With all the recent hubbub surrounding the food-and-politics website Civil Eats—which raised $100,000 on Kickstarter in 2013 and snagged the James Beard Foundation’s Best Publication Award the next year—it would be easy to mistake editor-in-chief Naomi Starkman for an overnight sensation. Her path to new-media success, however, has been neither short nor narrow. [node:read-more:link]
Temperature and precipitation conditions in mid-June across the primary crop regions in the United States look similar to the widespread drought year of 2012 when, at the time, there also was little or no concern about drought, a climatologist said. Brian Fuchs, climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said as temperatures continue to rise heading into the summer months, climatologists are watching closely for signs of flash drought -- often brought on by a drop in precipitation and increased temperatures and winds. [node:read-more:link]
New York has an ambitious goal of getting 50 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2030. To get there, the state will need to expand grid infrastructure to deliver renewable power from rural areas to load centers. But the state won't always have to build new infrastructure -- it can do more with what it has. The New York Power Authority and New York State Electric & Gas have just finished the first project that shows what is possible using existing infrastructure. [node:read-more:link]
Four prominent ag research universities in the Midwest have joined the call for more federal funds supporting food and ag science. Purdue University, Iowa State University, The University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have joined the Supporters of Agriculture Research Foundation in seeking more research dollars, saying the growing population has demonstrated a need for sustainable food production. [node:read-more:link]
Living Ocean Productions has posted a new film “The Working Waterfront” — which aims to educate consumers about the current status of aquaculture in the United States — on YouTube. The 25-minute video looks at four fish farms in different areas of the US. The farmers discuss several topics including the challenges to growing a robust US-based aquaculture community. Over 90% of the seafood Americans eat is imported from overseas, and half of that amount is from aquaculture. Lack of a consistent permitting processes [node:read-more:link]
A self-driving John Deere tractor rumbles through Ian Pigott’s 2,000-acre farm every week or so to spray fertilizer, guided by satellite imagery and each plot’s harvesting history. The 11-ton behemoth, loaded with so many screens it looks like an airplane cockpit, relays the nutrient information to the farmer’s computer system. With weather forecasts and data on pesticide use, soil readings, and plant tissue tests pulled by various pieces of software, Pigott can keep tabs on the farm down to the square meter in real time without ever leaving his carpeted office. [node:read-more:link]
The potential trial on the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) lawsuit against three drainage districts in Iowa over nitrates in the drinking water has been delayed until June 2017. The lawsuit is currently in the motion stage. The Drainage Districts are seeking summary judgment against DMWW's claims under the Clean Water Act. This article continues the series on water quality issues for farming with a review of the arguments for and against summary judgment. The motion asks for a decision by the judge as a matter of law. [node:read-more:link]
A powerful new technique for changing genes in insects, animals and plants holds great promise, according to a report from an influential panel of scientists. But the group also says it's potentially very dangerous. Even so, scientists should continue conducting experiments using this approach inside laboratories, the report urges. And the panel endorsed the possibility of conducting very controlled studies of creatures altered with a gene drive outside laboratories. [node:read-more:link]
A Portland attorney and a Southern Oregon environmentalist are asking the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take industrial hemp off the federal government’s list of controlled substances. The petition is the latest move by people who believe industrial hemp could be a viable agricultural crop if the federal government didn’t classify it as an illegal drug. They have long contended hemp can be used to make food, medicine, clothing, lotions, construction material, oils and other products. Some states, Oregon among them, allow licensed hemp cultivation but keep it tightly controlled. [node:read-more:link]
Farmers who won a lawsuit invalidating a ban of genetically engineered crops in Oregon’s Josephine County are now seeking $29,000 in attorney fees from the ordinance’s supporters. A state judge struck down the county’s prohibition in May, holding that Oregon law pre-empts local governments from restricting biotech seeds. [node:read-more:link]
