Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: agriculture

agriculture stories: 85 news summaries

1 - 20 of 85 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

 'Hobby Farms' Cropping Up 

USDA says small farms are becoming more popular even as large farms grow

Oct 5, 09 12:18 PM CDT
(AP) - Most evenings, Gary Mithoefer can be found at the end of a long gravel driveway off a busy highway, tending two garden plots filled with white sweet potatoes, squash, cabbages, and a dozen other vegetables still thriving in early fall. The 62-year-old, who gardens after his workday ends at his... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • farming • farms • USDA • farmer • farm • sustainability • farmers • organic farming

One Serving of Cotton, Please; Hold the Poison

Genetic engineering unlocks protein that could feed millions

Sep 7, 09 3:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have developed a novel genetic engineering technique that makes the protein-rich seeds of the cotton plant easily edible, Time reports. The entire plant, including the seeds, produces a toxic chemical called gossypol that protects it from insects and microbes. “People, pigs, chickens—none of us can stomach... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • agriculture • protein • infestation • genetic engineering • Texas A&M • cotton • Norman Borlaug • gossypol

OPINION

 Modern Farming Has 
 Lost Its Soul 

Family farms have a magic all their own—and can compete

Aug 23, 09 10:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - We know today’s food industry cranks out “unhealthy food, mishandles waste, and overuses antibiotics,” writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times, but the heart of the matter is that today’s industrial farms have “no soul.” In a visit back to his old stomping... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • farming • farm • food industry • Nicholas Kristof • factory farm

(Newser) - With Texas caught in the midst of a brutal drought, a new crime is on the rise: hay rustling. Hay has been disappearing from farms, depriving cattle of much-needed nourishment, the Wall Street Journal reports. Stolen hay reports remain sporadic—the Journal catches up with one farmer who lost... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • Texas • farming • drought • theft • hay

(Newser) - Matchmaking just might save the family farm, the AP reports. States such as Iowa, Virginia, and Washington have started programs pairing would-be farmers with those aiming to retire, in the hopes of beefing up independent agriculture and keeping rural areas populated. "I thought I may never get a chance... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • Iowa • farming • farmers

(Newser) - Organic food has no health benefits compared to ordinary food, according to a report commissioned by the UK’s Food Standards Agency. Reseachers looked at 55 studies on the subject from the past 50 years, and concluded that the differences, where they existed, weren’t particularly significant from a public-health... More »

MORE ABOUT:
nutrition • agriculture • organic food • United Kingdom • study

glossies

 Calif. Strawberries 
 May Turn Toxic 


Jul 17, 09 8:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - California appears close to producing strawberries that induce side-effects such as neurological damage and fetal loss, Gourmet reports. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is under industry pressure to approve a fumigant called methyl iodide, which rids soil of all living organisms without hurting the ozone layer. But a group of 50 scientists... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • agriculture • California • Arnold Schwarzenegger • toxic chemicals • hazardous chemicals

(Newser) - Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden had its first big harvest recently, and so far, it’s the most tangible food policy move the Obama administration has delivered, Salon reports. President Obama came to office promising real reform that so far hasn’t materialized. The more patient  in the progressive food... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • agriculture • Michelle Obama • White House • gardening

Obama Clashes With Rural Democrats

Environmental rules,
car dealerships among sticking points

Jun 17, 09 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Democrats from rural areas aren’t pleased with President Obama, and they’re threatening to show it by revolting against key parts of his domestic agenda, Politico reports. The tension boiled to the surface last week when rural and moderate Democrats decried plans to close 3,400 General Motors and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • agriculture • Democrats • Environmental Protection Agency • congressional Democrats • House Democrats • rural America • Obama administration • President Obama • Dennis Cardoza

(Newser) - Feeding cows parts of corn plants that farmers currently discard could eventually lead to American energy independence, Wired reports. An ammonia treatment applied to corn “stover” could make it palatable to cattle, freeing up more land for the production of ethanol, a Michigan State researcher says. That could,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
environment • agriculture • ethanol • livestock • biofuel • cows • fossil fuel • petroleum

(Newser) - For growers and gardeners of all kinds, Smart Grow mats could be revolutionary. Tucked around the stems of plants, the cheap, natural mats keep weeds and pests away as they spur growth. There’s just one thing holding them back: They’re made from human hair. “No matter what... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Florida • agriculture • hair • plants • gardening • Smart Grow • Blair Blacker

OPINION

Old Days—Good and Bad—Are Back: Noonan

In slump, simple pleasures are chic as traditional values gain

Apr 17, 09 10:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Reading about a Michigan family that shed modern excess in favor of a self-sufficient farm life didn't strike Peggy Noonan as shocking in these economic times. Her fellow New Yorkers have already begun responding to the same forces, causing Noonan to predict the rise of "a certain authenticity chic,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • retail • fashion • sustainable living • New York City • shopping • farming • recession • Botox • retail sales • economy

 Jobless Japanese 
 Work the Land 

$10M government program trains new agricultural force

Apr 15, 09 11:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - As their country struggles with its worst recession since World War II, many Japanese city slickers stymied by the job market are trying out the farming life, the Wall Street Journal reports. Aiming to rejuvenate an industry in which two-thirds of full-time workers are 65 and older, the government has... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • farming • Japan • recession • unemployment • financial crisis • job training

OPINION

 'Better' Pork Carries 
 Big Health Risks  

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

Apr 10, 09 9:33 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • parasites • farming • salmonella • pig • farm • pork • locavore • toxoplasmosis • trichinosis • free range

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s attempt to slash farm subsidies seems to have died on the vine, the New York Times reports. The $9.7 billion in cuts Obama included in his budget outline were conspicuously absent from the outlines the House and Senate approved Thursday, squashed by farm state lawmakers.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • agriculture • budget • subsidies • Kent Conrad • Obama administration • farm subsidies

(Newser) - Neil Young puts down his guitar and picks up his pen today on behalf of family farmers. In an essay in the Boston Globe, Young argues that tight credit, declining prices, natural disasters, and the overall economic gloom has many of them on the brink. The situation is as dire... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • singer • Neil Young • bailout • farmers

(Newser) - In his address to Congress, President Obama made it clear certain industries are in his crosshairs, from agribusiness to defense to health care. But those industries aren’t taking it lying down, the Wall Street Journal reports. They’re spending big on lobbyists, hoping to derail—or at least reshape—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • agriculture • Boeing • health care industry • lobbying • lobbyists • defense spending • utilities • Obama administration • President Obama

Warming Will Wipe Out Calif. Agriculture: Energy Sec.

Top US producer faces disaster without swift action on climate change

Feb 4, 09 11:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees dire effects of global warming, particularly on his home state of California, he tells the Los Angeles Times. Some 90% of the snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, a vital storehouse for water used in farming and cultivation, could disappear, he said. “We’re... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • agriculture • California • global warming • water • James Inhofe • Sierra Nevada • Obama administration • Steven Chu

OPINION

Want to Save
the Planet?
Stop Dumping
on Frankenfood

Genetically modified products fight pollution

Jan 28, 09 11:22 AM CST
(Newser) - It's time for greenies to take another look at the frankenfoods they've been campaigning against. Consider the enviropig. It’s a pig with an extra gene that means less phosphorous in manure runoff, and it’s just one example of how genetic modification in agriculture can be good for the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • genetically modified crops • sustainability • environmentalists

OPINION

 Use Stimulus to 
 Invest in Food Reform 

Fixing food will save health and environment

Jan 12, 09 5:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Just because Barack Obama has a lot of issues to deal with once he's sworn in, he shouldn't leave food reform off the table. Putting a bulk of the stimulus package toward local and regional food systems will cut costs and bring us back from the edge, Tom Philpott, founder... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • Barack Obama • agriculture • economic stimulus package • farmers markets • economy • farmers • President Obama

1 - 20 of 85 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>


from our news partners