March, 2024

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4-H Canada forced to lay off staff following major federal funding cut

Real Agriculture

4-H Canada says it has had to make the difficult decision to lay off seven staff members following a major cut to the funding it receives from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Food 363
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An update on Nutri-Score: despite food industry opposition, it’s doing well

Food Politics

A recent opinion piece in the Washington Post explains why the FDA should establish front-of-package nutrition labeling here and now: These countries are doing nutrition labels the right way Christina Roberto, Alyssa Moran, and Kelly Brownell contrast the “ stop signs you’ll see in Mexico, the Nutri-Score system used in France, or the Health Star Ratings in New Zealand” with the current lack of a system like those in the United States.

Food 358
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Trending Sources

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NASDA adopts policy in support of federal pet food label and opposes PURR Act

NASDA

Press Release ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s Board of Directors adopted new policy supporting the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine to establish a national rule for pet food and specialty pet food labeling. The policy advocates for consistency and transparency on pet food and pet food labels to enable pet owners to make confident, informed decisions about what they feed their animals.

Food 253
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Nibbles: VACS, FAO forgotten foods, African roots, Hopi corn, Adivasis rice, Sustainable farming, Llama history, Vicuña sweaters, Portuguese cattle, Mexico genebank, NZ genebank, Bat pollination, Eat This Newsletter, WEF

Agricultural Biodiversity

More on the US push for opportunity crops. Oh look there’s a whole compendium on African opportunity crops from FAO. Many of them are roots and tubers. For the Hopi, maize is an opportunity crop. For the Adivasis, it’s rice. And more along the same lines from Odisha. Llamas were an opportunity for lots of people down the ages. …and still are , for some.

Maize 193
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BREAKING: Mystery Illness Impacting Texas, Kansas Dairy Cattle is Confirmed as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Strain

AgWeb Farm Journal

BREAKING: Mystery Illness Impacting Texas, Kansas Dairy Cattle is Confirmed as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Strain apiuser Mon, 03/25/2024 - 13:45

Cattle 145
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The Iowa Trout Stream at the Center of a Feedlot Fight

Civil Eats

In 2017, Larry Stone heard whispers about construction taking place near his home in Clayton County, Iowa. A retired photographer, Stone pulled up to the site, located around 20 miles away from where he lives, and began taking photos. “A guy came roaring up on his little ATV and said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’” Stone recalled recently. His curiosity eventually landed Stone a tour of the project: Walz Energy, a joint venture between a cattle-feeding operation and an energy company.

Manure 142
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Farming Forward: Using SWAT maps to inform nitrogen management decisions

Real Agriculture

Soil tests are one tool for determining fertilizer needs of a particular field, but several other factors impact the overall productivity of any soil zone, regardless of nutrient level. Factors, such as physical make up of the soil, salinity, internal drainage, field position, and organic matter levels, all play a role in determining the high-yield.

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Meet the People Behind the Numbers – Barbara Rater

NASDA

Barbara Rater, Director of the Census and Survey Division at USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is at the forefront of data collection processes and initiatives. With extensive experience and diverse background, she shares her perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in the field of agricultural statistics and offers insights into her role in shaping policies and programs.

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What IS wrong with biofortification?

Agricultural Biodiversity

Well, it all started with a paper with more or less that title from Maarten van Ginkel & Jeremy Cherfas last year. Their answer was that biofortification doesn’t work, costs yield and risks genetic uniformity. Ouch. So what to do? Diversify diets, of course. That was followed by a rebuttal from Prasanna Boddupalli, Jill Cairns and Natalia Palacios-Rojas of CIMMYT.

Yield 172
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Echándole Ganas: Giving it My All to Honor Legacy and Elevate Voices

USDA Blog

With the end of Women’s History Month coinciding with César Chávez Day, I’ve been reflecting on my personal and professional experience and the journey that has taken me to my current role as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Designated Federal Officer (DFO) of the Equity Commission. It is also extremely fitting that this year’s Women’s History Month theme is “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

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Baltimore port is an ag equipment hub

Western FarmPress

Closure of port in Maryland due to bridge collapse could impact farm machinery exports and imports.

Farming 138
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Orr named to lead Corteva Agriscience in Canada

Real Agriculture

Loralee Orr has been named as Canada Commercial Leader for Corteva Agriscience. Orr will remain based at Corteva’s Canadian head office at Calgary, Alberta, where she will lead the organization as it delivers a pipeline of new seed and crop protection solutions to Canadian farmers in the years ahead.

Seeding 331
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The federal vision for chronic disease prevention: individual behavior, not the environment

Food Politics

At the insistence of Jerry Mande , I watched the meeting of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to learn about the Federal Vision for Advancing Nutrition Science in the United States. This Vision derives from last year’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and its pillar on enhancing nutrition research.

Food 316
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NASDA recognizes agriculture’s economic impact on each state in celebration of National Ag Day

NASDA

Press Release ARLINGTON, Va. – Today on National Ag Day, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture celebrates agriculture’s significant role in driving local, state and national economies across the U.S. NASDA is a proud partner of the eighth annual “ Feeding the Economy ” report, a nationwide study commissioned by 30 food and agriculture groups to provide insight into the food and agriculture sectors’ economic impact.

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Brainfood: Software edition

Agricultural Biodiversity

NBPGR-PDS: A Precision Tool for Plant Germplasm Collecting. Fancy software can manage germplasm collecting info in the field. The role of genotypic and climatic variation at the range edge: A case study in winegrapes. Fancy software and analysis can predict how different grape varietals could expand in distribution under climate change. ClimMob: Software to support experimental citizen science in agriculture.

Seeding 168
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Farmworkers are Vital to a Resilient Food System

USDA Blog

Farmworkers make up less than one percent of all U.S. wage and salary workers, but they are vital to the country’s agriculture. They labor every day in fruit orchards and dairy farms, in blazing heat and freezing cold, to ensure that families have food on their tables.

Food 140
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Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

AgWeb Farm Journal

Roger Reaves forged the most astounding farm life of modern times. Row crops to moonshine to marijuana to cocaine, he was the highest paid narco-pilot in history.

Farming 137
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Farming Forward: What are the GRASS principles of advanced grazing?

Real Agriculture

Advanced grazing can be summed up in one word: GRASS. But we’re not talking the actual grass, we’re talking about the GRASS principles of advanced grazing. In this episode of the Farming Forward video series, Steve Kenyon of Greener Pastures Ranching, explains the principle that stands for: G – Graze period R – Rest period A.

Pasture 331
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Weekend reading: the ironies of drinking fluid milk

Food Politics

Anne Mendelson. Spoiled: The Myth of Milk as Superfood. Columbia University Press, 2023 (396 pages). I am an admirer of Anne Mendelson’s books and did a blurb for her Chow Chop Suey. But this one is over the top—original, compelling, brilliantly written. Driving this book is a question I’ve not heard asked before, at least not so directly: Why and how did the consumption of fresh liquid milk (“drinking-milk”)—as opposed to fermented dairy products—become framed as a nutritional necessity?

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Introducing Rosaria Campilongo: Going outside the comfort zone to find inspiration.

Agri-tech

International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Here Dr Rosaria (Ros) Campilongo, CEO of PfBIO a John Innes Centre spin-out company based at Norwich Research Park, takes time out of her busy day to give some inspiring thoughts on work, life, and balance. Ros is a familiar face for visitors to the Norwich Research Park (NRP).

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Brainfood: Wild melon dispersal, Fertile Crescent domestications, Angiosperm threats, Wild rice alliance, Wild potato leaves, Brassica oleracea pangenome, Wild Vigna nutrients

Agricultural Biodiversity

Frugivory by carnivores: Black-backed jackals are key dispersers of seeds of the scented !nara melon in the Namib Desert. Jackals pee on wild melon relatives and disperse their seeds, not necessarily in that order. Out of the Shadows: Reestablishing the Eastern Fertile Crescent as a Center of Agricultural Origins: Part 1. Go East, young archaeobotanists!

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Growing Opportunities for Women in Agriculture

USDA Blog

The National Women in Agriculture Association (NWIAA) headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla. has operated for 16 years, grown to 60 chapters, and has big goals to help underserved communities succeed in agriculture.

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Inside the fire line: Images from the Smokehouse Creek fire – the largest wildfire in Texas history

AgriLife Today

Texas A&M AgriLife responds to community needs alongside volunteers and other agencies in support of the Texas Panhandle Wildfires that ripped across the Texas Panhandle left in their wake destroyed homes, blackened earth, downed power lines and wandering livestock. But also, an outpouring of support that arrived by the truckloads in the form of hay, Read More → The post Inside the fire line: Images from the Smokehouse Creek fire – the largest wildfire in Texas history appeared f

Livestock 137
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Edible Bean School: Breeding varieties for growers and end users

Real Agriculture

Edible bean breeders have a lot of boxes to check when developing new varieties. From yield and maturity to quality and end use market considerations, breeders need to develop varieties that flourish in the field and also please palates when they appear on dinner plates. On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Edible Bean School, Hensall Co-op. Read More Edible bean breeders have a lot of boxes to check when developing new varieties.

Yield 323
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How the food industry exerts influence II: climate scientists (meat industry)

Food Politics

In my Monday postings of industry-funded studies of the week, I mostly have stopped listing the names of authors because I view industry influence as a systemic problem, not something to be blamed on individuals. But a recent article on meat industry influence on climate change science, sent to me by one of its authors, focuses on two individual recipients of meat industry funding.

Food 255
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Where Did All the Corn Acres and Principal Crop Acres Go? The Two Biggest Questions from USDA's Big Prospective Plantings Report

AgWeb Farm Journal

Where Did All the Corn Acres and Principal Crop Acres Go?

Acre 135
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Brainfood: US edition

Agricultural Biodiversity

Vulnerability of U.S. new and industrial crop genetic resources. More germplasm (especially wild relatives) and breeders are needed in the US of castor bean, gumweed, guar, guayule, kenaf, roselle, safflower, sesame, sunn hemp, rubber dandelion and Vernonia. Safeguarding Plant Genetic Resources in the U.S. But the conservation system itself has its challenges, due to climate change.

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Drive and Ambition Fuels this USDA 1890 Scholar

USDA Blog

Kaitlyn Hampton is ambitious and goal oriented. As she embarked on her journey as a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1890 National Scholar , she simultaneously assumed other responsibilities, such as pursuing her master’s degree. The 1890 Scholars Program complemented her goals, allowing her to pursue her passions through internships and job placements that provided experience.

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How our paranoia about contamination is threatening local food

Sustainable Food Trust

Patrick Holden discusses how the centralisation of the food system has given rise to an atmosphere of paranoia about bacteria, which, in turn, is placing a disproportionate regulatory burden upon small producers and processors. More and more of us are now recognising that the ultra-processed products of the industrialised food system, which most of us eat to some degree, are making people sick.

Food 135
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Corn School: Think ‘firming force’ not downforce at planting

Real Agriculture

What’s a planter supposed to do when it rolls into fields and tucks into a fit seedbeed? On this episode of RealAgriculture Corn School, Kearney Planters operations manager Cullen Tinline shares a corn planter furrow management wish list and what growers should expect if their planter is fine-tuned, properly prepped, and rolling in good soil. Read More What’s a planter supposed to do when it rolls into fields and tucks into a fit seedbeed?

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FDA allows health claim on yogurts, sugary and not

Food Politics

The FDA Announces Qualified Health Claim for Yogurt and Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. FDA intends to consider exercising its enforcement discretion for the following qualified health claims: “Eating yogurt regularly, at least 2 cups (3 servings) per week, may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. FDA has concluded that there is limited information supporting this claim.

Food 252
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Digging In: Food’s Big, Plastic Problem

Modern Farmer

“Does anyone realize we’re headed toward plastic armageddon?” That’s how Bradley Aiken of Portland, OR began his response to our call for reader questions about where their food comes from. “My weekly visits to the local farmers’ markets still find an overabundance and reliance on plastic pint containers of berries, single-use plastic bags,and straws!

Straw 135
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Brainfood: Landrace threats, Heritage areas, Bean erosion, Rice restoration, Cassava redundancy, Commercialization, Peanut network, Podolian cattle

Agricultural Biodiversity

Towards a practical threat assessment methodology for crop landraces. Basically red listing for landraces. Preserving traditional systems: Identification of agricultural heritage areas based on agro-biodiversity. First places to apply the above? Genetic erosion within the Fabada dry bean market class revealed by high-throughput genotyping. Would have been nice to apply the above before doing this study.

Cattle 140
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USDA 2501 Grant Recipient Connects Rural Community Leaders in Service

USDA Blog

Rural Development Leadership Network (RDLN) President Starry Krueger is working to keep people on their traditional lands, and to keep the land grounded in agriculture.

Ruralism 135
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Native Youth Learn to Heal Their Communities Through Mycelium

Civil Eats

A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter. Become a member today and get the next issue directly in your inbox. At Spirit of the Sun , Native American youth are not only learning about traditional ecological knowledge , they’re also empowered to do the teaching. The opportunity to absorb Indigenous wisdom and share that knowledge with the community is what attracted 20-year-old Nyomi Oliver (Navajo/Chicana) to the Denver nonprofit, which offers

Food 134
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Avian influenza found in cattle on U.S. dairy farms in Kansas and Texas

Real Agriculture

A mysterious illness affecting older dairy cows in the southern U.S. appears to be caused by the same virus that has infected millions of domestic and wild birds over the past few years. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said milk samples from sick animals on two dairy farms in Kansas and one in.

Cattle 317
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How the food Industry exerts influence IV: Science teachers and public health professionals (beef industry)

Food Politics

Two examples of beef-industry attempted influence: I. Science teachers This one comes from Wired: Inside the Beef I ndustry’s Campaign to Influence Kids Big Beef is wooing science teachers with webinars and lesson plans in an attempt to change kids’ perceptions of the industry. A beef industry group is running a campaign to influence science teachers and other educators in the US.

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