Wednesday, October 10th, 2012
Lack of food for people in poor or rural areas. Overproduction of corn and it’s contribution to waste and poorer food quality. Environmental harms caused by industrial farming that wreak havoc on our soil and water sources. It is clear that we need to start looking for a more holistic and sustainable approach to feed
Friday, September 28th, 2012
Farmer Gary Wagner walks into his field where the summer leaves on the sugar beet plants are a rich emerald hue — not necessarily a good color when it comes to sugar beets, either for the environment or the farmer. That hue tells Wagner that he’s leaving money in the field in unused nitrogen fertilizer,
Thursday, September 27th, 2012
Agriculture is the direct driver of roughly 80 percent of tropical deforestation, while logging is the biggest single driver of forest degradation, says a new report funded by the British and Norwegian governments. The report, authored by Gabrielle Kissinger of Lexeme Consulting in Vancouver and Martin Herold and Veronique De Sy of Wageningen University in
Friday, September 14th, 2012
The Agriculture Department on Wednesday slightly lowered its forecast of corn and soybean yields as record heat continued to batter crops in the Midwest, making it likely that farmers will bring in one of the lowest harvests in years. The estimates are published monthly, and this is the third report in a row in which the
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
In a country that takes for granted its ability to engineer abundance, this summer’s drought sent a searing reminder that sometimes the weather still wins. A dousing of rain from Hurricane Isaac’s tail end was not enough to save withering crops across the Midwest, a calamity that has sent food prices soaring. Read More .
Saturday, September 8th, 2012
Illinois farmer Mike Cyrulik didn’t foresee this year’s drought when, this spring, he planted 20 bags of a new corn seed on a slice of his 5,000-acre farm. Today, weeks before the harvest, much of his and his neighbors’ crop is dead or dying. But not the portion of his land where he planted the
Friday, August 31st, 2012
The African Development Bank is conducting a second workshop with the theme “Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development – Africa Action Plan” from August 27-29 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first workshop was held in Kigali, Rwanda, in June. Read More
Friday, August 31st, 2012
Farmers and ranchers have developed the world’s most complex, efficient water management systems. Many farmers now use high-tech conservation solutions such as GPS programming for variable rate irrigation (VRI) systems to map out their farmland and pinpoint what areas require what amounts of water. With the use of GPS, farmers know exactly what, how much,
Friday, August 31st, 2012
The numbers are jarring: Global prices for key food staples such as corn and soybean were at an all-time high in July 2012, with corn rising 25 percent and soybeans 17 percent in a single month. Globally, food prices jumped 7 percent between April and July. In some countries, people now pay more than twice
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
Trimble introduced today a Connected Farm app for smartphone platforms. This free app uses the built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) of the smartphone for collecting in-field information to aid in fast and accurate decision making. The app allows farmers and agronomists to map field boundaries, mark flags, take geo-referenced photos and enter scouting information
