Syngenta moves deeper into farm data
Syngenta yesterday announced its acquisition of FarmShots, a North Carolina-based data company that assesses plant health and other farm conditions. The acquisition marks the latest move by seed and ag-chemical companies to grow their presence in the farm data sector.
USDA unveils website to handle crop supports, land stewardship
During a trip to Michigan, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue introduced a website that will eventually allow producers to file crop support and land stewardship forms digitally instead of having to bring paper copies to their local USDA office.
USDA releases a food-buying app for smartphones
Declaring it “a major step forward” for food service workers, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service released its first mobile app, which the agency said will make it easier to serve healthy and tasty meals through its child nutrition programs.
Coalition would use TV ‘white spaces’ to bring broadband to rural America
Software giant Microsoft is part of the Connect Americans Now coalition, which has “a plan to eliminate the digital divide by 2022” by persuading the FCC and other regulators to set aside low-band spectrum across the country to provide a broadband connection for everyone.
‘We will rebuild rural America,’ says Trump, starting with broadband
In his first trip to Iowa since taking office, President Trump was introduced to high-technology, big-data dependent agriculture and said his $1 trillion infrastructure plan will expand broadband access in rural America. "We will rebuild rural America," said the president, with a prosperous farm sector as the lever for economic growth in rural communities.
Farmers want open-source farm equipment
Farmers are calling for free access to the software that runs their tractors and other farm equipment. "You're paying for the metal but the electronic parts technically you don't own it. They do," says Kyle Schwarting, a farmer in southeast Nebraska.
At a New Hampshire greenhouse, ‘no one touches anything’
The owners of a one-acre greenhouse in London, New Hampshire rely on automation to reduce the risk of contaminating the greens that go into its packages of lettuce blends, says Produce Retailer. "From seeding to harvest to packaging, no one touches anything" at lef Farms, which sold its first order in January.