Economy-Food Production
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Agriculture in the Midwest
by Larry Clemens The Nature conservancy
The Midwest is known for its bountiful and diverse agricultural production. Its fertile lands and waters provide ideal conditions for corn, soybeans and wheat crops, as well as 15% of the country’s dairy products. Between the production of crops and livestock, the region produces $14.5 billion in annual agricultural sales.
Investigating the impact of the internet on managing green financial innovation and improving agricultural conditions in water-scarce Asian regions using ANN modeling
by Xiaohan Sheng 27/9/24 Scientific reports
This research focuses on the importance of management strategies, green innovation, and sustainable practices in the agricultural sector. These factors are crucial for job creation, food security, and environmental conservation.
Genetic breeding for indoor vertical farming
by Zhi Wei Norman Teo 2/8/24 npj
Indoor vertical farming emerges as a sustainable paradigm, enabling crop cultivation in vertically layered ecosystems under precisely controlled environmental parameters. This innovative approach not only bolsters climate resilience but also minimizes the strain on precious arable land and water resources, aligning with sustainable principles. While posited as a transformative solution to global food security challenges and the limitations of traditional agriculture, a pivotal facet within indoor farming necessitates sustainable optimization: the crops cultivated within.
Beyond precision: why smarter agriculture needs systems thinking
by nature custom medias nature portfolio
Agriculture is more high-tech than ever, with real-time moisture sensors, automated sprayers, and satellite imagery helping farmers use water, fertilizers, and pesticides efficiently. But even the best technology won’t drive sustainability if farmers can’t tailor new methods to their land or afford the investment.
In Farming, a Constant Drive For Technology
A cross Midwestern farms, if Girish Chowdhary has his way, farmers will someday release beagle-sized robots into their fields like a pack of hounds flushing pheasant. The robots, he says, will scurry in the cool shade beneath a wide diversity of plants, pulling weeds, planting cover crops, diagnosing plant infections, and gathering data to help farmers optimize their farms.
North America Agriculture
by Kris Johnson The Nature Conservancy
Feeding a growing world while reducing the environmental impact of food production is one of humanity's greatest challenges today. Fortunately, solutions are within reach. Science tells us that shifting to a regenerative agriculture system can produce food in ways that work in harmony with nature, while delivering enduring benefits for people and the planet.
How technology is helping farmers grow more food with less chemicals
Jon Walz’s century-old farm in Stapleton, Nebraska, has 300 head of cattle, corn fields, and other crops, including oats and rye. On a recent morning in April, the whole farm seemed to need his attention after temperatures abruptly swung from frigid winter lows to sweltering summer highs.
Europe's illegal pesticide trade surges as farmers cut costs
by Karolina Tagaris 10/7/25 Reuters
THESSALY, Greece, July 10 (Reuters) - As the cost of spraying crops with pesticides becomes increasingly expensive, farmers in Greece's agricultural heartland have turned to a cheaper alternative: liquids in unlabeled plastic bottles smuggled over land and sea.
Solar grazing undergoing rapid growth, census finds
by Rachel Metea 18/5/25 PV magazine
The scale of livestock grazing in agrivoltaic installations is much larger than previously understood, found the first solar grazing census by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the American Solar Grazing Association.
‘This way of farming is really sexy’: the rise of regenerative agriculture
by Alexandra Topping 14/8/23 The Guardian
Hollie Fallick looks over Brading on the Isle of Wight, at a patchwork of fields bordered by ancient oaks, which stretches to the Solent. “We still have to pinch ourselves every day,” says the 30-year-old, as she surveys the 50 hectares (125 acres) she farms with her best friend, Francesca Cooper, 34.
Regen agriculture outperforms conventional farming across key metrics
The European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture has released the results of new study which reveals that regenerative farming systems across Europe are not only environmentally superior but bring higher returns for farmers and are more resilient than conventional models.
What the farmers say
In my experience, it is rare to hear farmers from the Global South discussing their challenges and aspirations, and what might be useful support to receive from successful restaurateurs and resort owners. That’s why I’m delighted to release a short film that brings you the voices of organic and regenerative farmers in dialogue with others in the food business sector in Bali, Indonesia.
Common farm fungicide may be contributing to 'insect apocalypse'
by Fran Molloy 1/7/25 PHYS ORG
A widely-used agricultural chemical sprayed on fruits and vegetables to prevent fungal disease is also killing beneficial insects that play a critical role in pollination and wider ecosystems.
Great Plains farmers consider switching crops as aquifer runs out of water
The aquifer that makes agriculture in the Great Plains possible is running out of water, primarily from overirrigation. That has farmers considering different crops. Calen Moore of the Kansas News Service reports.
Researchers make stunning discovery after examining farmland treated only with organic fertilizers for decades: '[Will] help us to move forward'
by Juliana Marino 13/10/24 TCD
Researchers at Kansas State University have been studying how different farming practices impact the amount of carbon stored in the soil. After comparing their results, the researchers concluded that soil treated with manure or compost fertilizer stores more carbon than soil treated with chemical fertilizers or no fertilizer.
Cancer is just everywhere’: could farming be behind Iowa’s unfolding health crisis?
Six months ago, Alex Hammer was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 37. Dianne Chambers endured surgery, chemotherapy and dozens of rounds of radiation to fight aggressive breast cancer, and Janan Haugen spends most days helping care for her 16-year-old grandson, who is still being treated for brain cancer he developed at the age of seven.
|The Powerful Potential Of Tiny Conservation Plots
Urban agriculture — that is, growing crops in a city setting — is becoming a popular alternative to industrial farming for eco-conscious city dwellers. Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, members of the community garden movement transformed myriad abandoned lots into green spaces in cities like New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.]]]
Regen agriculture outperforms conventional farming across key metrics
The European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture has released the results of new study which reveals that regenerative farming systems across Europe are not only environmentally superior but bring higher returns for farmers and are more resilient than conventional models.
Climate Brief: Declining world birth rates mean immigration is now indispensable part 1
The latest UN population projections reveal a world on the cusp of a stunning demographic transformation. The global baby bust continues to deepen, countries almost everywhere are aging, and a growing number face long-term demographic decline. In this Vantage Point, we discuss the coming global demographic transformation, as well as the daunting social, economic, and geopolitical challenges it poses group
Seeds and beyond: Native Americans embrace ‘food sovereignty’
Christian Science Monitor Richard Mertens 2/22/21
For many Native Americans, the return to traditional foods is part of a wider effort to “decolonize” their people, a way to repair the economic and cultural damage inflicted by European Americans who drove them from their lands, confined them to reservations, sent them to boarding schools, and tried to sever them from their old ways. It means not just planting old seeds but reviving the economic and cultural life, the ceremonies, the customs and beliefs, around food and food production.
New Evidence Shows Fertile Soil Gone From Midwestern Farms
Thaler's team then expanded their study to fields of corn, soybeans, and other crops within a large area of the upper Midwest that includes much of Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. They calculated that about a third of the crops were growing on erosion-prone hills. This produced their estimate that a third of all cropland in that region had lost its topsoil.
Officials are using the word 'disaster' to describe the widespread crop failures happening all over America
<embed>https://www.sott.net/article/423731-Officials-are-using-the-word-disaster-to-describe-the-widespread-crop-failures-happening-all-over-America</embed> SOTT 11/11/19
The endless rain and horrific flooding during the early months of this year resulted in tremendous delays in getting crops planted in many areas, and now snow and bitterly cold temperatures are turning harvest season into a complete and utter nightmare all over the country. I am going to share with you a whole bunch of examples below, but first I wanted to mention the snow and bitterly cold air that are rolling through the middle of the nation right now..
The Meat Mogul’s Case For Lab-Grown Beef
<embed>https://newrepublic.com/article/154269/meat-moguls-case-lab-grown-beef</embed> The New Republic 7/03/2019
He emphasized that the entire “cell-to-fork” process for growing and harvesting lab meats is two to six weeks—a blink of an eye compared with the two and a half years it typically takes to grow cattle from conception to maturity. That represents huge cost and energy savings. Hayes also pointed out that cultured meats eliminate concerns about E. coli and other pathogens that can contaminate animal meat during processing.
