Latest news with #agriculture
The Guardian
39 minutes ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Crossing the city-country divide: how do Australian farmers advocate for their industry in an urbanised world?
The view from my front lawn is paddocks and trees. From here, almost all I see is farmland and native bushland. A couple of years ago, I stood in this spot with a good friend, an immigrant from the UK. A smart, interested and interesting friend, and also a vegetarian. Which wouldn't be relevant except I'm a beef farmer, so for our friendship to prosper, this particular difference of opinion needs to be accommodated. Jess asked me what we would grow on our farm if we weren't growing livestock. The question initially confused me. Were we looking at the same landscape? Could she not see the steep hills, the prolific rocks, the lack of water? Assuming you still needed or wanted to use this land to produce food (which I do), to my mind, it is grazing land. Anything else would be extremely challenging. Not only are rocks and hills awkward to navigate, and our lack of irrigation problematic, the terrain is in places frankly a nightmare for the machinery and equipment essential to cropping. I think of a contractor who informed us he would not be working our paddocks any longer after his spreader truck got not one or two, but four flat tyres. We typically apply fertiliser by air now. I explained this to Jess, and she listened with interest. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia's fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter That's stuck with me, because it reminded me how many people have strong views about agriculture. And so they should. Farmers manage more than half of Australia's landmass. We are arguably custodians of one of the country's greatest assets: its ability to feed and clothe its own people, and the wider world. But knowledge about and personal experience of agriculture is dwindling. Perceptions of agriculture from outside of the industry – particularly in the cities where most Australians live – are often negative. Stories showcasing great custodianship and care don't make the front page – it's only news when something goes wrong. This isn't unique to our industry. I know the old newsroom adage: 'If it bleeds, it leads.' The difference in agriculture is that our work is increasingly foreign to the very people who rely on our produce every day. It's the challenge of our industry, and one I've personally taken on: to advocate in an environment where the divide between rural and urban communities is greater than ever before. In 2021, 66.9% of Australia's population lived in its greater capital cities. Many have little or no connection to the people who grow the products they eat, wear or use every day. Research by CQUniversity makes this gap even clearer. In 2021 they surveyed more than 5,000 primary and secondary school students to evaluate their knowledge of agriculture. The results were, to my mind, alarming. They found secondary students who believe Australian cattle are raised exclusively in sheds. (To clarify, only 4% of Australia's beef herd is in a feedlot at any given time and are generally raised on pasture. Only 20% of Australia's milk production comes from intensive or housed dairy systems.) They also found primary school students who believe cotton is an animal product not a plant; and who believe chickens are routinely fed hormones (a practice banned more than 60 years ago). I believe the work of an advocate, unlike that of an activist or influencer, is to build connection and knowledge. To start with a desire to understand: what do you think of agriculture? What would you like to know? I ask these questions not because I expect to change your mind, but I hope to engage with you. I hope you might share with me, so I might better understand perceptions of agriculture. I don't believe the future of agricultural advocacy lies simply in an exchange of facts, though I wholeheartedly agree all conversations should be underpinned by credible research and evidence. But it's the stories from agriculture that I believe truly show the deeply complex industry of which I'm a part. That shows you the heart of it, and what it has to offer. Sometimes those stories are dark. Death, not often part of everyday urban life, is a normal part of agriculture, especially livestock farming. That can be confronting, even for farmers with decades of experience. But it's part of our life. When my eldest daughter was two, we had a terrible calving season, with cows struck down by a condition called grass tetany. It resulted in the death of many cows straight after birthing. One morning my daughter asked me to play with her. 'Be a cow, Mummy!' I obliged and tried to look suitably bovine. 'Moo, Mummy!' I mooed. 'Now lie down dead!' I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I probably did both. Stories can also share joy. I took a couple of orphan lambs we were hand-rearing into my daughter's childcare and gave a group of very excited three-year-olds the opportunity to interact with them. We bottle-fed the lambs and passed around handfuls of unprocessed wool, and some yarn, to compare textures and smell. The kids delighted in the experience, and our much-loved lambs fought over the milk bottle. All went well, with some added entertainment from my daughter casually taking a swig from the lambs' milk bottle. Raising livestock is complex. Together with my husband, we're dedicated to raising our children to appreciate the joy of caring for animals and providing them with an environment to thrive, alongside the understanding that we are growing animals for food and fibre. Farmers often say city people don't understand agriculture. But the gap goes both ways. Most farmers I know own the land they work. It's easy to forget what it's like to bid for a rental, move every 12 months, or raise kids in high-rise apartments with no green space. We complain about potholes and distances between towns, but we're not stuck on highways for hours each day, or wrangling toddlers and groceries on public transport. Bridging that divide isn't about proving who has it tougher. It's about recognising the difference and respecting what each life involves. I love the saying: 'No one in the history of calming down has ever calmed down because they were told to calm down.' I don't see a future for agricultural advocacy in telling people stuff. I see a future in listening and in sharing, openly. Does my friend Jess want me to grow plants, not animals, for food on our property? Maybe. Just because we have the same information doesn't mean we're going to have the same opinion. But I think she also understands why we grow beef. And while she won't be having steak on the barbecue with us any time soon, I'm grateful she gave me the chance to explain why we do what we do. Felicity Richards is the chairperson of Farmsafe Australia and the Tasmanian Biosecurity Advisory Committee. She runs a beef grazing operation in northern Tasmania with her husband, Mark. You can contact her here. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Readers and writers: A sobering look at the vanishing prairie
A sweeping look at the vanishing American prairie and two crime novels set in Minnesota are this week's offerings to our readers. 'Sea of Grass': by Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty (Random House, $32) Agriculture has altered — and damaged — the very biological and chemical cycles that created the extraordinary prairie in the first place, from the creation of soil to the flow and purity of water, to the ebb of wildlife and the circulating of elements in and out of the atmosphere. It's created intractable pollution problems that endanger human health and cripple other ecosystems, from its damage to insects to the dead zone in the Golf of Mexico. — from 'Sea of Grass' In this timely and important book, subtitled 'The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie,' award-winning former Star Tribune writers Hage and Marcotty explore and explain the environmental crisis caused by the disappearance of thousands of acres of American prairie that once stretched from Montana to Illinois, eastern Minnesota to northern Texas. The North American prairie, they write, is one of Earth's four great temperate grasslands, the others being the steppes of Central Asia, the Pampas of South America, and the veld of southern Africa. It is also one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth, home to small insects and big grazing mammals. Before the Industrial Revolution took hold in farming, the untouched prairie grasses created a web of roots that could grow as deep as two feet into the ground. When white settlers arrived in the 19th century they brought with them plows that tore up the prairie for the first time. These pioneers used rudimentary plows, but when steel plows became available farmers were able to plant and harvest much more food per acre to feed a growing population. This affected the prairie's biological diversity as rivers were rerouted, synthetic nitrogen became a standard fertilizer and the delicate symbiosis of the prairie was uprooted. Over decades the prairie was converted into some of the richest farmland on Earth, but the country paid a terrible price The authors help us understand what that price means in chapters examining river, dirt, bugs and water. For Minnesotans, the discussion about rivers might be the most important as we learn how the Mississippi picks up fertilizer runoff from rivers that flow into it, growing more polluted as it rolls through the Twin Cities southward until the pollutants create a 'dead zone' of chemicals in the Gulf of Mexico. Now industrial agriculture is plowing up the remaining grasslands at the rate of 1 million acres a year If the sea of grass is to be saved, the authors argue, it will take cooperation between farmers who care about the land, help from the federal government and efforts by eco-conscious consumers. Although we are losing everything from bees to oysters, 'Sea of Grass' ends with hope that comes from people like South Dakota writer and buffalo rancher Dan O'Brien, who sees the great creatures that once roamed the prairie as far as the eye could see as a way to restore the animals' ancestral home. Books about environmental devastation are increasingly common as we watch the natural world we once knew disappear. 'Sea of Grass,' written clearly and with passion, is one of the best. The authors will introduce 'Seas of Grass' during a free program at 7 p.m. Thursday at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls. 'Rattlesnake Bluff': by Cary J. Griffith (Adventure Publications, $16.95) '..they hadn't anticipated a rattlesnake's denning instincts, the keen skillset of a wolf dog's nose, the remarkable aptitude of a DNR herpetologist, DNA analysis of isolated rattlesnake populations, or the use of implanted chips to track rattlesnake specimens. Or that an apparently forged confession might contain the details of what actually happened. — from 'Rattlesnake Bluff' A rattlesnake found on the seat of a Bobcat at a construction site sends U.S. Fish & Wildlife Special Agent Sam Rivers and his wolf dog Gray into investigating a 23-year-old crime in the fifth book in this appealing series. This is no ordinary rattler; it's an eastern massasauga, an endangered species that doesn't belong in Minnesota although it might have escaped from a Wisconsin research facility where a scientist is implanting snakes to track their movements. Rivers is joined by local DNA personnel as he tries to figure out if he needs to shut down the site where the snake was found, holding up construction of expensive homes. When Gray tracks the scent of two bodies buried in the bluff, everything changes. The readers know how the decayed bodies of a young brother and sister got to their rocky resting place but Sam does not. Meanwhile, Sam's boss in Denver is not happy with him staying in Minnesota and getting behind on paperwork he avoids. The cast includes a mysterious person who called himself Der Furher as a teenager, Sam's fiancee who just wants him to come home, and a woman contractor working hard in a business dominated by men. 'Rattlesnake Bluff' gets more complicated and dangerous as Sam and others get closer to figuring out what the snakes have to do with the building site and learn new details about the night the young siblings were killed when hit by a car. Rivers is a smart guy who knows his flora and fauna as well as his duty to wildlife, even snakes. Readers who can't stand the thought of snakes, even on the page, will be happy to know that the creatures are not described in great detail and one of them is dead. The author, who also writes nature-based nonfiction, grew up roaming the woods, fields and waters of eastern Iowa, where he developed a lifelong love of wild places. 'Payne Avenue': by M.T. Bartone (Modern Prose Press, $13.99) Eddie laughed as he tightened his grip on O's wrist before quickly yanking out the little screwdriver. O screamed as he pulled his mangled hand away from Eddie. He held it gingerly in his other hand, close to his chest. — from 'Payne Avenue' Set in the neighborhoods surrounding St. Paul's Payne Avenue, this is the story of the rise and fall of Eddie Bracchio, a gangster who returns to St. Paul from Brooklyn and sees ways to build a criminal empire while betraying his powerful boss. A wave of new owners brings fresh energy to independent bookselling Readers and writers: Immersion, writing from the heart help non-Native novelist access the culture 12 new books to send restless readers on a summer road trip Literary calendar for week of May 18: 'Weird, Sad and Silent' Readers and writers: Selections for Mental Health Awareness Month Eddie begins slowly, recruiting two teen boys to become his drug dealers. Carefully and sometimes violently, he replaces the neighborhoods' low-level crime bosses and builds a successful illegal business, siphoning money that's rolling in through the books of a restaurant he helps an old woman open. What Eddie wants most, though, he can't have — beautiful Kate De Luca, who's married and has no idea Eddie wants to control and possess her. When Kate suffers a tragedy, the plot becomes hers as she ponders revenge. 'Payne Avenue' is long at 154 pages, which sometimes slows the plot. But the author does a fine job of giving readers a sense of place, with characters moving along the streets that surround Payne Avenue in this tale of a killer whose ambition is his ruin.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Scientists make groundbreaking discovery that could solve major issue with modern agriculture: 'We've spent thousands of years breeding the animals'
The biggest source of methane, a heat-trapping gas that contributes to our warming planet, is, by and large, agriculture, which produces 3.55 billion tons of methane per year, according to Our World in Data. Methane produced by the digestive processes in the stomachs of livestock, such as cows, contributes a large part of this number. Scientists have been trying to solve this methane problem for years, and finally, a new American startup might just have an answer. Hoofprint Biome is an innovative startup created by Dr. Kathryn Polkoff, an animal scientist, and Dr. Scott Collins, a bioengineer. The startup has an almost glaringly obvious solution to reduce the methane that cows produce while improving the animals' bioavailability. When cows feed — typically on food that is hard for nonruminant animals, like humans, to digest — the food travels through the stomach's four-part compartment, first entering the largest of all, the rumen. Because of its capacity, the rumen stores ingested liquid and food for digestion, and it is also where the food becomes fermented by the microbes in the rumen. This fermentation process creates methane, along with other gaseous by-products, that becomes expelled through the cows' belching, or burping. In approaching the methane problem, the scientists studied the source of the methane production. "It's a very specific subset of microbes that are making the methane," said Polkoff, according to a TechCrunch article. These microbes steal any nutrients from the cow that have not yet been absorbed, creating methane gas. To address this, the scientists created probiotics and natural enzymes to suppress these microbes and limit methane production. These additives would help regulate the cows' microbiome while encouraging the production of beneficial bacteria in the stomach to enhance their nutrient absorption. According to TechCrunch, the startup aims to achieve a 5% feed efficiency that would help reduce the amount of heat-trapping gas emitted by the agricultural industry. Reducing planet-heating gas pollution improves air quality and human health while slowing the rise of global temperatures. The startup has garnered $15 million in investments alone in its first major round of funding. "We've spent thousands of years breeding the animals to make them as efficient as possible and to increase the yield, but there have not really been that many attempts to change a microbiome," Polk said, per TechCrunch. "That'd be like if you were engineering a car but had never changed the engine." Do you think gas stoves should be banned nationwide? No way Let each state decide I'm not sure Definitely Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Rumin8, an Australian startup, has created a similar methane-reducing supplement that also enhances milk production in dairy cows. Although limiting methane production from cow belching is progress for a cleaner and cooler planet, it is only one part of the equation. Reducing dependence on dairy can significantly cut down on the amount of methane that the agricultural industry produces. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
CBC
9 hours ago
- Health
- CBC
Bugs poised to flit into action for the season, P.E.I. scientist says
Humans aren't the only creatures that stay relatively hidden when the weather is lousy. This spring's chilly and rainy weather sidelined insects too, but a Charlottetown-based research scientist says that will change quickly now that the mercury is rising. "They tend to stay quiet when it's cold," Christine Noronha told CBC's Island Morning this week. "If this continues for very long, then it starts to have an impact on their survival and their movement." Noronha works with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada. She said bug survival rates have been "a little bit better" recently because Prince Edward Island's winters have been getting milder. Even when the temperature plummets, bugs can find shelter in plant debris and snow that collects along hedgerows. "With the spring being so cool, the insects are a little bit slower coming out," she said. "They wouldn't be feeding as much as well, [or] just moving around too from plant to plant or from one area to the next. "But [when] it does warm up, then you'll start to see them feeding a lot more, moving, flying around, moving from plant to plant … and also laying their eggs." That's because insects don't generate their own body heat like humans and other mammals do, but depend on external heat sources, Noronha said. "When the sun is shining, you will see some of them sitting in the sun or basking in the sun, kind of. They need that heat to heat up their … wing muscles so that they can fly. "Usually around 15 to 20 degrees is when they start to get really active." That can change even over the course of a single spring day, she said. Bumblebees, for example, are "kind of slow in the early morning when you see them, but then later on in the day, if it's sunny, they'll start moving around a lot more." Now for the bad news. "Mosquitoes and black flies and all that are doing fine," Noronha said. "They have a lower temperature range, so they are fine. They are out there." There is a bright side to that, though. Tree swallows and some other kinds of birds eat those insects, and frogs and minnows feed on the larvae of mosquitoes and black flies. "All those animals are doing fine, so it's just a slower process," Noronha said. "They're not getting as much to eat. But things haven't really come to that point where other animals are more active and insects are not." Another thing that people are seeing, according to Island social media pages dedicated to nature, are very large bees hanging around windows. Noronha said these are probably females emerging from their overwintering spots. "Insects in the fall, they come to the buildings because the buildings have heat and you have heat radiating out," she said. "Now they're searching for a place to start their nest because that's what happens every year… They search for places [where] they could make their bigger nest and have a colony… Eventually they're going to be the queens in the nest." Noronha said it's important for people who spend time in the woods or walking through tall grass to be on the lookout for ticks, which can spread Lyme disease. Wear long pants with long socks on, and check when you get home to see if a tick has attached itself to your skin. If that happens, she said you should remove the tick, put it in a container and get it checked to see what kind of tick it is. That's also her advice if you see an unusual insect around your property. Use iNaturalist or other online resources to find out what they are. "It's only when you know what something is that you can actually control it – or know if you need to control it or not. "The good bugs that are predators, you don't want to kill them, right? You want to keep them in the area."
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): A Bear Case Theory
We came across a bearish thesis on First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) on Stock Whisperer's Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bears' thesis on FSLR. First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)'s share was trading at $158.38 as of 23rd May. FSLR's trailing and forward P/E were 13.46 and 10.17 respectively according to Yahoo Finance. Solar panels in an agricultural field, highlighting the company's commitment to renewable energy. First Solar (FSLR) appears to be under meaningful pressure, with a confluence of technical, fundamental, and sentiment indicators suggesting short-term downside risk. Technically, the stock is firmly in a downtrend, forming lower highs and lows, with the MACD signaling persistent negative momentum. Heightened trading volumes on down days point to institutional selling, while a critical support level at $120 could invite further selling if breached. A break above $160 resistance seems unlikely in the current environment. Fundamentally, while a low trailing P/E of 11.09 may imply value, sector-wide volatility, rising interest rates, and tariffs have clouded growth prospects. Even with a 36% forecasted EPS growth, rising costs and weaker guidance have weighed on earnings credibility. The stock now trades near its 52-week lows, reflecting macroeconomic headwinds and sector challenges. Sentiment around FSLR is largely negative, further pressured by recent earnings misses, guidance cuts, and analyst downgrades, including one from Jefferies. Broader weakness in the technology and energy sectors, coupled with ongoing tariff uncertainty, further dampens the investment case. Without a material catalyst—such as policy support or operational surprises—the stock is likely to remain under pressure over the next 1–4 weeks. While long-term investors may see an eventual rebound opportunity tied to renewable energy trends, the short-term risk/reward skews bearish. Investors should proceed with caution, recognizing the potential for further downside unless key technical levels hold and sentiment materially shifts. Previously, we have covered First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) in April 2025, wherein we summarized a bearish thesis from Oliver | MMMT Wealth on Substack. The author highlighted First Solar's unique CdTe technology and its advantage from U.S. tariffs on imported silicon panels. It was seen as well-positioned to benefit from rising demand for American-made clean energy amid geopolitical shifts. Since our last coverage, the stock is up 31%. First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) is not on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held FSLR at the end of the first quarter which was 65 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of FSLR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FSLR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
