Agriculture News
Farming startup Indigo raises $203 million with help from Dubai fund
Reuters | Posted on December 12, 2017Farming 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. It rivals SoftBank Group Corp’s investment into Plenty, a startup working on new technology to grow crops indoors, announced in July. That investment, from SoftBank’s Vision Fund, was $200 million.Indigo says it is working to create a new way to grow crops so they are more resistant to insects, drought, severe weather and nutrient-poor soil. The company says its formula of coating seeds in microbes will one day help crops to withstand environmental stresses and allow farmers to forgo chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides.
Iowa Farm Bureau leader: Farmers must fight misinformation that threatens ag gains
Des Moines Register | Posted on December 12, 2017Misinformation 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. "It seems that people who don’t farm and don’t understand farming have plenty of opinions about how we, as farmers, should be farming," Craig Hill, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, told about 1,000 farmers Wednesday."This new threat that’s emerged is one that places limits on our progress," Hill said during the group's annual meeting in Des Moines.Hill said after his speech he's concerned about people who don't use "a lot of science or education," spreading messages that "prey on people's fears."
Food Stamp Fight Looms In Congress After Tax Code Overhaul
Huffington Post | Posted on December 12, 2017Democrats 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. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), founder of the House Freedom Caucus, told HuffPost on Tuesday that the influential bloc of conservative Republicans will push for “welfare reform” legislation next year that would add new restrictions on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.“That’s what’s coming,” Jordan said, adding that President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) support the idea. ”It’s got huge support. We just need to get it done next year.”
Tyson terminates contract with Atlantic Farm in response to undercover video
Meat + Poultry | Posted on December 12, 2017Tyson 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.
Post-Harvest Slump in Ag Producer Sentiment
Purdue | Posted on December 12, 2017The 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). Based on a monthly phone survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the U.S., the latest results, although indicating producers were less confident about the agricultural economy than in October, still suggest agricultural producers remain more optimistic than they were prior to the fall 2016 election.
Antibiotic confusion
Pig Progress | Posted on December 12, 2017There 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.
Why are America's farmers killing themselves in record numbers?
The Guardian | Posted on December 12, 2017The 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. “The emotional wellbeing of family farmers and ranchers is intimately intertwined with these changes.” Last year, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that people working in agriculture – including farmers, farm laborers, ranchers, fishers, and lumber harvesters – take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation. The data suggested that the suicide rate for agricultural workers in 17 states was nearly five times higher compared with that in the general population.
On Twitter, Farmers Are Begging Trump Not to Bail on Nafta
Bloomberg | Posted on December 12, 2017Farmers 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. Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, published an Op-Ed in The Hillon Wednesday highlighting the benefits of the agreement. Republican Senators Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Joni Ernst of Iowa also made a case for the agreement on Tuesday over lunch with the president and the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The Science of GMOs
Purdue | Posted on December 12, 2017Genetically 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. You can always count on this site to address this complicated and evolving issue with neutral, scientifically sound information. Also, as a head’s up, scientists often prefer to use the term genetically engineered (GE) rather than GMOs, as it’s a slightly more accurate term. However in this context, they can be used interchangeably!
Wine country wildfire costs now top $9 billion, costliest in California history
The Sacramento Bee | Posted on December 9, 2017October’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.