US farmers 'nervous,' as China threat of 25 percent tariffs on soybeans could cause pain

Farmer John Duffy (L) and Roger Murphy load soybeans from a grain bin onto a truck before taking them to a grain elevator on June 13, 2018 in Dwight, Illinois. U.S. soybean futures plunged with renewed fears that China could hit U.S. soybeans with retaliatory tariffs if the Trump administration follows through with threatened tariffs on Chinese goods.

• American farmers expressed uneasiness ahead of the White House's expected decision Friday to impose tariffs on Chinese products.
• Beijing's threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on American soybeans could be an economic blow to the U.S. heartland.
• The U.S. exports about $14 billion worth of soybeans to China, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beijing's threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on American soybeans is causing uneasiness in the farm belt ahead of the White House's expected decision Friday to announce new duties on hundreds of Chinese products.

A little known importance — Why GMOs have a positive impact

GMOs 

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have been a popular topic of debate in many different discussions over the last ten years. According to Google’s search history, the word GMO has doubled in the last ten years.

FG plans 6-ACTIONS TO SOLVE FARMERS-HERDERS CRISES

Cow

The Federal Government (FG) may have charted out plans on how to tackle the frequent clashes between the farmers and herdsmen in about ten (10) states of the federation.

Loan recovery: BOA to use mobile court

*flags off farming season

BOA MD, Alhaji Kabiru Mohammed Adamu in blue suit & green tie, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, Secretary to Kano State Government in white cap & white kaftan and others during a tour to the Exhibition stands at the 2018 Farming Season flag -off ceremony held at the Bagauda Agric Show Ground Kano State.

As a means to prompt recovery, the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) management has promised to deplore the use of mobile courts across the country against defaulters saying this would step up the food security situation of the country as many other farmers can as well be able to benefit in the facility.

Kazakhstan’s oil producing Atyrau region seeks to step up agriculture development

Forum

The Atyrau region, one of Kazakhstan’s major oil producing regions, is seeking to boost agricultural development in an effort to diversify its economy.

Other Uses Of GMOs

Cotton

You may be surprised to know that we rely on genetically modified crops for more than the food we eat.  We also use them for the clothes we wear, for medicines and for fuel. 

Pictures speak @ RMRDC Concerned stakeholders meeting on oil seed crops repositioning towards competitive market and generation of employment to the youths cum wealth creation.

Lt-Rt-Engr Henry Olatunjoye, Dr. Hassan Agungun, FACAN President,  Dr. Victor Iyama, RMRDC Dr. Ogunwusi & Mr. Chris Mamadu. 

 Pictures speak @ RMRDC Concerned stakeholders meeting on oil seed crops re-positioning towards competitive market and generation of employment to the youths cum wealth creation. 

Farming underground in a fight against climate change

One of 18 Walipinis run by the Gemio family in El Alto, in the Bolivian highlands

The Andean Plateau or the Altiplano, is one of the largest and highest plateaus in the world. In order to protect their crops from drought, flash floods and increasing temperatures, Bolivian farmers are going underground.

How GMOs Are Made

Soil

Farmers have selectively cultivated plants for thousands of years, choosing a plant, for example, based on its ability to survive certain conditions or on how many seeds it produces. 

Pictures Speak at the 2018 Farming season flag-off ceremony held at the Bagauda Agric Show Ground Kano State.

BOA MD, Alhaji Kabiru Mohammed Adamu in blue suit & green tie, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, Secretary to Kano State Government in white cap & white kaftan and others during a tour to the Exhibition stands at the 2018 Farming Season flag -off ceremony held at the Bagauda Agric Show Ground Kano State.

 Pictures Speak at the 2018 Farming season flag-off ceremony held at the Bagauda Agric Show Ground Kano State. See more pictures below.

Milk Powder is Not Unhealthy: Ministry of Agriculture

Milk factory

Following an uproar among Moroccans condemning the alleged use of powder milk to make milk, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has said that the use of powdered milk to produce any kind of food “does not represent any health issue.”

Meeting Increasing Food Demand Sustainably

Maize

Did you know that the total land devoted to agriculture around the globe is 20,000,000 square miles?  That’s more than five times the area of the United States.

Live Sheep Export Challenged in Australia's Federal Court

Panting sheep Credit: Animals Australia

Animals Australia has appeared in the first hearing of an unprecedented application in the Federal Court of Australia to challenge the legality of a live sheep export permit.

INFOGRAPHIC: Can GMOs Help Protect The Environment?

Italy won't ratify EU-Canada trade deal: agriculture minister

A protest against the CETA trade deal in Rome, 2017. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Italy's nationalist agriculture minister on Thursday said his government would not ratify an EU-Canada free trade deal, claiming it does not protect his country's farmers.

The European Union and Canada formally signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in October 2016, at a time when anti-globalisation sentiment was on the rise in Europe. The accord, which has yet to be ratified, eliminates 98 percent of tariffs between the EU and Canada.

NAADI sustainability is a function commitment says Prof. Ayoola.

Prof. Gbola Ayoola speaking with journalist 

The Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment (FMITI) consultant to its Nigeria-Agricbusiness and Agro Industry Initiative (NAADI), Prof. Gbola Ayoola has said that the sustainability industrial frame plan for the agro industrialization in Nigeria was a function of strong political will with many variables of which funding was very strategic towards achieving commercial agro business of processing and value addition.

GMOs And Livestock

Livestock

In the United States, livestock have been consuming feed made from genetically modified crops for almost twenty years. More than two-thirds of GM corn and half of GM soybeans are used for livestock feed.

Campaign Launched To Abolish Factory Farming In Switzerland

Animals suffer immensely within the factory farming system (Photo: We Animals)

Animal rights groups and environmental organizations have joined forces to launch a campaign to end factory farming in Switzerland.

GMO Basics

GMO

What are GMOs? Are GMOs safe? Why do farmers grow GMO crops?  We know there are a lot of questions regarding GMOs, Genetically Modified Organisms. Let’s start with the basics. 

Health & Safety Consensus

Health & Safety Consensus

Yes, GMOs are safe to eat. That is the overwhelming consensus of scientific experts and major scientific authorities around the world, including the World Health Organization, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and American Medical Association. In fact, there have been more than 1,700 studies on the safety of GMOs, hundreds of which were independently funded.

Digital Farming Technology: Protecting Crops Around The World

Digital Farming Technology

For many farmers around the world, crop protection is an ever-evolving challenge. From disease, to insects, to local wildlife—all crops are vulnerable to external forces.

IAASTD report calling for radical changes in agriculture turns ten

IAASTD co-chairs Judi Wakhungu, Hans Herren and Director Bob Watson

The way the world grows its food has to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if we are to cope with a growing population and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse.

Farmers react to late budget signed by President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

Farmers have described the 2018 national budget just signed by President Muhammadu Buhari as being late to the need of farming activities for the year saying that agricultural activities are time bound.

Land borders closure, see what RIFAN says will happen if President Buhari……..

From RT-LT – Nat. President RIFAN Mallam Aminu Goronyo, Nat. Organizing Secr. Alh. Wodi Muhamadu, MD New Nigeria Comm. Marketing Company, Abubakar Musa, Chief Livinus Ngawangwa (JP) and others.

The National President, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Mallam Aminu Goronyo has promised that his members would not hesitate to vote out President Buhari if he decided not to effect the decision on banning imported rice through the land borders saying Nigeria has got no gain expending   five million dollar on rice import daily.

EU to ban outdoor use of bee-harming neonic pesticides

bee

The European Union will ban the outdoor use of widely used insecticides due to the danger they pose to bees.

Where GMOs Are Grown

Farmer

Think only U.S. farmers grow GMO crops?  You might be surprised to know that while each country has its own regulatory process for both the cultivation and sale of GM products, as of 2016, GMOs are grown, imported and/or used in more than 75 countries across the globe.

Argentine small-scale farmers give away vegetables in land protest

Argentine small-scale farmers give away vegetables in land protest

Farmers in Argentina have distributed tonnes of produce for free as part of a protest to demand access to land.

AFSA warns against corporate takeover of African seed systems

Seed

African farmers’ seeds are increasingly under threat from policies designed to privilege corporate seed systems, says a new report launched on World Intellectual Property Day on April 26th.

Food Security in Africa: Is Genetically Modified Technology a Pathway?-A paper presented by NAERLS ED, Prof.M.K Othiman at Seed-Connect event.

GMO FOODs

 Recently, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) rated eighty-six countries as low-income and food-deficient nations, thus, considered to be food insecure (http://www.fao.org/docrep/w9290e/w9290e01.htm).

U.S. consumers waste nearly a pound of food daily, study finds

Food Waste

U.S. consumers waste almost a pound of food per person each day, with 30 million acres of cropland used to produce this food every year – an area equivalent to 7.7% of all harvested cropland in the US or half the size of the UK.

Agroecology is a better alternative in Sub-Saharan Africa, researcher says

Agroecological farm

Agroecology is a better alternative than large-scale agriculture, both for the climate and for small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Humans have destroyed 83% of wild mammals, biomass census shows

Today, 60% of all mammals on Earth are livestock

The world’s 7.6 billion people only make up 0.01% of the Earth’s biomass. Yet since the rise of civilization, humanity has caused the loss of more than 80% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock has increased dramatically, new research shows.

Together We Grow: Coalition Aims to Bring Tech Talent to Agriculture Industry

Tomatoes

Finding a solution to feed the world’s 9.5 billion people by 2050 requires the best minds in technology, science, engineering and agriculture.

Soil pollution affects food security and human health, FAO report

Soil pollution 

Soil pollution presents a serious threat to agricultural productivity, food safety, and human health, according to a new report.

The EU needs a new food and farming blueprint, study

The EU needs a new food and farming blueprint (Photo: CC0)

The European Union has no consistent, coherent or complete food policy, new research shows.

Eating less meat and dairy best way to reduce your impact on Earth, study

Lowest-impact meat still has a higher footprint than vegetable proteins 

Giving up meat and dairy products is the single most effective way to reduce your environmental impact, new research has revealed. According to a comprehensive analysis published in the journal Science, livestock only provides 18% of calories and 37% of our protein while taking up 83% of farmland worldwide.

'Miracle' weed killer that was supposed to save farms is killing them instead

Man-made disaster raises serious questions about the state of US agriculture

Controversial herbicide dicamba found to poison crops as well as pigweed chemical was intended to root out.

Yes, GMOs Are Safe (Another Major Study Confirms)

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found “no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between current commercially available genetically engineered (GE) crops and conventionally bred crops.

Consumers all around the world get a lot of conflicting information about genetically engineered (GE) crops and the food derived from them. A myriad of claims about the benefits and potential risks associated with GE crops and their impact on agricultural, environmental, human health and economic outcomes have created a confusing landscape that is further complicated by evolving technology in the field.

Stakeholders stress the importance of accreditation to development

NINAS world Accreditation Day on June 9^th

The Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NiNAS) has emphasized the importance of accreditation to development as the world marks world Accreditation Day on June 9^th.

AFAN frowns at seed dealers

 *Minister seeks stiffer penalty

The Managing Director, Premier Seeds Nigeria Limited, Prof. Oyediji Ogungbile, The Governor of Kebbi State Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and The DG NASC Dr. Olusegun Philps Ojo in a picture during a visit to the Premier Seeds Stand at the 2018  Seed Connect

In order to checkmate recycling of grains as improved seed, the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has condemned the activities of fake dealers who are fond of selling grains as seeds to its members just as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh was advocating through a new bill a stiffer penalty that would checkmate merchants of ingenuine inputs in the sub sector.

Mega-farms could hit grain supplies in the region, resulting in an increase in imports to feed pigs

Balinese farmers work on the land surrounding the volcano Reuters

Volcanic ash can cause a nuisance to farmers, burying agricultural lands and damaging crops. But this ash does have long-term benefits.

Pictures Speak at the 2018 Seed Connect held in Abuja

The Managing Director, Premier Seeds Nigeria Limited, Prof. Oyediji Ogungbile, The Governor of Kebbi State Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and The DG NASC Dr. Olusegun Philps Ojo in a picture during a visit to the Premier Seeds Stand at the 2018  Seed Connect

See more images below:

Sir Richard Branson says humans will stop killing animals for meat in 30 years

Last month, Sir Richard joined Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the giant US agriculture firm, Cargill, in investing in Memphis Meats, a US company that creates meat from self-producing animal cells

Livestock is 'a bigger contributor to global warming and environmental degradation than all forms of transportation,' Mr Branson said

Farmers select their ‘seed of choice’ in FAO’s first-ever seed fair in northeastern Nigeria

FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held its first seed fair in northeastern Nigeria on 2 June 2018 in Tikau, a large ward in the Nangere local government area of Yobe State, as part of its 2018 rainy season programme in the region.

State Department of Agriculture: Longhorned tick discovered in West Virginia

The longhorned tick, which officials say is small and difficult to detect and can be harmful to both livestock and humans. The State Department of Agriculture has confirmed the presence of the tick in West Virginia.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the presence of the longhorned tick in West Virginia Monday, according to the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.

British fruit farmer cutting jobs and expanding in China as Brexit uncertainty hits UK agriculture

 fruit farmer

Government has not provided ‘adequate answer’ to concerns over availability of EU immigrants says marketing manager of Haygrove farm in Herefordshire

China’s pig farmers plan to produce mega hog-farms to meet demands of world’s biggest pork market

Mega-farms could hit grain supplies in the region, resulting in an increase in imports to feed pigs 

China’s largest pig farming companies and new entrants are racing to build vast, modern hog farms in the north-eastern cornbelt, expanding the world’s biggest pork market and upending traditional trade flows in meat and grain.

NASC holds seed connect

NASC Director General (DG), Dr. Olusegun Ojo during the Seed Connect Press Conference held in Abuja 

*seeks media support

As part of effort by the Federal Government to boost agricultural productivity in the country, using quality seeds, the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) is planning to hold the first ever seed conference and Expo in Abuja tomorrow just as it has craved for media support in the awareness creation for the use of improve seeds to checkmate food deficits.

The cruel trade-off at the local produce aisle

The cruel trade-off at the local produce aisle

When we decide what fresh produce to buy, we check our fruits and vegetables for colour and blemishes, and we make sure the price seems fair. We’re looking after our families.

Hybrid swarm of ‘mega-pests’ threatens crops worldwide, warn scientists

Hybrid swarm of ‘mega-pests’ threatens crops worldwide, warn scientists

A pair of major agricultural pests have combined to produce a “mega-pest” that could threaten crops around the world. 

Genetically Modified Foods and Social Concerns

GMO

Biotechnology is providing us with a wide range of options for how we can use agricultural and commercial forestry lands.