or on one farm is not the same as reducing them in another. Depending on many factors, think of e.g. levels of biosecurity, legislation, farm size, professionalism of nutrition, to name a few, the way to interpret ‘reducing antibiotics’ is a different issue from place to place. [node:read-more:link]

The suicide rate for farmers is more than double that of veterans. Former farmer Debbie Weingarten gives an insider’s perspective on farm life – and how to help. “Farming has always been a stressful occupation because many of the factors that affect agricultural production are largely beyond the control of the producers,” wrote Rosmann in the journal Behavioral Healthcare. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers showed up at the polls for Trump. Now they want him to do the same for them on NAFTA.Using the hashtag #Farmers4NAFTA, individual farmers and agricultural groups are tweeting about the benefits of Nafta.Canada received $20.3 billion worth of American agricultural products in 2016, making it the top destination for such goods, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mexico received $17.7 billion, coming in third place behind China. The tweets add to the voices in Congress calling on the administration to remain in Nafta. [node:read-more:link]

Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs, are a major issue about which many of us know relatively little. We want to know what we’re eating, and we want to know how this issue is impacting the environment. Knowing more equips us to make the best decisions for ourselves and generations to come. GMOs are complex, so we’ve broken the issue down into different categories. Click on the question that most concerns you. Read the answer or listen to an interview with one of Purdue’s College of Agriculture scientists. [node:read-more:link]

October’s wine country wildfires are now the costliest in California history, with insurance claims pegged at $9.4 billion. The latest tally Wednesday from the state Insurance Department means the wine country fires have vaulted past the Oakland Hills fire of 1991 as the most expensive in California fire history. Oakland Hills generated about $2.8 billion in claims, when adjusted for inflation. [node:read-more:link]