agriculture

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As Darfur Starves, Sudan Exports Staples

Exports crops to rich nations, still gets aid

(Newser) - As the UN trucks in food to millions of starving people in Darfur, Sudan is exporting important staple crops to other nations, the New York Times reports. Critics charge the government profits on big agribusiness while receiving more free food in aid than any other nation in the world. But...

Agricultural Economist Has Growing Concerns

The insanity of farm subsidies just one facet of wide-ranging Q&A with Daniel Sumner

(Newser) - Is there any way to justify US farm subsidies? Agricultural economist Daniel Sumner has a blunt answer: “No.” In an in-depth interview with the New York Times, Sumner takes on a broad range of agricultural topics, explaining the trouble with organic food (it’s too expensive), the problems...

Disease Stalks Florida's Palms
 Disease Stalks Florida's Palms 
Jul 23, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

Disease Stalks Florida's Palms

State worries it lacks resources to identify, combat pathogen

(Newser) - A mystery disease is eating away at the sabal palm, Florida’s state tree, and scientists say the prospects of successfully fighting the disease are slim. The AP reports that an increasing number of the trees, which can grow up to 50 feet tall, have suffered collapsed canopies. "There's...

Forget the Farmers Market: Buy the Farm

21st century-style 'sharecropping' takes root nationwide

(Newser) - Consumers wanting food straight from the source are buying up shares of farms in growing numbers, the New York Times reports. For a set annual fee, shareholders buy access to the land and a guaranteed share of the harvest income. The number of community-supported farms in America has mushroomed from...

A Different Kind of Apple for iPhone Waiters

Sustainable agriculture group heads queue for new phone release

(Newser) - The countdown is on ahead of Friday's release of the iPhone 3G, and a handful of buyers are waiting outside Apple's flagship New York store. But they’re not diehard fans—they’re activists hoping to promote sustainable agriculture by breaking a world record. The Waiting for Apples group queued...

Midwest Fights Weeds With Bugs

Biological control takes a food-chain approach to invasive plants

(Newser) - Officials in the Midwest are returning to a tried-and-true technique to fight invasive plants, the Chicago Tribune reports. Biological control uses natural enemies to rein in pests, and importing a tiny brown beetle in the 1990s brought under control a fast-spreading European weed, known as loosestrife, that was terrorizing agriculture....

Argentina's Prez Struggles to Keep Power

Peronists abandon Kirchner as approval rating drops to 20%

(Newser) - Six months ago Cristina Fernández de Kirchner succeeded her husband as president of Argentina, romping to victory with the help of a huge turnout in rural provinces. But those bastions of Peronism have since turned on Kirchner, whose hugely unpopular agricultural tax hike set off a months-long battle between...

Ties to Corn Industry Shape Obama's Policy

Views on ethanol please agribusiness, not economists

(Newser) - Barack Obama trumpets corn-derived ethanol as an alternative energy source and has endorsed tariffs that benefit the industry. But the Times reports that many in the Obama campaign, from Tom Daschle to the candidate's top environmental adviser, have close ties to the corn industry—a kernel of the surprise victory...

Half of Amazon Could Be Gone in 20 Years
Half of Amazon Could Be Gone in 20 Years
opinion
Jun 19, 2008 6:58 PM CDT

Half of Amazon Could Be Gone in 20 Years

Lust for beef, ethanol drives deforestation; nations must act now

(Newser) - An "unprecedented" combination of ills is threatening the Amazon, and if nothing is done to ease the pressure on the world’s largest rainforest, more than half of it could be gone or withered in 20 years, Rhett Butler writes for Yale Environment 360. After a three-year decline, forest...

Organic Food is Overhyped
 Organic Food is Overhyped 
Opinion
Jun 10, 2008 1:55 PM CDT

Organic Food is Overhyped

Old-fashioned agribusiness has its perks

(Newser) - Don’t believe the hype about organic food, writes Abigail Haddad in the American. While foodies and environmentalists may croon over produce grown locally or on small farms, the truth is that small farms aren’t very efficient, locally grown produce doesn’t help the environment, and organic food is...

Investors Sink Billions in 'Green Gold'

But some worry what happens when bottom falls out of farming

(Newser) - Billions of investment dollars are pouring into agriculture as the global demand for food explodes, turning crops such as wheat, corn, and soybeans into green gold, reports the New York Times. And while the immediate impact of more money being fed into agriculture will likely result in increased food production,...

UN Head: Drop Policies That Up Food Prices

Ban urges global response to avert mass starvation

(Newser) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will plead with world leaders at a food summit in Rome tomorrow to suspend trade restrictions, agricultural taxes, and other price controls that have helped create the highest food prices in 30 years, reports the Washington Post. Ban will also urge the US and other...

Why Organic Tomatoes Are Better for You

Researchers probe antioxidant-enhanced tomatoes

(Newser) - Some organically grown tomatoes appear to have higher levels of potent antioxidants, and the reason may be in the fertilizer, NPR reports. Researchers at UC Davis running tests on levels of the antioxidants, known as flavonoids, found 79%-97% higher flavonoid levels in the organic tomatoes.

Geneticists Solve Mystery of Giant Tomatoes

Without mutations on just 2 genes, red fruit would be tiny bud

(Newser) - Tomatoes would be about the size of blueberries if it weren't for two key genetic mutations, Reuters reports. Scientists mapping the plant's DNA discovered one gene that encourages additional cell division, and another that allows the fruit to grow many more internal compartments. Together the changes have created tomatoes up...

US Predicts Bumper Crops Will Ease Food Crisis

Record-breaking grain harvests worldwide expected to bring prices back down

(Newser) - Farmers worldwide will reap record-breaking harvests of wheat and rice this year, the US projects, and the news is expected to ease some of the worldwide concern about food prices. The USDA says good weather will bring bumper crops that will replenish depleted stocks, Reuters reports. Analysts warned, however, that...

Food Prices May Force Cuts in Farm Subsidies

Normally 'untouchable' price supports at risk in Congress

(Newser) - Soaring food prices are putting pressure on Congress to withdraw some of the billions in  farm subsidies and ethanol incentives that have been considered politically untouchable for decades, the Los Angeles Times reports. With average farm income more than $89,000 this year—30% above the national average—the White...

Save a Food From Extinction: Eat It for Dinner

'Food coalitions' aim to keep ingredients, recipes key to US heritage in circulation

(Newser) - Vanishing culinary breeds are getting a new lease on life, thanks to the efforts of an ethnobotanist with an interest in America's foodie past, the New York Times reports. While Makah ozette potato sounds like a "Final Jeopardy" answer, the once-endangered vegetable is one of the many culinary artifacts...

Ethanol Guzzles 25% of US Corn; Links Food, Fuel Prices

Switch to corn-based fuel links grain and energy prices

(Newser) - When Congress passed its latest energy bill four months ago, the provision to boost ethanol requirements was exceedingly popular. But now, critics are lambasting that measure, and the ethanol movement in general, for linking skyrocketing food and oil prices. “We used to have a grain economy and a fuel...

Easter Bunny's Budget Strained as Egg Prices Skyrocket

But 29% jump is windfall for farmers

(Newser) - As far as the egg industry is concerned, Easter might as well have been Christmas. Prices skyrocketed 29% over the last year, and show no sign of slowing, as eggs are such a staple that demand hasn’t slowed a bit. “We’ve never seen profits like this,”...

Oregon's Having a Grape Year
 Oregon's Having a Grape Year
Mar 19, 2008 4:07 PM CDT

Oregon's Having a Grape Year

Good weather, high pinot demand have growers toasting bumper crop, again

(Newser) - Thanks to good weather and rising demand, Oregon crushed a record number of grapes in 2007—good news for its 370 wineries. And despite selling 1.7 million cases worth $208 million last year, the state hasn't quenched thirst for its wine, the AP reports. "Fussy superstar" pinot noir...

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