The Van Trump Report

Month: August 2021

Fatherless College Dropout Turns Farm Debt into Fertilizer Dynasty

Sir John Bennet Lawes, an English agronomist and founder of the artificial fertilizer industry died this day in 1900, but not before he would forever change how we grow our crops. Lawes found himself fatherless at the age of 8 and the responsibility of the 250-acre family farm left in the hands of just himself …

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Spotted Lanternfly Moving Across Country… What You Need to be Looking For

State agriculture departments across the country are urging people to show no mercy if they encounter a spotted lanternfly. The invasive species sucks the life from trees and crops while leaving behind a nasty residue that encourages the growth of sooty mold. Native to China, India, and Vietnam, the spotted lanternfly was first detected in …

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What You Might Not Know About NASA’s Landsat Project and Agriculture

NASA’s Landsat program has been responsible for some amazing imagery of our tiny little planet along with an unparalleled data archive. It is the longest-running continuous space-based record of Earth in existence. For over 40 years, the Landsat program has collected spectral information from Earth’s surface, creating a historical archive unmatched in quality, detail, coverage, …

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Farm Tech Attracting More Attention From Venture Capital

Venture capital has been funneling a lot of money into the agriculture and food technology space, thanks in part to the pandemic which highlighted existing fragilities in the global food supply chain. Some of the biggest fundraising buzz has centered around alternative proteins but the number shows that “farm tech”, aka technologies for farmers, is …

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Global Canola Market Faces Serious Supply Deficit

Canola markets face serious supply issues ahead with the crop in Canada taking a devastating hit from this year’s drought. Coupled with lowered output in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, production increases elsewhere won’t be enough to offset the losses. Canada’s production hit is particularly significant for the global export market, as the country accounts for about …

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NEW Company Has Learned to Snatch Nitrogen Out the Air for Plant Use

A major component of modern agriculture is synthetic fertilizers, which have largely contributed to the huge improvements in crop yields over the last several decades. However, these products come at a cost. Nitrogenous fertilizer production accounts for approximately 2% of global energy consumption and can have significant negative long-term impacts on soil health and plant …

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