crops

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Floods Cloud Biofuel Future
 Floods Cloud Biofuel Future 
Jul 1, 2008 4:09 AM CDT

Floods Cloud Biofuel Future

Ruined Midwest crops spark worries about fuel supplies

(Newser) - The floods that swamped the corn belt last month have raised fresh fears about the future of biofuels, the New York Times reports. The ruined corn crop has sent the price of ethanol soaring, and experts worry that unpredictable weather could lead to future spikes in the price of energy...

Grain Prices Surge With Midwest Floods

Water inundating heartland expected to drive food, oil prices still higher

(Newser) - The floods inundating the Midwest are pushing grain prices to new highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Corn prices jumped 10% to a record high last week as farmland flooded. The domino effects will hit the ethanol industry, hog farmers, and even owners of catfish ponds who rely on corn...

Poor Crops Threaten to Worsen Food Crisis

Bad weather in US, Australia threatens harvests amid shortages

(Newser) - Amid fears of looming food shortages around the world, this year’s crops aren’t providing much hope, the New York Times reports. While farmers in America have been hit with too much rain, Australian farmers are battling the effects of drought. US farmers planted 4 million more acres this...

Geneticists Solve Mystery of Giant Tomatoes

Without mutations on just 2 genes, red fruit would be tiny bud

(Newser) - Tomatoes would be about the size of blueberries if it weren't for two key genetic mutations, Reuters reports. Scientists mapping the plant's DNA discovered one gene that encourages additional cell division, and another that allows the fruit to grow many more internal compartments. Together the changes have created tomatoes up...

US Predicts Bumper Crops Will Ease Food Crisis

Record-breaking grain harvests worldwide expected to bring prices back down

(Newser) - Farmers worldwide will reap record-breaking harvests of wheat and rice this year, the US projects, and the news is expected to ease some of the worldwide concern about food prices. The USDA says good weather will bring bumper crops that will replenish depleted stocks, Reuters reports. Analysts warned, however, that...

Save a Food From Extinction: Eat It for Dinner

'Food coalitions' aim to keep ingredients, recipes key to US heritage in circulation

(Newser) - Vanishing culinary breeds are getting a new lease on life, thanks to the efforts of an ethnobotanist with an interest in America's foodie past, the New York Times reports. While Makah ozette potato sounds like a "Final Jeopardy" answer, the once-endangered vegetable is one of the many culinary artifacts...

Another Key Shortage: Fertilizer
 Another Key Shortage: Fertilizer 
Apr 30, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

Another Key Shortage: Fertilizer

Prices skyrocket, ingredients scarce as growing population demands more food

(Newser) - One of the less touted factors behind the global food crisis is a shortage in chemical fertilizer, which has helped boost crop yields dramatically and particularly benefited the developing world. But while growing demand is unlikely to be met for many years, the environmental impact of producing and using chemical...

UN May Cut Food Rations for Schoolkids

Soaring food prices raise 'world's misery index,' group says

(Newser) - Food rations for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren may be cut because of surging crop prices that have widened the World Food Program’s funding gap to $750 million, Reuters says. The UN food aid agency also blamed the situation on high fuel prices and reductions in new crop plantings....

Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis
Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis
Apr 15, 2008 2:39 AM CDT

Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis

International 'Year of the Potato' to highlight tuber's virtues

(Newser) - Sharp hikes in the prices of staples like wheat and rice are sending shockwaves around the world and convincing governments to rediscover the virtues of the potato, Reuters reports. Spuds are nutritious, will grow just about anywhere, and they yield up to four times more food per acre than other...

Food Crisis Lurks in Soaring Prices, Says IMF Chief

Predicts widespread starvation, conflict

(Newser) - Rising food prices may soon have dire global consequences with starving people rioting in the streets, warns the head of the International Monetary Fund. “Hundred of thousands of people will be starving,” he said yesterday at a meeting in Washington. “Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with...

Clean Air Rules Squeezing Berry Farmers

Strawberry growers rip EPA pesticide limits as 'too much, too soon'

(Newser) - California strawberry farmers fear that EPA efforts to curb pesticide pollution could kill most of this year's crops, the AP reports. Ventura County growers, who produce 25% of the nation's berries, say the pesticides are needed to increase crop output. Requirements that fumigants be cut as much as half could...

Gene Discovery Holds Hope for Drought-Safe Crops

Scientists make botanical breakthrough

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a gene that controls how plants absorb carbon dioxide and release moisture in a breakthrough discovery that could help develop drought-resistant crops, reports the BBC. The gene that regulates the work of stomata, or pores on plant leaves, has been sought by biologists for decades. The gene...

Climate Change May Trigger Crop Failures

Major food shortages predicted for Africa, Asia by 2030

(Newser) - Climate change could cause severe food shortages in South Asia and southern Africa, two of the poorest regions in the world, by 2030, National Geographic reports. "We were surprised by how much, and how soon, these regions could suffer if we don't adapt," said one of the study's...

China Storms Wallop Winter Crops
China Storms Wallop
Winter Crops
Jan 31, 2008 6:05 AM CST

China Storms Wallop Winter Crops

Worst storms in 50 years wreak 'catastrophic' impact on food supply

(Newser) - Winter storms battering China have hit crops hard, the AP reports. "The impact on fresh vegetables and on fruit in some places has been catastrophic," said a Communist Party official, who added that emergency plans were in place to ensure a food supply to people and protect what...

Fla. Growers Fight Record Cold
Fla. Growers Fight Record Cold
Jan 3, 2008 8:31 AM CST

Fla. Growers Fight Record Cold

State of emergency as temperatures plummet

(Newser) - Florida shivered last night  last night as a cold snap set new lows—35 degrees in Ft. Lauderdale—and threatened serious damage to crops. Farmers spent the night in the fields, spraying strawberries and oranges with water to create a protective glaze of ice. In  Plant City, dubbed the winter...

Cyclone Deaths in Thousands
Cyclone Deaths in Thousands
UPDATED
Nov 17, 2007 8:46 AM CST

Cyclone Deaths in Thousands

Local reports estimate 2,000 dead, as rescue efforts begin

(Newser) - More than 1,000 have been confirmed dead in the wake of Thursday's cyclone in Bangladesh, but local news reports double that number, as a virtual national blackout and debris-filled roads have stymied efforts to assess the true brunt of the storm, reports the BBC. "We are expecting that...

Norway Builds Doomsday Vault for World Seeds

Site beneath Arctic mountain will preserve all essential crops

(Newser) - Norway has built a giant vault under an Arctic mountain, where it will preserve seeds from 21 of the world's essential crops in case disaster strikes. The so-called doomsday vault will eventually store 4.5 million seeds from crops such as wheat and rice to use in the wake of...

Ethanol More Mean Than Green
Ethanol More Mean Than Green
Jul 31, 2007 2:54 PM CDT

Ethanol More Mean Than Green

How biofuel steals from the hungry and hurts the environment

(Newser) - Far from the solution to America’s energy crisis, corn ethanol is “one if the great political boondoggles of our time,” Rolling Stone says in a scathing broadside. The “dangerous” and “delusional” hype over the corn biofuel raises the price of food for the needy because...

Why Wall Street Is Bullish on Texas

Big tax breaks for firms at home on the range

(Newser) - Companies with Texas offices save thousands by hosting cattle or growing crops on their property, the WSJ reports. The state’s “agricultural exemption” grants hefty property tax breaks to firms devoting at least part of their land to preserving or cultivating nature. Fidelity saved more than $318,000 by...

Farmers Fight to Legalize Pot's Cousin

Growing hemp won't harm drug war, say strapped ND growers

(Newser) - The push to legalize hemp—marijuana’s less potent cousin—has some unlikely supporters: North Dakota farmers who couldn't be more conservative in every other respect, the New York Times reports. Hemp, used in clothing, lotions and even snack bars, has become especially attractive to North Dakota because of a...

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