AgClips
Recent AgClips
Seed Prices, Proposed Mergers and Acquisitions Among Biotech Firms
Choices magazine | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsOver the last two decades, the big companies—that is, Monsanto, DuPont—have led the way with massive investments in biotechnology research and with seed and biotechnology company mergers and acquisitions. Historically, the seed-biotechnology companies have been dependent on numerous small and medium scale companies as major sources of innovation (Fuglie et al., 2012). The new small and medium-sized enterprises were specializing in developments of transgenic seed traits.
USFRA to ramp up its food company outreach on GMOs
Agri-Pulse | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe U.S.
Agriculture officials use sterile male flies to rid Monroe County of screwworms
Local 10 News | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAgriculture officials are working hard to stop the spread of screwworms that are threatening endangered key deer in Monroe County. Officials showed reporters boxes that each hold 76,000 sterile male flies. Once released, their job is to trick females into thinking they have mated. Because the male flies are sterile, the females stop breeding and do not lay new eggs."We do this rain or shine for as long as it takes to eradicate this," John Welch, from the U.S.
A US prison says farming is no longer “meaningful” work for inmates
Quartz | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe 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.
Farmers are using beed to spread nature's own pesticides
Popular Science | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe 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.
5 food safety challenges for broiler producers
Watt Ag Net | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Food NewsAs part of its Healthy People 2020 initiative, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is setting up goals to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter infections. By 2020, it is targeting 11.4 cases per 100,000 people for Salmonella and 8.5 cases per 100,000 people forCampylobacter.
Michigan: New database will track Environmental Assurance Program's effectivenessctiveness
Michigan Farm Bureau | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsOne 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 onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsA 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.
EU grab of common cheese names worries U.S. dairy industry
Capital Press | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Food NewsThe European Union’s attempt to “confiscate” common cheese names would cost the U.S. dairy industry billions of dollars if trade negotiators don’t hold the line, according to a new study. Many cheese names such as Feta, which originated in Greece, are identified with a specific location but have been commonly used to identify that type of cheese, no matter where it is made. The EU now wants to “confiscate” those generic names for the benefit of its farmers and processors, said Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president of trade policy for the U.S.
Big Oil Companies Reap Windfall From Ethanol Rules
The Wall Street Journal | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Energy NewsSome refiners stand to rake in $1 billion by selling fuel credits, while others must spend millions to comply. Companies including Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and BP PLC could reap a total of more than $1 billion this year by selling the renewable fuel credits associated with the ethanol program, according to an analysis commissioned by CVR Energy, a refinery operator controlled by billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of the rules. The ethanol and biodiesel program, created during President George W. Bush’s administration, was aimed in part at reducing U.S.