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Livestock producers all across the US are dealing with a serious shortage of large and food animal veterinarians. According to the USDA, in 2023, the shortage or rural veterinarians has reached an all-time high, with 500 counties in 46 states deemed as having a critical shortage of large animal vets. The shortfall poses risks to …

America’s Large Animal Veterinarian Shortage is Barreling Toward Crisis Levels Read More »

It was this week back in 1785 that a Baptist teacher and preacher named Elijah Craig founded a distillery in Kentucky using corn to make whiskey. Craig has sometimes been claimed to have been the first to age the whiskey in charred oak casks, “a process that gives the bourbon its brownish color and unique …

CORN… The Magic Behind Bourbon Whiskey!  Read More »

Bird flu, aka highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), is making an appearance already this fall with several cases now confirmed on several Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. The risks of the disease are heightened now as migratory birds make their way south, a danger that will likely repeat in the spring when they head back north. The …

Bird Flu Season Has Arrived… What You Need to Know Read More »

It was on this day back in 1952 that Clarence Birdseye marketed his first frozen peas to the public consumer. During the summer after his freshman year of college Birdseye worked for the USDA in New Mexico and Arizona as an “assistant naturalist”, at a time when the agency was concerned with helping farmers and …

How a Former USDA Worker Made Millions! Read More »

Along with a kaleidoscope of changing leaf colors, acorns are a staple of fall across the United States. The strange little nut is actually the fruit of an oak tree and is sometimes referred to as an oaknut. While they can be found in abundance all across the country, they oddly enough play little to …

Did You Know People Used to Regularly Eat Acorns? Read More »

Over the next 30 years, the regions suitable for growing coffee are expected to decline by some 50%, according to some climate models. The decline is primarily the result of an expected increase in annual temperatures in key coffee-producing countries like Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Colombia. The world could be spared a future in which …

With The Future of Coffee Production in Question… Here comes “Beanless Coffee” Read More »

An interesting story about “Wonder Bread” was on CNBC a while back that talked about how the brand has survived the precipitous decline in white bread popularity. According to the article, in the first half of the 20th century, white bread accounted for as much as 30% of the American diet. But since around 2006, …

After More Than a Century, “Wonder Bread” Remains One of America’s Most Enduring Brands Read More »

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) have developed a new “smart” farming system that aims to solve a key problem in modern agriculture – the overuse of fertilizers. In tests, the system had the ability to match or increase crop yields over traditional methods while also minimizing environmental impacts. The system uses …

Researchers Develop System to Capture and Reuse Nitrate Waste Read More »

Tyson Foods is expanding into the insect protein market with a dual investment in startup “Protix.” Tyson will take a minority stake in Protix, a Netherlands-based insect ingredients maker. The two companies will also partner on a new U.S. facility that will “upcycle” byproducts from the food industry into insect proteins and lipids for use …

Tyson is the Latest Ag Giant to Dive Into Insect Proteins Read More »

Freight Farms is a Boston-based agriculture technology company and was the first to manufacture and sell “container farms”: hydroponic farming systems retrofitted inside intermodal freight containers. I’ve heard of some larger row-crop producers adding these container units to their farms to create additional revenue streams, so perhaps it might be something to think about or …

What the Heck is “Freight Farms”? Read More »