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Winning Animal Agriculture's Battles
Fri Nov 20, 2009 06:41 AM CST
Just because Ohio voters approved the creation of a board to set farm animal-care standards doesn't mean the battle is over, even in Ohio. To win future battles, the animal agriculture industry needs to come up with better arguments.
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A Day at a Dairy Tests Beliefs
Fri Nov 13, 2009 05:46 AM CST
A group of environmental journalists visiting a large Wisconsin dairy heard some surprising voices defending large-scale animal agriculture as well as some of the predictable criticism.
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If Trade's the Question, Asia's the Answer
Fri Nov 6, 2009 08:29 AM CST
Unlike Groucho Marx, who quipped that he didn't want to join any club that would have him as a member, the U.S. should want to be a member of the Asian Economic Community that Japan, China and other Asian countries are discussing.
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Companies Join Hunger Battle
Fri Oct 30, 2009 06:16 AM CDT
At the World Food Prize meeting in Des Moines, the battle lines were drawn between agribusinesses, which want to solve world hunger by increasing agricultural productivity, and environmental activists who have a very different vision.
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When Environmental Journalists Meet
Fri Oct 23, 2009 06:24 AM CDT
Agriculture was a hot topic at the annual meeting of the Society for Environmental Journalists, giving an ag journalist who attended much to observe and reflect on.
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A Food Scientist Talks Technology
Fri Oct 16, 2009 08:30 AM CDT
Philip Nelson, the Purdue food scientist who won the World Food Prize in 2007, says technology is critical to cutting food waste, solving world hunger and making food safer.
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Famous Farmer Fights African Hunger
Fri Oct 9, 2009 06:25 AM CDT
Howard Buffett, an Illinois farmer who is the son of an "oracle" and grandson of a Congressman, logs hundreds of thousands of miles and spends tens of millions of dollars in pursuit of his passion for helping poor farmers in developing countries.
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In Today's America, Extremism Reigns
Fri Oct 2, 2009 06:11 AM CDT
It isn't that the latest conventional wisdom about food (and a variety of other things) is entirely wrong. It's that some Americans are losing their sense of proportion in applying it.
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Tire Tariff Bad, But Not Awful
Fri Sep 25, 2009 06:17 AM CDT
President Barack Obama's decision to impose large tariffs on low-end Chinese tire imports won't help American tire workers and could hurt American farmers. But as protectionist moves go, this one is fairly minor.
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Unusual Conservation Easement Thrives
Fri Sep 18, 2009 06:10 AM CDT
Conservation groups and farmers often clash, but in central Nebraska a farmer and the Nature Conservancy have forged a relationship that serves the interests of both.
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A Food Scientist Talks Technology
Fri Sep 11, 2009 06:16 AM CDT
Philip Nelson, the Purdue food scientist who won the World Food Prize in 2007, says technology is critical to cutting food waste, solving world hunger and making food safer.
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What Political Change in Japan Means
Fri Sep 11, 2009 06:16 AM CDT
Ever since the Democratic Party of Japan won the parliamentary election, displacing the long-reigning Liberal Democratic Party, there's been talk of trouble for U.S. beef exports to Japan. There may not be as much to the talk as the party's policy manifestos suggest.
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If Gray Isn't Good, We're in Trouble
Fri Sep 4, 2009 10:48 AM CDT
Buried in the latest USDA census of agriculture are statistics that indicate just how old American farmers are getting. Blame the baby boomers, who are reshaping the landscape as seniors, just as they did as teenagers, as young adults and in their middle years.
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Ag's Stake in Continuity at the Fed
Fri Aug 28, 2009 06:11 AM CDT
Not everyone admires Ben Bernanke's performance as Federal Reserve Board chairman, and Senate hearings will rough him up. But he's likely to be confirmed for a second term, and that will be good for agriculture.
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Let's Hear It for Slow Growth
Fri Aug 21, 2009 06:19 AM CDT
Unlike America's farmers, who produce more than the country can consume, the country as a whole has been consuming more than it produces. With luck, the country will become more like farmers in the months and years ahead.
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Straddling Ag and the Environment
Fri Aug 14, 2009 06:30 AM CDT
So often are the agriculture and environmentalist worlds in conflict that it's worth noting when they come together. Jim Luchsinger, the Nature Conservancy's man in the Nebraska Sandhills, is helping break down the barriers and encourage cooperation.
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Who's (More) Afraid of the EPA?
Fri Aug 7, 2009 08:35 AM CDT
One of the most important differences between thos in ag who support the cap-and-trade legislation and those who oppose it is their view of what will happen if the bill doesn't pass. Supporters say the bill's defeat would mean more Environmental Protection Agency sway over agriculture.
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The Forecast is Good, and That's Bad
Fri Jul 31, 2009 09:12 AM CDT
If a producer is checking "production" weather, there's no confusion???good is good and bad is bad. But lately, market weather has been taking center stage.
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Helping Africa End Starvation
Fri Jul 24, 2009 07:37 AM CDT
After years of preaching that developing Africa should import food rather than raise it, the U.S. is proposing to fund agronomic research and education aimed at helping Africans achieve a basic level of food security.
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The Hidden Perils of Automation
Fri Jul 17, 2009 06:14 AM CDT
As we all become more and more dependent on computers, it's easy to be lulled into assuming they'll always work. Bad things can happen when we do, and agriculture isn't immune.