Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Tuesday Links +

"harvesting hops" - Art credit: Helen Day

Tuesday informational news links "with a holistic view" are a weekly feature here at Big Picture Agriculture.

UP TOP:

Wendell Berry says conservatives and liberals are both responsible for Ag problems at recent Prairie Festival in Salina, Kansas | Salina.com
Quote: Berry blamed much of the situation on think tank intellectuals in the mid-20th century who determined the combination of advanced technology and the market economy made fewer farmers necessary. All price supports and production limits were removed. "The delusions of a limitless economy have overthrown the limits of nature and the land," he said. "The only solution to a limitless free market economy is to have a fair share to all by limiting production."

Bruce Charles "Bill" Mollison — known as the "father of permaculture" — died on Saturday in Hobart, Australia aged 88. | ABC News

Can International Diplomacy Help Combat the World’s Superbugs? | Science Friday 12-minute podcast

TRENDS AND INNOVATION:

Monsanto nabbed the licensing rights to the CRISPR technology from the Broad Institute to use in its seed development. | Business Insider

THE DRONES REPORT: Market forecasts, regulatory barriers, top vendors, and leading commercial applications | Business Insider

Vertical farming is on the rise — but can it save the planet? | Salon

As a GMO Pillar Wobbles, Biotech Companies Promise New Insect-Killing Genes | NPR

2015 U.S. Pet food spending $29.5B (up $5.4B) | Pet business professor

Thai hotel grows rooftop vegetables in Bangkok's scorching heat | HortiDaily

CONSERVATION, ORGANIC, GARDENING, WATER:

Farming with forests | Phys.org

When it rains several inches, and a field is vacant of plant life, how much water penetrates into the soil? During a recent cover crop field tour in Boelus, Neb., soil experts addressed this question. | The FencePost

Why Industrial Farms Are Good for the Environment | NYTs

Off-label dicamba: the implications and consequences of applications | Southeast Farm Press

Pesticide manufacturers’ own tests reveal serious harm to honeybees | Euractiv

Meet the California Couple who uses more water than every home in Los Angeles Combined | Mother Jones

Canals Save Cambodian Farmers in Times of Drought | IPS

How to build organic matter. Proper field management can boost crop yields. | Agriculture.com

Bio strip-till provides ideal growing conditions for corn | Agriculture.com

Iowa statewide alliance calls for moratorium on large-scale livestock operations | The Gazette

Concern Grows With Continued Erosion of CRP Land in Stutsman County, North Dakota | NewsDakota.com

Organic acreage increase explained | NSAC

Irrigation Nation | PSMag

Make Your Own Natural Liquid Fertilizers: Comfrey, 'Herby' and Manure Recipes | Mother Earth News

AG ECONOMICS, FARMING, CROPS, TRADE:

China's tariff on imports of DDGs threatens US soymeal prices | Agrimoney

China Will Resume Limited Imports of U.S. Beef After a Ban Long Seen as Political | TIME

Infrastructure dollars the big challenge in keeping US exports moving | AgriPulse

US farmers go 'natural' for cattle profits | BBC

This year's soybean crop yield ratings as of mid-September suggest the third all-time high in a row topping the prior peak set last year of 48.0 bpa. | DTN

Meet the Sugar Barons Who Used Both Sides of American Politics to Get Billions in Subsidies | Pro-Market

80 milking ewes in Alabama | NPR

A huge Washington State winery continues its construction phase | Capital Press

FARMLAND:

Ag rents are too high | DTN

Farmland sale in Adams County, Illinois, brought $9,500 per acre average | Agriculture.com

Chinese investors are buying up French farmland | WUNC

The merger of AFCO into FPI will create the largest public farmland REIT in the U.S. | Farmland Partners

Farmland Partners Company Overview | Farmland Partners

CLIMATE CHANGE:

"Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System," with co-authors from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), provides an overview of recent research in climate change and agriculture. | UCAR

As Arctic Ocean Ice Disappears, The Global Climate Impacts Intensify | e360

Modeling soil better. | Phys.org

Want to Slow Climate Change? Stop Having Babies | Bloomberg

COLORADO CORNER:

Tainted water cancels harvest sales at iconic Venetucci Farm, frightens residents - Researchers seek links between Air Force firefighting foam and PFC contamination in Fountain, Security and Colorado Springs | Denver Post

Warning issued after 20 sickened by raw milk from ranch in Pueblo County | The Gazette

450-foot bratwurst may be one for record books in Longmont | Daily Camera

HEALTH, FOOD, NUTRITION:

Did the Low-fat Era Make us fat? | Frontline

INTERESTING:

English farmer paints his entire flock of 800 sheep orange to help guard against theft. | WTHR

BONUS:

I'm posting this 4-minute Vimeo video to show you what a drone can do when a film maker sends it up illegally to gather footage, and then edits it, right here in my beautiful, athletic, and outdoorsy town of Boulder, Colorado. This has had nearly a million views and has created a controversy amongst town officials since it was illegal. I say get used to it. What drones can do versus what's legal for them to do is the future of drones.


ABOVE BOULDER - 4K Drone Film from Kjell Redal on Vimeo.



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