Latest Agriculture News
Missouri lawmakers back big expansion of low-interest loans amid growing demand for state aid
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to significantly expand a low-interest loan program for farmers and small businesses, in a move that reflects strong consumer demand for such government aid amid persistently high borrowing costs. The...
Vermont farms are still recovering from flooding as they enter the growing season
BERLIN, Vt. (AP) — Hundreds of Vermont farms are still recovering from last July's catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather as they head into this year's growing season. Dog River Farm, in Berlin, Vermont, lost nearly all its produce crops in the July flooding. The farm...
Crop-rich California region will fall under state monitoring to preserve groundwater flow
California officials voted Tuesday to step in to monitor groundwater use in part of the crop-rich San Joaquin Valley in a first-of-its-kind move that comes a decade after local communities were tasked with managing the precious but strained resource. The State Water Resources Control...
Your morning coffee may be more than a half million years old
That coffee you slurped this morning? It’s 600,000 years old. Using genes from coffee plants around the world, researchers built a family tree for the world's most popular type of coffee, known to scientists as Coffea arabica and to coffee lovers simply as “arabica.” ...
Movie Review: ‘Food, Inc. 2’ revisits food system, sees reason for frustration and (a little) hope
The makers of the influential 2008 documentary “Food, Inc.” never planned to make a sequel. They figured they’d said it all in their harrowing look at a broken, unsustainable food system — a system led, they argued, by a few multinational corporations whose monopoly squeezes out local...
Hungary will impose new restrictions on agricultural imports from Ukraine
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's government will place new restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, the country's agricultural minister said Thursday, a move designed to protect Hungarian farmers from market fluctuations caused by cheaper Ukrainian imports. ...
Thai prime minister unveils details of a $13.7 billion digital money handout plan
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday revealed details of his government’s plan to stimulate the economy by giving digital cash handouts of 10,000 baht ($275) to an estimated 50 million Thais for spending at their local businesses. Srettha said at...
Farmers in India are hit hard by extreme weather. Some say expanding natural farming is the answer
GUNTUR, India (AP) — There's a pungent odor on Ratna Raju's farm that he says is protecting his crops from the unpredictable and extreme weather that's become more frequent with human-caused climate change. The smell comes from a concoction of cow urine, an unrefined sugar known...
Editorial Roundup: Nebraska
Lincoln Journal Star. March 30, 2024. Editorial: At last, state has its own climate action plan In 2021, Nebraska’s estimated greenhouse gas emissions were 80.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, 26th highest among the 50 states. But the sparsely...
It's a bittersweet Easter for chocolate lovers and African cocoa farmers but big brands see profits
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Shoppers may get a bitter surprise in their Easter baskets this year. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever as changing climate patterns eat into global cocoa supplies and the earnings of farmers in West Africa. About three-quarters of the...
