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Keyword: crops

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  • Japan:Radiation Expert Predicts More Threats(radioactive rice to come?)

    07/02/2011 4:33:39 PM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 3 replies
    WSJ ^ | 07/02/11 | YUKA HAYASHI
    <p>TOKYO—A former nuclear adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan blasted the government's handling of the crisis, and predicted more revelations of radiation threats to the public in the coming months.</p>
  • Crops worth $150 to 200 million perish in Mississippi floods

    05/12/2011 8:26:50 AM PDT · by Qbert · 12 replies
    IBTimes ^ | May 12, 2011 | IB Times Staff Reporter
    Nearly 600 homes have been flooded and thousands evacuated in Rena Lara as waters from the Mississippi river and its tributaries rose to record levels on Tuesday. Officials have assured residents of immediate relief measures and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour puts the loss of crops from the floods at $150 million to $200 million. He said, “The state is asking local officials to get in touch with people who might have no electricity and phones and thus no way to get word of the flooding.” [Snip] The record levels of water in the Mississippi River since the 1920s and 1930s...
  • BE FOREWARNED : Mexico loses 80-100% of crops to freeze, US prices to skyrocket

    02/18/2011 8:30:20 PM PST · by Robert Drobot · 73 replies
    Digital Journal ^ | A.D. 11 February 2011 | Lynn Herrmann
    According to Sysco’s notice sent out this week: “The early reports are still coming in but most are showing losses of crops in the range of 80 to 100%. Even shade house product was hit by the extremely cold temps. It will take 7-10 days to have a clearer picture from growers and field supervisors, but these growing regions haven’t had cold like this in over half a century.” At this time of year, Mexico is a major supplier to the US and Canada for green beans, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, asparagus, peppers and round and Roma tomatoes. Compounding the problem...
  • Making Hay (The Supreme Court will decide if genetically modified crops "contaminate" nature)

    06/14/2010 6:46:14 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 10 replies · 319+ views
    National Review ^ | 06/13/2010 | Jon Entine
    This month, the Supreme Court will rule on its first-ever case involving genetically modified (GM) crops. It also prepares to welcome a new member who, as solicitor general, intervened on behalf of the controversial technology, angering many liberals. The case revolves around alfalfa hay — a nutritious, easily digestible livestock feed that at $8 billion a year is the country’s fourth-most-valuable crop — and specifically, GM alfalfa seeds produced by the company Monsanto. These seeds, as part of the company’s Roundup Ready line, are genetically modified to tolerate glyphosate, an herbicide that is commercially known as Roundup. When farmers use...
  • Mystery Crop Damage Threatens Hundreds Of Acres

    06/02/2010 7:02:32 AM PDT · by CloudsofFlight · 30 replies · 1,148+ views
    wreg.com ^ | 6-1-10 | Shaun Chaiyabhat
    (Memphis 6/1/2010) A mystery is unfolding across MidSouth farms. Something is killing crops, trees, even weeds and nobody can explain why. Farmers are scratching their heads and some are worried their crops may be lost to the mysterious plague. It's happening along a large swath of land near the Shelby and Tipton county border along Herring Hill Road and elsewhere near the Mississippi River bottoms. Tiny dots appear to have burned onto leaves of all types of plants, and they appear different depending on the plant. On corn stalks, the dots seem to turn white in the center. On other...
  • Area farmers ponder 'plant B' after once-in-lifetime flood(TENN FLOOD keeps on giving)

    05/20/2010 7:04:16 AM PDT · by GailA · 23 replies · 731+ views
    The Commercial Appeal ^ | 5/20/10 | Toby Sells
    While May's flood waters are receding into memory for most Memphians, they remain a stark reality for many West Tennessee farmers. These growers still have fields under water or too wet to plant, planted acres wiped clean of seed, fertilizer and topsoil, and still-broken equipment and supply lines on their property. Many are taking a wait-and-see approach to what they will plant as their prior expectations were washed away by what some call a once-in-a-lifetime weather event. A cotton plant that wasn't washed away pokes out of debris left by flooding in one of Moody's fields. When the water recedes,...
  • Jim Rogers: Brace Yourself For Food Shortages, Thanks To The Banks Hoarding Cash

    01/15/2010 9:21:42 AM PST · by FromLori · 71 replies · 3,189+ views
    The Business Insider ^ | 1/15/10 | Vincent Fernando
    Jim Rogers is sounding the alarm -- buy agricultural commodities ahead of the riots. The financial crisis has cut off investment in agriculture, with many farmers unable to get loans for fertilizer according to Mr. Rogers. Of course, this means agricultural commodities will make a killing: CNBC: "Sometimes in the next few years we're going to have very serious shortages of food everywhere in the world and prices are going to go through the roof." Cotton and coffee are good buys because they are very distressed, while sugar, despite the fact that it has gone up a lot, is still...
  • Question about Texas

    12/26/2009 6:33:27 PM PST · by DGHoodini · 83 replies · 2,543+ views
    TV program prop anomaly | 12/26/09 | DGHoodini
    Just a quick question, that I am pretty sure I already know the answer to, but have a nagging doubt about: Was cotton ever a cash crop in Texas? I keep thinking 'No', but as I said, I'm getting a little voice in my head saying:"it might'a been...". Anyone know the answer?
  • Crops Headed For A Tough Harvest

    11/05/2009 6:19:50 AM PST · by blam · 46 replies · 1,217+ views
    Seeking Alpha ^ | 11-03-2009 | Jim Delaney
    Crops Headed For A Tough Harvest by: Jim Delaney November 03, 2009 Although it appears the prospects for the producers of porcine products have prettied, yes, lipstick included, that cannot be said for all of the ‘ole MacDonald’s in the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported recently that due to a late planting season and a cooler and wetter fall than normal, only 20% of the corn crop is out of the fields vs. an average of 58% during the years of 2004-2008. “It’s getting scarier. The longer we go, the more mold keeps growing and the more ears...
  • Politicians are as stubborn as a Missouri mule.

    09/18/2009 10:33:19 AM PDT · by pansgold · 7 replies · 1,244+ views
    9/18/2009 | pansgold
    A farmer in Missouri used a mule to plow his garden every spring. This spring the mule just stopped plowing and stood there defiantly. The farmer begged the mule, asked the mule even pleaded and finally demanded the mule get back to work. In frustration, the farmer called his father and asked for his help. Twenty minutes later his father drives up. When he got out of his pickup truck he retrieved a 3 foot 2x4 from the truck box and walked over to the mule. First he whispered something into the mules ear but the mule didn’t budge. All...
  • Farmers sell wives after crops fail

    09/08/2009 9:58:33 PM PDT · by Nachum · 13 replies · 925+ views
    Irish Examiner ^ | 9/8/09 | Dielle D’Souza
    FARMERS in north India are selling their wives to survive, it has been revealed. Left without money due to failing crops, farmers in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, have reportedly sold their wives to money lenders for 4,000-12,000 rupees (€55-€170). The more beautiful the woman, the higher the price, it was claimed. The deals are allegedly being settled on a legal stamp paper under the heading Vivaha Anubandh (marriage contract). Most of the women are illiterate and cannot read the "contract".
  • Crop report reflects abundant crop, meaning lower market prices

    08/17/2009 7:05:05 AM PDT · by Military family member · 17 replies · 826+ views
    The Journal of Business ^ | August 16, 2009 | Julie Douglas
    WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue agricultural economist and state agricultural officials at the Indiana State Fair on Wednesday (Aug. 12) were surprised at the abundant 2009 crop projected by a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, especially given the difficult time farmers throughout the Eastern Corn Belt had getting their crops planted this spring. The USDA's Crop Production Report has U.S. corn production at 12.8 billion bushels, up 5 percent from 2008. Soybean production is estimated at 3.2 billion bushels, up 8 percent from this past year, while wheat production is estimated at 2.18 billion bushels, 3 percent higher. Indiana...
  • 'Serious threat' from bee disease (BBC disease spreads elsewhere)

    08/03/2009 9:26:02 AM PDT · by combat_boots · 1 replies · 479+ views
    BBC ^ | July 31, 2009 | UNKNOWN
    Beekeepers in Scotland have warned of a serious threat to the industry after a deadly disease was discovered. At least four hives and three apiaries in Perthshire have been found to be infected with American Foulbrood (AFB). The honeybee disease was discovered while investigating cases of European Foulbrood (EFB) in the area. Colonies infected with EFB can be saved if the case is not serious. However, those with AFB cannot be treated with antibiotics and have to be destroyed. Foulbrood is caused by a bacterium which gets inside bee larvae and uses up their food supply, starving them to death....
  • HR 2749: Food Safety’s Scorched Earth Policy

    07/23/2009 5:11:36 AM PDT · by FromLori · 69 replies · 2,423+ views
    Farm Wars ^ | 7/22/09
    HR 2749 is being rushed through Congress, and the house may look to suspend the rules and fast track the bill at Obama’s request. Just what can we expect from this legislation? A lot more of the following: 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, because his big customers demand sterile buffers around his crops. No vegetation. No water. No wildlife of any kind. “I was...
  • Pest-infested fence shipment stopped in Seattle

    05/12/2009 2:14:01 AM PDT · by Cindy · 22 replies · 1,318+ views
    KING 5.com ^ | May 5, 2009, 7:46 pm PDT | Gary Chittim
    Note: Video included. # SEATTLE – The U.S. Customs and Border agents have detained 11 shipments of reed fencing from China that were so infested with plant pests and diseases, it could have killed crops.
  • Future world wheat crops threatened by Ug99 stem rust

    04/02/2009 1:38:21 PM PDT · by Squidpup · 23 replies · 1,743+ views
    Ag Weekly ^ | March 31, 2009 | DALE HILDEBRANT
    NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A virulent strain of wheat stem rust, Ug99, that sprung up in Africa in 1999 has now spread into Iran and threatens to spread into other wheat producing regions of Asia and eventually the entire world. That was the warning Dr. Jim Peterson, wheat breeder at Oregon State University and chair of the National Wheat Improvement Committee (NWIC), re-ported to the NAWG Research and Tech-nology Committee during the Commodity Classic in Nashville. Ug99 is a race of stem rust that blocks the vascular tissues in cereal grains including wheat, oats and barley. Unlike leaf or stripe rusts...
  • USDA report says climate change affecting crops, livestock

    05/28/2008 7:29:29 AM PDT · by PeaRidge · 32 replies · 193+ views
    The Chicago Tribune ^ | 5/28/08 | Judith Kohler
    USDA report says climate change affecting crops, livestock By JUDITH KOHLER | Associated Press Writer 12:06 AM CDT, May 28, 2008 Article tools DENVER - Climate change is increasing the risk of U.S. crop failures, depleting the nation's water resources and contributing to outbreaks of invasive species and insects, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Tuesday. Those and other problems for the U.S. livestock and forestry industries will persist for at least the next 25 years, said the report compiled by 38 scientists
  • Andean Crops Cultivated Almost 10,000 Years Ago

    01/17/2008 3:55:35 PM PST · by blam · 22 replies · 83+ views
    Discover Magazine ^ | 1-15-2008 | Michael Abrams
    Andean Crops Cultivated Almost 10,000 Years Ago by Michael Abrams Archaeologists have long thought that people in the Old World were planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting for a good 5,000 years before anyone in the New World did such things. But fresh evidence, in the form of Peruvian squash seeds, indicates that farming in the New and Old Worlds was nearly concurrent. In a paper the journal Science published last June, Tom Dillehay, an anthropological archaeologist at Vanderbilt University, revealed that the squash seeds he found in the ruins of what may have been ancient storage bins on the lower...
  • Crops That Shut Down Pests' Genes

    11/06/2007 8:33:55 AM PST · by BGHater · 9 replies · 69+ views
    Technology Review ^ | 05 Nov 2007 | Katherine Bourzac
    Monsanto is developing genetically modified plants that use RNA interference to kill the insects that eat them. Researchers have created plants that kill insects by disrupting their gene expression. The crops, which initiate a gene-silencing response called RNA interference, are a step beyond existing genetically modified crops that produce toxic proteins. Because the new crops target particular genes in particular insects, some researchers suggest that they will be safer and less likely to have unintended effects than other genetically modified plants. Others warn that it is too early to make such predictions and that the plants should be carefully tested...
  • Texas bats prevent millions in crop damage

    06/30/2007 5:11:14 AM PDT · by Dysart · 19 replies · 1,024+ views
    Star-Telegram ^ | 6-30-07 | BILL HANNA
    MASON -- Several hours before dusk, the Mexican free-tailed bats begin stirring inside the Eckert James River Cave outside of Mason.As dusk approaches, the bats explode from the cave's mouth, creating a tornado-like vortex that allows the colony to soar higher and higher in the night sky.During the last decade, scientists have learned these nightly feedings offer far greater benefits than providing entertainment for tourists.Scientists gathered at the cave about 100 miles northwest of Austin are heralding them as nature's pesticide.The research shows that some of the bats' favorite delicacies are insects like the corn earworm (also known as the...