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Agriculture (General/Chat)

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  • Japan scientists grow drugs in chicken eggs

    10/09/2017 11:38:58 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 5 replies
    phys.org ^ | October 9, 2017 | Staff via AFP
    The scientists now have three hens whose eggs containing the drug "interferon beta", with the birds laying eggs almost daily, the report said +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Japanese researchers have genetically engineered hens whose eggs contain drugs that can fight serious diseases including cancer, in a bid to dramatically reduce the cost of treatment, a report said Monday. If the scientists are able to safely produce "interferon beta", a type of protein used to treat illnesses including multiple sclerosis and hepatitis, by rearing the hens, the price of the drug—currently up to 100,000 yen ($888) for a few microgrammes—could fall significantly, said the...
  • We’re Eating More Cheese Than Ever. How To Do It Better

    10/04/2017 1:07:48 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 43 replies
    www.wsj.com ^ | Oct. 4, 2017 1:00 p.m. ET | By Tia Keenan
    A radical new guide to the ever-widening world of cheese takes an accessible approach: Begin with what you love Up to now, cheese guides have tended to focus more on where and how cheese is made than on how best to enjoy it. Meanwhile, according to the USDA, Americans’ annual consumption of natural (as opposed to processed) cheese increased from 19.3 to 29.47 pounds per capita between 1995 and 2015, and the range of cheeses to choose from has become downright daunting. The time has come for “The Book of Cheese: The Essential Guide To Discovering Cheeses You’ll Love,” published...
  • Official White House Christmas tree selected from Shawano County (WI)

    10/04/2017 8:56:07 AM PDT · by Diana in Wisconsin · 15 replies
    FOX WSAW TV ^ | September 25, 2017 | Maria Szatkowski
    SHAWANO COUNTY, WI (WSAW) -- A Wisconsin family Christmas tree business will be meeting the First Lady this November, when they present the White House with this year's Christmas tree. Diane and Jim Chapman, and their son David, of Silent Night Evergreens will be presenting the White House with this year's Christmas tree. On Monday, two White House officials came to pick out the special tree that starts the holiday season. "Today truly marks the first day of Christmas for us at the White House. Truly a remarkable tree and going to be a beautiful addition to holidays at the...
  • Can California Solve Pot’s Pesticide Problem?

    09/30/2017 7:44:47 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 34 replies
    Monterey Herald ^ | 09/26/17 | Lisa M. Krieger
    California cannabis consumers will soon have two choices: clean, legal and pricey — or dirty, illicit and cheap. Think Whole Foods vs. El Chapo. The big difference will be the amount of pesticides in your weed. That’s because starting Jan. 2, when California’s vast legal marijuana market opens, all cannabis must be tested — and most chemicals will be banned. Much of California’s cannabis is tainted, including the “medicinal” stuff. But soon state-sanctioned weed may become the greenest in the nation. But here’s the catch: Most growers — particularly the get-rich-quick newbies and industrial-scale Big Weed wannabes — aren’t ready...
  • We’ve Grossly Underestimated How Much Cow Farts Are Contributing to Global Warming

    09/29/2017 2:59:25 PM PDT · by upchuck · 71 replies
    Gizmodo ^ | Sep 29, 2017 | George Dvorsky
    A new NASA-sponsored study shows that global methane emissions produced by livestock are 11 percent higher than estimates made last decade. Because methane is a particularly nasty greenhouse gas, the new finding means it’s going to be even tougher to combat climate change than we realized. We’ve known for quite some time that greenhouse gases produced by cattle, sheep, and pigs are a significant contributor to global warming, but the new research, published in Carbon Balance and Management, shows it’s worse than we thought. Revised figures of methane produced by livestock in 2011 were 11 percent higher than estimates made...
  • Monster-sized goldfish are taking over an Alberta city that now has to cull them by the thousands

    09/28/2017 7:01:51 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 100 replies
    National Post ^ | 09-27-2017 | Staff
    Leah Kongsrude, St. Albert's environment director, says she's seen captured goldfish up to 30 centimetres in length, compared to ones sold by pet stores that measure only about two centimetres ST. ALBERT, Alta. — Workers have dipped nets and a naturally occurring chemical into a storm water retention pond near Edmonton in a bid to kill thousands of unwanted goldfish that have made the water body home. Officials say the aquatic invaders are the result of goldfish reproducing after people released their unwanted pets into the wild or flushed them down the toilet. Leah Kongsrude, St. Albert’s environment director, says...
  • Australian farmers are using human waste as fertilizer. And it's working.

    09/27/2017 5:59:22 AM PDT · by bgill · 53 replies
    Circa ^ | Sept. 27, 2017 | Julia Boccagno
    The bio-solids have become particularly important this year. According to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, Australia experienced its hottest winter on record. That, coupled with frequent frosts, have made it difficult for farmers to grow their crops. But the sewage sludge is more than a simple fertilizer. It's also good for the environment. That's because plant operators are able to make use of an often-ignored waste product. "We beneficially reuse 100 percent of the bio solids that we generate every year, so that's about 180,000 tons of solid matter," said Gavin Landers of Sydney Water.
  • First Lady Melania Trump Harvests White House Garden with Local Children

    09/23/2017 6:03:58 AM PDT · by KC_Lion · 42 replies
    Brietbart ^ | 22 September 2017 | Penny Starr
    First lady Melania Trump helped children from organizations in the District of Columbia harvest vegetables and plant a fall crop in the White House garden on Friday. The “White House Kitchen Garden” and the tradition of inviting local children to take part in planting and harvesting was started by former First Lady Michelle ObamaMelania Trump is continuing the tradition, this year with children from the Girls and Boys Club of Greater Washington and FBR Clubhouse. Trump greeted the children, one of whom asked if she was Melania Trump. “Yes, I am the first lady for those of you who don’t...
  • Topless carwash raises cash for deputies wounded in gun battle at Rastafarian pot farm

    09/20/2017 3:47:56 PM PDT · by ameribbean expat · 21 replies
    The charity event was held for Yuba County sheriff’s Deputies Phillip Bronson and Andrew Everhart, who were shot multiple times on Aug. 1 at a Rastafarian church’s marijuana farm in Oregon House, a small community northeast of Sacramento.
  • Hillary Clinton tells her side of what happened during the 2016 election at a sold out event in dc

    09/20/2017 1:41:13 AM PDT · by definitelynotaliberal · 38 replies
    Circa ^ | 09.18.2017 | Alix Hines
    Hillary Clinton is telling her side of what happened during the 2016 election at a Washington, D.C., event aimed at promoting her new memoir "What Happened." According to the event page, the memoir focuses on "Hillary's experience as a woman in politics." In addition, the memoir "reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history." During an interview on Monday with NPR's Terry Gross, Clinton said she wouldn't rule out questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election if new information surfaced about Russian interference. She, however, said there may not...
  • Weather Bell

    09/13/2017 8:27:42 AM PDT · by Hojczyk · 7 replies
    WeatherBell ^ | September13,2017 | Joe Bastardi
    Daily Update
  • Farmers will have to fence off cattle from streams and rivers by 2021 [Ireland]

    09/11/2017 3:17:22 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 23 replies
    BreakingNews.ie ^ | 09/11/2017 09:20:59 | Seán McCárthaigh
    Farmers will have to fence off cattle to prevent them accessing rivers and streams as part of new measures to improve water quality. A review by two government departments of a program to ensure Ireland complies with the EU Nitrates Directive has recommended that farmers on more intensively stocked farms must take measures to prevent contact between cattle and water sources on their land from January 1, 2021. The review of the Nitrates Action program by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government said the deadline would give farmers the chance to plan fencing...
  • Huge pot grow ‘pretty brazen’

    09/08/2017 8:49:57 AM PDT · by kitchen · 54 replies
    The Daily Sentinel ^ | Thursday, September 7, 2017 | Gabrielle Porter
    Well before dawn Thursday, about a dozen local and federal law enforcement agents drove to an abandoned well pad near De Beque, shouldered some 60 pounds of gear each and began a three-mile trek through the chilly dark of the Colorado River banks by way of Union Pacific railroad tracks. Agents with night optics peered down from cliffs on either side of Interstate 70, and three Mesa County Sheriff’s Office boats took to the river as the team made its way to one of two river islands they believed were home to a massive illegal marijuana grow guarded by three...
  • Inspection by Air Quality Mgt (Vanity)

    09/07/2017 2:44:03 PM PDT · by christie · 28 replies
    christie
    I live out in the country on 10 acres (Califonria). We are allowed to burn certain times of the year (with permit). It is not burn season. And it's been over 100 degrees for weeks. No way I've been burning anything. But this morning I got a visit from the Air Quality Management District (in an unmarked truck). He said he received a report that I had been burning on the property. No specifics of when this incident occurred. He left me his card. Just now he called back and said he needed to make an appointment to inspect the...
  • The sand trap: Demand outpaces caution—and knowledge [We're running out of it]

    09/07/2017 11:18:35 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 36 replies
    phys.org ^ | 09-07-2017 | Provided by: Michigan State University
    Sand, spanning miles of beaches, carpeting vast oceans and deserts, is a visual metaphor for limitless resources. Yet researchers in this week's journal Science seize another metaphor - sand in an hourglass, marking time running out. Sand is the literal foundation of urban development across the globe, a key ingredient of concrete, asphalt, glass, and electronics. It is cheap and easily extracted. Scientists in the United States and Germany say that easy access has bred a careless understanding of the true global costs of sand mining and consumption. Sand mining across the world is being linked to coastal erosion, habitat...
  • THE BLOBTerrifying blob creature that looks like a BRAIN discovered in a spooky lake...

    09/01/2017 6:26:28 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 57 replies
    www.thesun.co.uk ^ | Updated: 1st September 2017, 12:39 pm | By Jasper Hamill
    Video shows hideously ugly organism jiggling and pulsating as it's dragged from the water. A DISGUSTING blob creature that looks like a BRAIN has been discovered in a lake called The Lost Lagoon. The horrible beastie is a nasty brown colour and is said to feel squishy but firm to the touch, a bit like jelly. This horrible thing is made up of millions of tiny organisms ===================================================================== Celina Starnes, an ecologist from the Stanley Park Ecology Society, dragged the blob from its watery home This image gives a sense of the size of the horrible creature ====================================================================== Celina Starnes...
  • [Brit] Special Forces hero who led...mission to blow up Saddam Hussein's [comm] network dies [trunc]

    08/29/2017 8:16:21 AM PDT · by huldah1776 · 15 replies
    Mirror ^ | Aug 28, 2017 | Janet Hughes
    <p>Full Title: Special Forces hero who led secret mission to blow up Saddam Hussein's communications network dies from 'human Mad Cow Disease'</p> <p>An ultra-fit Special Forces hero who led a real-life “mission impossible” behind enemy lines has died from the rare human form of Mad Cow Disease.</p>
  • An odd trend in wheat country: not much wheat

    08/27/2017 11:26:38 PM PDT · by Olog-hai · 24 replies
    Associated Press ^ | Aug 28, 2017 1:26 AM EDT | David Pitt
    Many wheat farmers facing low prices have turned this year to other crops, including chickpeas and lentils, in hopes of turning a profit. This year’s wheat crop of 45.7 million acres (18.49 million hectares) is the smallest since 1919 and it comes after a 2016 crop that was the least profitable in 30 years. North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska are among the states with significantly fewer wheat acres. …
  • Rice Farming TV

    08/20/2017 9:35:56 AM PDT · by Auntie Mame · 26 replies
    Rice Farming TV ^ | various | Matthew Sligar
    This is Youtube channel I follow. Thought Freepers might be interested in a third-generation California rice farmer's adventures and to learn about rice farming. "Rice Farming TV aims to promote California grown medium grain rice through educational and dynamic weekly videos. Follow the growing season from planting to harvest. Follow me, Matthew and my adventures as a California Rice Farmer!"
  • Thousands at risk of pig virus from ‘Supermarket X’ sausages (Europe)

    08/19/2017 8:27:12 PM PDT · by Tilted Irish Kilt · 20 replies
    A leading British supermarket may unwittingly have infected thousands of people with a pig virus that causes liver cirrhosis and neurological damage, say researchers at Public Health England. Hepatitis E (HEV) is transmitted by sausages and pork products from Europe, mainly Holland and Germany. UK pigs do not have the virus strain in question. More information at newsite due to copyrite restrictions