farm – News Stories About farm - Page 2

Jun 5, 2009 9:26 AM CDT

Dairy Teams Seek Greener Cow Burps

Methane production drops after farms adopt new feed

(Newser) - Cow belches have been called a bigger environmental threat than cars and trucks—and now dairy groups are taking steps to keep dangerous burps to a minimum, the New York Times reports. One Vermont farmer has seen his cows’ methane emissions drop 18% after boosting the alfalfa and flaxseed in...

Mini-Cows Help Ranchers Buck Rising Costs

May 23, 2009 4:59 PM CDT

Mini-Cows Help Ranchers Buck Rising Costs

Smaller cattle cheaper to raise but still deliver good meat

(Newser) - Facing higher feed costs, ranchers aren’t having a cow—they’re merely downsizing them, the Los Angeles Times reports. Mini-cows have become the latest trend on farms around the country, because many eat less and are easier to handle, but produce 50% to 75% the rib-eyes and fillets of...

'Better' Pork Carries
Big Health Risks

OPINION

Apr 10, 2009 9:33 AM CDT

'Better' Pork Carries Big Health Risks

Free-range pork may relieve your guilt, but bother your tummy

(Newser) - Free-range pork sounds better for everyone involved, especially the pig. But exposure to the outdoors means exposure to dangerous pathogens, from salmonella to toxoplasmosis to the deadly parasite trichinosis, writes James McWilliams for the New York Times. "Free range is like piggy day care, a thoughtfully arranged system designed...

Hoe-town:
10K-Acre Farm
Eyed for Detroit

Apr 7, 2009 5:40 AM CDT

Hoe-town: 10K-Acre Farm Eyed for Detroit

Michigan investors seek to turn deserted streets into cropland

(Newser) - Motor City could turn into Maize City if a Michigan investment group has its way and turns 10,000 acres of largely deserted streets into farm plots, reports BusinessGreen. Hanz Group hopes eventually to acquire almost 10% of Detroit's 143 square miles for development into cropland, Christmas tree and lumber...

Obamas Urged to Turn the White House Green

Jan 17, 2009 9:22 AM CST

Obamas Urged to Turn the White House Green

Advocates push for new first family to take up organic farming

(Newser) - Advocates for all kinds of green causes are hoping to find newly fertile ground for their ideas at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Wall Street Journal reports. Several groups are pushing for the president-elect to lead by example and plant an organic garden on the White House's ample grounds. Others urge...

Pigs Savaged
in PETA Farm Video

Sep 17, 2008 7:59 AM CDT

Pigs Savaged in PETA Farm Video

Undercover film shows workers beating sows, slamming piglets to ground

(Newser) - Undercover investigators for the anti-cruelty organization PETA have filmed shocking cruelty to pigs at an Iowa farm, AP reports. Pigs are seen being beaten with metal rods while a supervisor brags of jamming rods in sows' anuses. Unhealthy piglets are slammed against the floor and left to die writhing in...

Plains States See Boom,
But Await Bust

Aug 20, 2008 2:33 PM CDT

Plains States See Boom, But Await Bust

Strong farming economy highlights nationwide differences

(Newser) - Driven by rising food prices and farmers’ access to loans, the Plains states are a bright economic spot amid the nationwide slump, the Washington Post reports. Farm country was able to avoid the housing bust because it also avoided the boom. And retail space is filling up as consumer spending...

Midwest Awaits
Bumper Corn Crop

Aug 13, 2008 8:19 AM CDT

Midwest Awaits Bumper Corn Crop

Ideal growing weather wipes out flood fears

(Newser) - America's farmers are on track to deliver the second-biggest corn harvest ever despite June floods, according to the Department of Agriculture. Shortages were predicted after severe flooding swamped fields, but the Midwest has had ideal corn-growing weather since, the New York Times reports. A healthy soybean crop is also expected.

Farm Boy Mulls What's Good for Goose, Gander

OPINION

Jul 31, 2008 9:21 AM CDT

Farm Boy Mulls What's Good for Goose, Gander

As California considers cage ban, Kristof looks at animal rights

(Newser) - Californians go to the polls in November with a high-profile ballot initiative to decide: whether to ban factory farms from raising livestock in small cages. For Nicholas D. Kristof, it's an apt moment to consider our transforming attitudes toward animal welfare. The Oregon farm boy turned New York Times columnist...

Corn Prices Leave
Catfish Farmers Gasping

Jul 18, 2008 2:14 AM CDT

Corn Prices Leave Catfish Farmers Gasping

Southern farmers abandon fish biz as feed prices triple

(Newser) - The soaring price of corn and soybeans is moving up the food chain and drying up the South's catfish farming industry, reports the New York Times. Farmers are draining their ponds as the cost of feeding the fish becomes prohibitive. In the Mississippi Delta, heartland of the relatively new industry,...

Forget the Farmers Market: Buy the Farm

Jul 10, 2008 3:45 AM CDT

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...

Grain Prices Surge
With Midwest Floods

Jun 14, 2008 9:45 AM CDT

Grain Prices Surge With Midwest Floods

Water inundating heartland expected to drive food, oil prices still higher

(Newser) - The floods inundating the Midwest are pushing grain prices to new highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Corn prices jumped 10% to a record high last week as farmland flooded. The domino effects will hit the ethanol industry, hog farmers, and even owners of catfish ponds who rely on corn...

Diesel Thieves Plague Farmers

Jun 6, 2008 2:33 PM CDT

Diesel Thieves Plague Farmers

Irrigation systems are also caches of diesel fuel

(Newser) - With oil prices stuck in triple digits, any form of gas is becoming precious booty for thieves, CNN reports. The latest targets: farmers running diesel-fueled irrigation pumps. Fuel tanks, often sitting unguarded in fields, can be a quick score of around 250 gallons in the middle of the night. In...

'Big Dry' Killing Aussie Farms

May 2, 2008 8:33 AM CDT

'Big Dry' Killing Aussie Farms

Wheat exports critically low as farmers flee parched land

(Newser) - The worst drought in a century has forced a tenth of Australian farmers off the land, reports the BBC. The "Big Dry" has led to parched farmland across the nation over the last seven years, accelerating the exodus from rural areas. The number of farming families in Australia has...

Case of Bluetongue Has UK Farmers on High Alert

Sep 23, 2007 9:26 AM CDT

Case of Bluetongue Has UK Farmers on High Alert

One more 'body blow' to the industry

(Newser) - The discovery of bluetongue—an insect-borne illness that has killed livestock throughout Europe—in a cow on a rare breed farm in Britain yesterday was devastating news to a cattle industry already staggering from waves of foot-and-mouth outbreaks.Tests are underway to determine if England's first case had spread to...