Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Agriculture, Farming, and Food Reading Picks

Horse-drawn plough, land girl. Laura Knight. 1944.

(For your daily up-to-the-minute agriculture news, go to this site's sister webpage, Agriculture News Daily.)

  1. Tough times in the heartland as some farmers hit by losses weigh exiting the business | CNBC
  2. NASA-inspired "speed breeding" boosts wheat production threefold | New Atlas
  3. Quote: "Using its carefully crafted lighting setup, the team was able to grow six generations of wheat, chickpea and barley plants and four of canola plants in a single year, as opposed to two or three in the glasshouse or a single generation in the field. It says it also works for peanuts, amaranth and lentils, and expects it to work for sunflower, pepper and radish."
  4. Consumers want more protein in their diets | Bloomberg
  5. Quote: "the average consumer will eat 222.2 pounds (100.8 kilos) of red meat and poultry this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, surpassing a record set in 2004. Meanwhile, domestic production will surpass 100 billion pounds for the first time, as livestock owners expand their herds on the back of cheap feed grain."
  6. Half of U.S. soybeans exported to China this year would not meet Chinese rules for routine delivery in 2018, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters, signaling new hurdles in the $14-billion-a-year business. | Reuters
  7. After a record year in Iowa, big ethanol asks for another handout | Washington Examiner
  8. Comment: This is about subsidies going to the fuel stations for signing up to provide higher blends of ethanol product. The longer the contract > the higher percentage they get bribed paid.
  9. Green Plains plans massive expansion of Syngenta’s Enogen corn ethanol technology | Biofuels Digest
  10. EPA ethanol and air quality study more than 8 years late | Climate Change Dispatch
  11. Ukraine’s Ban on Selling Farmland Is Choking the Economy; Kiev keeps putting off land reforms, despite pressure from the IMF and investors. | Bloomberg
  12. Growing discord in Malaysia's paddy industry due to monopoly | The Straits Times
  13. China to phase out more pesticides in push to improve food safety | Reuters
  14. Plastic Film Covering 12% of China's Farmland Pollutes Soil | Bloomberg
  15. Scientists Question Safety of Using Waste Water From Oil Fields (in California's Central Valley) on Food | NBC Bay area
  16. Investment firms continue to purchase farmland | KTIC Radio
  17. Kansas City Federal Reserve on the Farm Economy (NOV) with graphs | KCFed
  18. A sustainable rancher and ranching system in Arizona | Nogales International
  19. More Iowa communities left with few, if any, kids | DesMoines Register
  20. Green payment program covers 8% of U.S. farmland | Agriculture.com
  21. Dairies Are Awash in Organic Milk as Consumers Jump to Alternatives; Companies that invested in producing organic milk are cutting capacity or looking to turn it into cheese or other products | WSJ (Paywall)
  22. The world's renewed appetite for natural riches once again tests Latin America | Bloomberg
  23. Quote: "Brazil, for one, has shown it can help to feed and fuel the world. But only zealous governance, a guiding hand for struggling farmers, and citizens willing to hold officials to account can stop the next boom from becoming an ecological bonfire."
  24. Nigeria's massive chicken farm | DW
  25. Asian Rust in Brazilian soybeans just won't die | Agweb/Bloomberg
  26. Brazil Senate passes bill to boost ethanol, biodiesel use | Reuters
  27. Colorado Hemp farming has a stalking problem | Westword
  28. Canadian firm unveils plans for large hemp farm in northern Maine; Future Farm Technologies buys 120 acres in Aroostook County to grow the plant, a cousin of marijuana, for producing cannabidiol, a hemp derivative used in medical treatments. | Press Herald
  29. Comments about the food industry from notables | Rabobank
  30. Quote: “I continue to be surprised by the ‘conflict’ between consumers’ shift to health & wellness and the growth of indulgence product offerings.”
  31. Changing consumers ignite food revolution; It’s transforming Minnesota’s food companies and economy. | Star Tribune
  32. Tubers in trouble | Phys.org
  33. As Africa grows more prosperous, obesity grows as a problem | LosAngeles
  34. End of 47-Year Japan Rice Program Signals Ramen Wheat Boost | Bloomberg
  35. More healthful white bread in development | Producer.com
  36. How Germans are taking back sauerkraut; Thanks to the American fermented food trend and a probiotic boom, Germany is rediscovering a tradition it had preserved poorly. | Handelsblatt
  37. Planet Fat: The New York Times series on global obesity | Food Politics
  38. Comment: In my local news, lately, a Univ. of Colorado physiology professor is doing studies showing that to reverse pre-diabetic conditions and promote weight loss, it is as simple as walking one hour a day. As Nike would say, just do it.