Agriculture

Argentina’s crops are in trouble as a third year of La Niña deepens one of the worst droughts in at least four decades. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its most recent supply and demand report downgraded both Argentina’s corn and soybean output in 2022/23 for a third month in a row, subsequently reducing …

Heavy Cuts to Argentina’s Corn and Soybean Crops Complicate the Global Supply Picture Read More »

It was on this day in 1794 that a young 29-year-old Eli Whitney was issued a US Patent (#X0072) for his cotton gin. Whitney was born into a farming family in 1765 in Westboro, Massachusetts. The oldest of five children, he spent much of his young life puttering around his father’s workshop. By age 14, …

How the “Cotton Gin” Forever Changed Agriculture Read More »

One of the buzzy trends in venture capital circles right now is so-called “molecular farming.” The technology has most recently been in the spotlight thanks to the Nasdaq debut of Moolec Science (MLEC), which describes itself as a “pioneer” of molecular farming. In its simplest form, the technology harnesses the production power of plants to …

What is “Molecular Farming”…and Some Companies to Watch Read More »

When it comes to capturing carbon in the atmosphere, few things in this world are more efficient – let alone “green” – than trees. A biotechnology firm called “Living Carbon” believes that supercharging trees to grow faster and store more carbon could be a powerful nature-based solution to reducing CO2 levels. As most likely recall …

Living Carbon’s “Super Trees” Grow Faster, Capture More Carbon, and Earn Money for Landowners Read More »

Brazil is threatening to dethrone the US as the world’s biggest corn supplier with most analysts still predicting a monster crop despite recent weather setbacks. Importantly, soybean harvest has been slow due to rainy conditions, which has delayed planting of the country’s second-season corn crop. This in turn could mean a significant portion of the …

Will Brazil Replace the US as the World’s Biggest Corn Supplier? Read More »

Ukraine is often described as the “breadbasket of Europe” thanks to its high-quality soils and significant agricultural output. The country has close to 104 million acres of agricultural land, of which more than 75% is typically cultivated, making it one of the most highly cultivated countries in the world. Russia’s invasion has inflicted a devastating …

Will Russia’s War in Ukraine Leave a “Toxic Legacy” in the Soil? Read More »

Water shortages in the West are reaching crisis levels in some areas as the Colorado River Basin continues to suffer under the most severe drought in centuries. The so-called “megadrought” over the last 23 years has depleted water supplies in the region’s two largest reservoirs – lakes Mead and Powell – to the point that …

Wild Idea to Pump Mississippi River Water West…What You Need to Know Read More »

It was on this day March 6, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts, that Marjorie Post, the owner of General Foods introduced twenty-seven frozen food items, including steak, lamb, ham sausage, peas, spinach, cherries, raspberries, fish, and oysters under the name “Birds Eye Frosted Foods: A Little Short of Magic.” Post’s sales pitch was this: “Imagine having …

Thinking About How “Frozen Foods” Entered the Marketplace… Interesting for All Read More »

Meati is a new ag company that built a sprawling new factory that can turn tens of millions of pounds of mushroom roots into chicken and steak. The company was started by Tyler Higgins who grew up in rural Montana, and his parents now raise grass-fed bison in Nebraska, so most thought Tyler would have …

NEW ‘Mega Ranch’ Turning Mushroom Roots Into Meat Read More »

Google has officially launched its new agtech business, Mineral, which has spent the last five years in “stealth mode” within the company’s so-called “moonshot factory,” aka Google X. According to Mineral, the company in that time has analyzed over 10% of the Earth’s total farmland, modeled more than 200 plant traits, phenotyped 17 crop varieties, …

Google’s New Ag Business “Mineral” Wants to Help Make Sense of Farm Data Read More »