farming

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Gene Discovery Holds Hope for Drought-Safe Crops

Scientists make botanical breakthrough

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a gene that controls how plants absorb carbon dioxide and release moisture in a breakthrough discovery that could help develop drought-resistant crops, reports the BBC. The gene that regulates the work of stomata, or pores on plant leaves, has been sought by biologists for decades. The gene...

Climate Change May Trigger Crop Failures

Major food shortages predicted for Africa, Asia by 2030

(Newser) - Climate change could cause severe food shortages in South Asia and southern Africa, two of the poorest regions in the world, by 2030, National Geographic reports. "We were surprised by how much, and how soon, these regions could suffer if we don't adapt," said one of the study's...

Fish Farming Wiping Out Wild Salmon
Fish Farming
Wiping Out
Wild Salmon
Dec 13, 2007 11:01 PM CST

Fish Farming Wiping Out Wild Salmon

Sea lice could doom some species to extinction, study says

(Newser) - Fish farming could drive some species of wild salmon to extinction, a new study says. Canadian researchers found a direct connection between the growth of such farms in British Columbia and a sharp drop in wild salmon nearby, the Washington Post reports. They attribute the problem to deadly sea lice...

Noah's Flood Transformed Agriculture
Noah's Flood Transformed Agriculture
Nov 19, 2007 10:33 AM CST

Noah's Flood Transformed Agriculture

Melting glaciers inundated Black Sea, scattered farmers

(Newser) - The real-life inspiration for the biblical flood may have been responsible for the widespread adoption of agriculture in Europe, according to a new study. About 8,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, ice sheets melted, causing massive flooding in the Black Sea basin. That forced...

10 Jobs Not Long for This World
10 Jobs Not Long for This World
Oct 23, 2007 9:54 AM CDT

10 Jobs Not Long for This World

Failing industries, new technology and outsourcing are killing these careers

(Newser) - Getting a job is hard enough—you don't want one that won't be around in five or 10 years. Forbes pulls out its crystal ball to see which jobs are not long for this world:
  1. News analysts, reporters, and correspondents
  2. Economists
  3. Radio announcers
  4. Travel agents

Rules Eased for Farm Workers
Rules Eased for Farm Workers
Oct 7, 2007 6:43 PM CDT

Rules Eased for Farm Workers

US quietly reforms temporary farm worker system

(Newser) - Faced with the prospect of crops rotting in the fields for want of hands to pick them, the Bush administration is quietly easing immigration regulations on farmworkers, the Los Angeles Times reports. Farmers have been caught between the recent crackdown on illegal aliens crossing the border from Mexico and the...

Rodent Attacks Demolish Spanish Crops

As 750M voles enjoy the all-day buffet, farmers resort to their wits

(Newser) - As many as 750 million voles have descended on farmland in central Spain, and with government response slow, farmers are taking matters into their own hands. The reason the number of rodents has exploded over the past few months is unclear, the Christian Science Monitor reports, but a likely explanation...

Deserts Eat Up China's Usable Land
Deserts Eat
Up China's Usable Land
Aug 16, 2007 5:03 PM CDT

Deserts Eat Up China's Usable Land

In arid provinces, farms and families feel pinch of policy gone awry

(Newser) - With China's deserts spreading another 950 square miles each year, the government is evicting families and replanting farms to stem the tide, the Christian Science Monitor reports from Gansu province. With 20% of the world's population but 7% of its arable land, China's decades-old problem has worsened due to overfarming,...

Consumers Scramble for Cage-Free Eggs

'Happy' hens can't lay them fast enough to meet demand

(Newser) - The hottest new trend to hit the food industry is the cage-free egg, laid by ostensibly happier chickens allowed the run of large barns, the NY Times reports. Mega-brands like Whole Foods and Ben and Jerry’s now use only cage-free eggs, and even Burger King is switching, but overheated...

UK Inspects 3rd Foot and Mouth Case

Ban lifted, but farmers urged to be wary of big losses

(Newser) - A third suspected case of foot and mouth disease has been located in southern England, health officials said, as the EU lifted a ban on slaughtering animals but kept up the prohibition on exporting animal products. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that British veterinary investigators pinpointed two research labs they say...

Foot-and-Mouth Turns Up at Second Farm

New suspicions that virus may have spread in floodwaters

(Newser) - England is culling a second herd of cattle feared to have foot-and-mouth disease. The animals were showing symptoms on an unidentified farm within a restricted zone around the area southwest of London where the first outbreak occurred. Investigators were considering the possibility that a flood in July may have spread...

Foot and Mouth Outbreak Traced to Lab

Vaccine may have leaked and spread to nearby farm

(Newser) - An English research lab is the likely source of a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the Guardian reports. British government officials believe a batch of experimental vaccine leaked and spread to a nearby farm. Scientists were tipped to the possible leak by the fact that the strain of...

Scientists Race to Save Rice Crops
Scientists
Race to Save Rice Crops
Jul 29, 2007 7:09 AM CDT

Scientists Race to Save Rice Crops

Floods, droughts, warming threaten world's most vital food

(Newser) - While much of the world focuses its attention on oil, 1,000 people in a lab outside Manila are worrying about the other staple the modern world depends on: rice. Because of drought, floods, and overproduction, Asian rice yields are flatlining, the Journal reports; as a result, the price of...

Farmers Fight to Legalize Pot's Cousin

Growing hemp won't harm drug war, say strapped ND growers

(Newser) - The push to legalize hemp—marijuana’s less potent cousin—has some unlikely supporters: North Dakota farmers who couldn't be more conservative in every other respect, the New York Times reports. Hemp, used in clothing, lotions and even snack bars, has become especially attractive to North Dakota because of a...

British Supermarket Cans Prince Charles

What rot! Royal carrots not up to snuff

(Newser) - Veggies raised on an organic farm owned by Prince Charles have been dumped by a  British supermarket chain because the less-than-majestic food doesn't meet quality standards. The farm had been providing carrots to Sainsbury's supermarkets, but as of the end of January the Crown Prince was "sacked," the ...

Peasants Booted for Biofuel Bucks
Peasants Booted for Biofuel Bucks
Jun 5, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

Peasants Booted for Biofuel Bucks

Green crop brings black days for displaced Colombian farmers

(Newser) - Paramilitary gangs are driving thousands of Colombian farmers from their land to make way for the nation's latest lucrative crop: palm oil to produce biofuel, the Guardian reports. The violent land grabs have helped create some 3 million displaced Colombians. "It's the dark side of biofuel," said a...

Philanthropist Bets $40M on Eco-Tourism

Greg Carr would put nature back in Mozambique nature preserve

(Newser) - Philanthropist Greg Carr wants to turn an African ecosystem around—and he’s willing to pay to do it. The tech-bubble whiz kid will spend $40 million over the next 30 years to restore Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, destroyed during the country's 16-year civil war. Stephanie Hanes follows Carr as...

Livestock Pigging Out on Junk Food
Livestock Pigging Out
on Junk Food
May 21, 2007 3:41 PM CDT

Livestock Pigging Out on Junk Food

Farmers are turning to leftover sweets as biofuel drives up the price of corn

(Newser) - The biofuel craze has doubled the price of corn in just a few years, forcing farmers from Pennsylvania to California find alternatives to feed their livestock. What they're coming up with is cookies, candy bars, cheese curls, breakfast cereal and french fries, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Enjoy the Veal, Hold the Guilt
Enjoy the Veal, Hold the Guilt
Apr 19, 2007 3:13 PM CDT

Enjoy the Veal, Hold the Guilt

Pasture-fed calves take the bitter taste out of a tender meat

(Newser) - Veal is back, says the Times, thanks to humane ranching methods. You're still eating baby cows, of course, but the tiny crates that once confined them—provoking a 20-year-long boycott—are giving way to to open pastures where they hang with mom. Or at least pens where they walk around...

Markets May Lose Farmers
Markets May Lose Farmers 
Apr 11, 2007 3:38 PM CDT

Markets May Lose Farmers

Popularity of fresh produce a double- edged sword

(Newser) - Farmers' markets have gotten so trendy the they're beginning to annoy their founders: the farmers. Now some of the locally-grown-produce movement's most high-profile members, turned off by the time commitment and the carnival-like atmosphere at many markets, are dropping out of the circuit.

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