Agriculture

American farmers have limited options when it comes to filling their labor needs. For many, the government’s H-2A visa program, which permits US farms to hire foreign seasonal workers, is a much-needed resource. However, the program is famously hard to navigate, with complicated rules and mountains of paperwork that just add to farmers’ already heavy …

“SESO” Aims to Solve the Farm Labor Shortage by Automating the Process Read More »

Dubbed the ‘King of the French Fry’ Harrison McCain was a straight-talking son of a potato farmer, who along with his brother Wallace, would create a global commodity and a calling card of American culture, the frozen “French Fry”.  Until Harrison came along the potatoes grown on land near his home had always been baked …

Son of Potato Farmer Takes the French Fry Global… and Becomes Billionaire!  Read More »

As agriculture continues to come under fire for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (UMN) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have demonstrated that it’s possible to provide accurate predictions of those emissions. The study’s authors say the findings are a critical first step in developing a credible …

New AI-Powered Technique Can Accurately Estimate GHG Emission in Ag  Read More »

Spring is the start of auction season around our house. Michelle loves looking for auctions to attend and making road trip vacations out of the efforts. I need to admit, I like chasing the auctions as well. In fact, Michelle regularly finds not only the ones she likes but also the ones she knows I …

Time to Freshen Up Your Auction Bidding Strategy Read More »

Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital recently performed a life-saving transplant on a 62-year-old man using a genetically edited pig kidney developed by biotech startup “eGenesis.” While it’s not the first attempt to use organs from pigs in humans, it is the first pig kidney transplanted into a living human. Surgeons say that many unknowns remain …

World’s First Successful Transplant of Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Into 62-Year Old Man Read More »

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently issued a landmark decision that clears the way for “drone-swarm” farming. Hylio, a Texas-based drone manufacturer, successfully applied for an exemption from the FAA to allow fleets of drones weighing 55 pounds or more to fly together.Meaning farmers can now use fleets of drones that in some cases …

US Agriculture Just Got the Greenlight for “Drone-Swarm” Farming Read More »

Tweaking the chemical composition of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere to slow global warming is an idea that most scientists have resisted due to concerns about the unintended consequences. Nonetheless, more researchers and governments are seriously considering possible applications as they seek ways to mitigate increasing weather disasters and other symptoms of a warming planet.   …

Scientists and Policymakers are Warming Up to Geoengineering Read More »

Mexico is among the three largest pork importers in the world, relying on imports to meet nearly 50% of the country’s demand. Close to 90% of Mexico’s pork imports come from the US. Mexico’s imports of US pork set records for both volume (1.1 million mt, up +14%) and value ($2.35 billion, up +15%) in …

Do You Know What Country Imports the Most US Pork? Read More »

A lot of questions, as well as alarms, are being raised as the ag world digests news that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), aka “bird flu,” is responsible for a mysterious illness afflicting dairy cows. According to the USDA, officials suspect the illness among primarily older dairy cows in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico. Officials …

As Dairy Cattle Fall Victim, Stakes are Rising in the Fight Against Avian Influenza Read More »

As farmers are well aware, ag commodity prices have plunged from the peak levels reached in 2022. Unfortunately, new projections University of Missouri’s Food and Ag Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) indicate that the downward slide may continue though 2024 and possibly beyond. FAPRI’s recently released baseline projections for agricultural and biofuel markets shows lower commodity …

FAPRI Projects Lower Prices, Tight Margins for 2024 Read More »