Reduce, recycle, recover — an answer to food waste
Food waste "is essentially a $165 billion logistics, efficiency and consumer-education business opportunity," says GreenBiz, describing a research project by investment funds and a food-services giant.
In a switch, EU to delay decision on glyphosate extension
Two EU sources told Reuters the 28-nation bloc is unlikely at a meeting this week to approve use of the weedkiller glyphosate through 2031. That is an about-face from expectations when the two-day meeting of experts opened on Monday.
GMO food-label negotiations continue
Although he put legislation to pre-empt state GMO food-labeling laws on the table, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts is apparently willing to modify the proposal. Said an aide: "Negotiations are ongoing."
Not as good as hoped: California on track for average precipitation
Six weeks are left in the rainy season in California "and results are mixed," reports The Atlantic. Heavy rain and snow swept the state over the weekend, but the state "as a whole seems on track to have only an average precipitation year."
Big gap between farm costs and likely crop revenue
Corn and soybean growers in the Midwest face nearly $480 an acre in fixed costs and land rent going into the planting season, and hundreds of dollars more in per-acre expenses for the so-called variable costs of producing a crop, says economist Brent Gloy.
Wolves shot in counties on opposite ends of Iowa
Hunters on opposite sides of the state shot two large canines this winter that have been identified conclusively as wolves, says Iowa Ag Connection.
WOTUS challenge to be decided by Cincinnati court
The U.S. appeals court in Cincinnati claimed jurisdiction to decide the legal challenges to the EPA's "Waters of the United States" regulation, which defines the upstream reach of clean water laws, reports DTN.
Studies: climate change’s impact on ag is worse, faster than thought
Traditional studies may be underestimating the impact of climate change on agriculture, because they don’t take into account “farmers’ reactions to climate shocks,” says a new study in Nature Climate Change.
Crop insurance a likely target for Obama budget cuts
The Obama administration seems sure to propose cuts in the federally subsidized crop insurance program in its final budget package, which will be released on Tuesday.
USDA offers $20 million for conservation innovation
As part of a White House meeting on environmental conservation, the USDA announced the availability of $20 million through the Conservation Innovation Grants program.
Maple syrup season gets an early start
A comparatively mild winter has meant an early start to the maple syrup season in the U.S. Northeast.
‘Virtually every corn farmer’ could become party to Syngenta lawsuit
When China rejected shiploads of U.S. corn in 2013, it shook the commodity market and spawned hundreds of lawsuits against Syngenta. Harvest Public Media says lawyers involved in the lawsuits "are preparing to ask for the cases to be certified as a class-action lawsuit.
Facing tough year economically, cotton growers to expand plantings
Cotton growers face the third year of low commodity prices, high production costs and financial hardship, says an economic outlook presented at the industry's annual meeting.
Mandatory GMO labeling is price of pre-emption, says Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who tried to broker a compromise on GMO food labeling, says labeling must be mandatory nationwide to avoid the chaos of states and food processors deciding on their own what to label and how.
America’s foreign-born sheepherders are finally getting a raise
More than 1,600 foreign-born sheepherders in the western U.S. are finally getting a pay raise, says High Country News. Brought to the U.S. under the H-2A visa program, the workers are allowed in the country for three years at a time.
Marginally smaller global wheat crop after 2015 record
Wheat farmers around the world are forecast to reap a crop of 723 million tonnes this year, down 10 million tonnes, or 1.4 percent, from the record harvest of 2015, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in its first forecast of 2016 crops.
British poultry farms use antibiotics banned on U.S. farms
The British newspaper the Independent says fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics "banned on U.S. chicken farms a decade ago over links to the spread of potentially deadly bacteria in humans, are being used in significantly increased quantities by the British poultry industry."
EU expected to extend approval of glyphosate for 15 years
Experts from the 28 nations of the European Union "appear set to endorse a European Commission proposal to extend authorization of glyphosate for 15 years, until 2031," said Reuters.
The new normal for farmers — tighter credit
With U.S. agriculture in the third year of a commodity-price slump, bankers are toughening their rules for lending money to growers, says Reuters, which quoted a Farm Credit Systems official as calling for belt-tightening by farmers.
New tactic to combat factory farming: a divestment campaign
"The issue is still low on the radar of most investors," says The Guardian in a story on an emerging campaign for divestment from factory farming.