NewsTrust - Farming - Most Recent Stories: News

Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism?

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Andrew Rice - Nov. 22 (Special Report) - Fearing food shortages, investors from wealthy countries are snapping up land in poor countries to grow food there. Is this development or exploitation?

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The Dirt on Worms

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

agweb.com - By Pam Smith - Nov. 18 (News Report) - The earthworm has long been considered the farmer’s friend. Their burrowing has always been thought to aerate the soil while their droppings provide fertilizer. No-till farmers count on these tireless workers to improve soil tilth. And on their worst day, earthworms sacrifice everything to land us a lunch from our favorite fishing hole

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Lexington: Farmers v greens

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Economist - Nov. 15 (Special Report) - In the Senate, however, every state gets exactly two votes. Sparsely-populated states are thus hugely over-represented: senators representing a mere 11% of America’s population can block any bill, since 60 votes out of 100 are needed to guarantee passage. And many of these states depend on coal, the dirtiest commonly-used fuel.

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Farmers fight climate bill, but warming spells trouble for them

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

McClatchy - Nov. 02 (News Report) - Farm state senators and others soon will get a taste of what their colleagues from Missouri already have piled high on their desks: thousands of letters from farmers urging them to vote against the climate and energy bill. The Missouri Farm Bureau started the letter campaign early, weeks before the bill was fully written and made public. It was followed in October with a pitch from the American Farm Bureau, the nation's largest agriculture lobby, to get farmers to take farm caps, sign their bills and send them to senators with notes that say, "Don't cap our future."

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The olive grove wars

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

GlobalPost - By Sara Sorcher - Oct. 22 (Special Report) - The olive branch may be a universal symbol for peace, but in the West Bank, the olive harvest brings a season of unrest between Jewish settlers and Palestinians. It owes much to proximity. Small communities of Israelis

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Kenya: Waiting for El Nino

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Global Voices - By Samuel Maina - Oct. 09 (Special Report) - Kenyans are waiting for the El Nino rains anticipated between now and December 2009 with mixed feelings. Inasmuch as the El Nino is itself a natural disaster that in it's ‘moderate' form is expected to displace at least 100,000 people and leave 750,000 in need of humanitarian aid according to IRIN, most Kenyans actually want [...]

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Fairtrade coffee farmers battle for survival in Colombia

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

knowledge.insead.edu - By Rahilla Zafar - Oct. 08 (Special Report) - As the third-largest coffee producer behind only Brazil and Vietnam, more than 76 per cent of Colombia’s coffee is produced by small-holder farmers like Antonio. With over four million coffee farmers (10 per cent of the population), Colombia exports nearly 12 million 60 kilogramme bags per year; just over one million bags consist of specialised coffees such as organic and Fairtrade.

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Mie fish farm admits using hormone disrupter

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Japan Times - Oct. 04 (News Report) - A fishery cooperative in Owase, Mie Prefecture, halted virtually all shipments of its farmed fish after learning that a farm in the region used a banned hormone disrupter as a parasite repellent, the cooperative said Saturday.

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Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Charles Duhigg - Sep. 20 (Special Report) - In Morrison, Wis., more than 100 wells were polluted by agricultural runoff from land covered with slaughterhouse waste and treated sewage.

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Red Snow Warning

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Tomdispatch.com - By Chip Ward, - Sep. 14 (Special Report) - Pink snow is turning red in Colorado. Here on the Great American Desert -- specifically Utah's slickrock portion of it where I live -- hot 'n' dry means dust. When frequent high winds sweep across our increasingly arid landscape, redrock powder is lifted up and carried hundreds of miles eastward until it settles on the broad shoulders of Colorado's majestic mountains, giving the snowpack there a pink hue.

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Drought Puts Focus on a Side of India Left Out of Progress

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Jim Yardley - Sep. 05 (Special Report) - The crisis has underscored the problems facing Indian agriculture as the population expands at the same time that water resources come under greater pressure.

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Scientists discover virus that could explain drop in bee population

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Times - By Mark Henderson - Aug. 26 (News Report) - The research, by a team at the University of Illinois and the US Department of Agriculture, has indicated that a group of viruses called the picorna-like viruses are likely to be involved, though they may not be the only cause. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists examined the way genes were switched on and off in the guts of bees from hives that later fell victim to CCD.

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Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Bryan Walsh - Aug. 23 (Special Report) - The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans. Those hidden prices are the creeping erosion of our fertile farmland, cages for egg-laying chickens so packed that the birds can't even raise their wings and the scary rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria among farm animals. Add to the price tag the acceleration of global warming — our energy-intensive food system uses 19% of U.S. fossil fuels, more than any other sector of the economy.

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Business owners, fishermen want better health coverage

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

thecordovatimes.com - By Dimitra Lavrakas - Aug. 14 (News Report) - Mark Vinsel, executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska, says 32 percent of fishermen in Alaska are not covered by health insurance. Alaska small-business owners and representatives of fishing organizations expressed support of a new approach to health insurance on Aug. 6 in a telephone conference held by Small Business Majority, a national small-business advocacy organization that focuses on health care reform. They also spoke to their concerns of what may happen if health insurance reform is not dealt with in the near future.

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Warning green fears could make farming more industrialised

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

nzherald.co.nz - By Geoff Cumming - Aug. 09 (News Report) - Images of carefree cows roaming free, chewing grass or silage year round (well, almost), used to be the green selling point of New Zealand's dairy industry. Not for us those "factory farms" of the Northern Hemisphere where the poor cows are consigned to sheds and fed grain for long periods.

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Wish you weren't here: The devastating effects of the new colonialists

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Independent - Aug. 08 (Special Report) - A new breed of colonialism is rampaging across the world, with rich nations buying up the natural resources of developing countries that can ill afford to sell. Some staggering deals have already been done, says Paul Vallely, but angry locals are now trying to stop the landgrabs.

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Pakistan: Ruined Farmers Say Children Won't Go to School

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Inter Press Service - By Ashfaq Yusufzai - Aug. 06 (Special Report) - PESHAWAR, Aug 6 (IPS) - Fertile Swat's famous orchards of peach, plum and apple were just starting to ripen when the Pakistan military launched an air and land attack on Taliban fighters in end-April, uprooting tens of thousands of civilians.

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'Organic has no health benefits'

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Jul. 29 (News Report) - Organic food is no healthier than conventionally produced food, a large independent review has concluded.

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Solid Ground - Marra Farm

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

solid-ground.org - Jul. 29 (Special Report) - Marra Farm is a model urban community farm engaging people in sustainable agriculture and education while enhancing local food security. Tucked into the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, it has 4 acres of historic preserved farmland. Marra Farm generates tons of fresh, organic produce, with more than 13,000 pounds grown each year. In addition to residents growing food for their own families, distribution includes donations to local residents and the senior lunch program through the Providence Regina House Food Bank, Mien senior citizens, and Concord Elementary School students and their families. Produce is also sold at the University District Farmer's Market through an employment program for at-risk youth run by Seattle Youth Garden Works.

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Naked girls plow fields for rain | U.S.

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - Jul. 23 (News Report) - hPATNA, India (Reuters) - Farmers in an eastern Indian state have asked their unmarried daughters to plow parched fields naked in a bid to embarrass the weather gods to bring some badly needed monsoon rain, officials said on Thursday

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Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops (2009)

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Union of Concerned Scientists - Jul. 15 (Special Report) - For years the biotechnology industry has trumpeted that it will feed the world, promising that its genetically engineered crops will produce higher yields. That promise has proven to be empty, according to Failure to Yield, a report by UCS expert Doug Gurian-Sherman released in March 2009. Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields.

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Why Silk Soy Milk's Parent Company Is Throwing American Farmers and Consumers Under the Bus | Environment | AlterNet

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Ari LeVaux - Jul. 15 (News Analysis) - Even as demand for organic food continues to explode, organic farmers in America are getting thrown under the beet cart they helped build. The Chinese are taking over market share, especially of vegetables and agricultural commodities like soy, thanks to several American-based multinational food corporations that have hijacked the organic bandwagon they only recently jumped onto.

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Crops, ponds destroyed in quest for food safety

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

San Francisco Chronicle - By Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau - Jul. 13 (News Report) - Dick Peixoto planted hedges of fennel and flowering cilantro around his organic vegetable fields in the Pajaro Valley near Watsonville to harbor beneficial insects, an alternative to pesticides. He has since ripped out such plants in the name of food safety,...

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Farm Groups Prevail as House Climate Bill Puts USDA in Charge of Ag Offsets

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Allison Winter - Jun. 24 (News Report) - The Agriculture Department will have the lead role in overseeing agriculture offsets under the House climate bill, a major victory for farm groups that pushed lawmakers to take the lead away from U.S. EPA and a defeat for environmental groups that fear the agriculture agency may be too lax in oversight.

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U.S. Senate Report: Excessive Speculation in the Wheat Market

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

agweb.com - Jun. 24 (News Report) - A 247-page report, entitled, Excessive Speculation in the Wheat Market, was released last night by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Acting Ranking Minority Member.

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