Unless you are an ostrich or a U.S. republican lawmaker, you likely are on board with the concept that Earth’s climate is changing on a worldwide scale. The implications for agriculture are not to be ignored.
2015 was an important year for agricultural stories, from the slump in the U.S. farm economy because of plunging commodity prices to the outbreak of avian influenza and Congress repealing mandatory country-of-origin labeling on meat products.
The U.S. farmer is drowning in a sea of corn. So the Nov. 30 announcement by the EPA to push oil companies to blend a total of 18.1 billion gallons of biofuels into gasoline in 2016 came as a relief to some. Here's why.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke about global food insecurity and hunger on Thursday at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During his speech, Vilsack highlighted a recently released USDA report that found roughly 14 percent of Americans are food insecure.
Monsanto is predominately in the seed business, but the St. Louis-based company has dabbled in the data business, as well. Its Climate Corporation allows farmers to use cell phones and laptops to analyze hyper-local weather data and monitor weather trends. Farmers say the improved data service has h
Climate change will likely cause billions of dollars in damages to the agriculture industry, according to government reports. Yet, while agriculture is a climate change victim, it is also a culprit. Agriculture production sends large amount of nitrous oxide and methane into the atmosphere, two poten
Two decades ago, less than 10 percent of corn and soybean acres were planted with genetically engineered seeds. Last year, nearly every single acre of corn and soybean was planted with GMOs. U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows St. Louis-based seed company Monsanto has propelled that rapid incr
Highlights from the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting's package on GMOs and climate change. In the last 20 years, U.S. farmers have widely turned to genetically engineered seeds to help counter more prevalent pests and other climate change consequences. U.S. Department of Agriculture data o
Researchers say that food prices may double nearly every seven years as the world's population soars toward 9 billion people and demand sharply increases. Researchers covered food demand, along with other topics, at the iSEE Congress 2014 sustainability conference this week.
A White House assessment revealed that climate change will affect the agriculture industry in several ways. Rising temperatures will cause some crops to no longer be productive, while also creating ideal conditions for insects. More extreme weather events will rapidly erode the soil and cause planti
