Latest Agriculture News

Oregon governor uses new land use law to propose rural land for semiconductor facility

Sep. 19, 2024 13:44 PM EDT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is using a new land use law to propose a rural area for a semiconductor facility, as officials seek to lure more of the multibillion-dollar semiconductor industry to the state. Kotek has proposed expanding the city boundaries of Hillsboro,...

Sri Lanka's presidential election a test for current leader, 2 years after its economy hit bottom

Sep. 19, 2024 09:55 AM EDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Two years ago, food cart worker Fathima Shiyama had to wait in line, sometimes for days, to get cooking gas, fuel and other essentials. It was a test of patience for her and millions of other Sri Lankans as their country languished in economic and political chaos. ...

Refugees in New Hampshire turn to farming for an income and a taste of home

Sep. 19, 2024 09:48 AM EDT

DUNBARTON, N.H. (AP) — It's harvest time in central New Hampshire, and one farm there appears to have been transplanted from a distant continent. Farmers balance large crates laden with vegetables on their heads while chatting in Somali and other languages. As the sun burns away...

An ancient African tree is providing a new 'superfood' but local harvesters are barely surviving

Sep. 18, 2024 10:04 AM EDT

Since childhood, Loveness Bhitoni has collected fruit from the gigantic baobab trees surrounding her homestead in Zimbabwe to add variety to the family’s staple corn and millet diet. The 50-year-old Bhitoni never saw them as a source of cash, until now. Climate change-induced...

The Palestinian economy is in free fall and will require billions to rebuild, the UN says

Sep. 12, 2024 11:31 AM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — The Palestinian economy is “in free fall,” the United Nations reported Thursday, with production in Gaza plunging to one-sixth of its level before Israeli forces began a blistering military response to the Oct. 7 attacks in the territory. The report from UN Trade...

The Amazon's Ashaninka tribe restored their territory. Now they aim to change the region

Sep. 12, 2024 11:11 AM EDT

APIWTXA VILLAGE, Brazil (AP) — It was just before dawn when the Ashaninka people, wearing long, tunic-like dresses, began singing traditional songs while playing drums and other instruments. The music drifted through Apiwtxa village, which had welcomed guests from Indigenous communities in Brazil...

The Mississippi River is running low again. It’s a problem for farmers moving beans and grain

Sep. 11, 2024 12:51 PM EDT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The water level of the Mississippi River is unusually low for the third straight year, forcing barge companies to put limits on how much cargo they can carry and cutting into farm profits. It was just two months ago that much of the Mississippi River was above...

Pollution of the potent warming gas methane soars and people are mostly to blame

Sep. 10, 2024 06:43 AM EDT

The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds. Tuesday’s study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons...

Spring rains destroyed a harvest important to the Oneida people. Farmers are working to adapt

Sep. 09, 2024 22:13 PM EDT

This spring, a torrent of rain sent a river rushing over a field on the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, destroying most of what was in its path, including the traditionally important crop of white corn. Families tried planting a second time, but it was too wet; many seeds dissolved in...

Jamaica's female farmers rebuild after Hurricane Beryl through women-led cash voucher program

Sep. 06, 2024 10:20 AM EDT

CROSS KEYS, Jamaica (AP) — Alance Wisdom got inside her home just in time to watch the ceiling of her front room collapse. As the rain rushed in, a violent wind ripped at the roof, piece by piece. “Everything just fell,” Wisdom, 79, said of the day Hurricane Beryl, the...