Tag: Agriculture

An Automated Farm?

Let’s change the pace of the day….

There is a report that some of the agribusiness has taken on the chore of bring automation to farming…..but will this help the price of food or will it just mean more profits and less safety?

Jeremy Ford hates wasting water. As a mist of rain sprinkled the fields around him in Homestead, Florida, Ford bemoaned how expensive running a fossil fuel-powered irrigation system on his 5-acre farm was—and how bad it was for the planet. Earlier this month, Ford installed an automated underground system that uses a solar-powered pump to periodically saturate the roots of his crops, saving “thousands of gallons of water.” Although they may be more costly upfront, he sees such climate-friendly investments as a necessary expense—and more affordable than expanding his workforce of two. It’s “much more efficient,” says Ford.

A growing number of companies are bringing automation to agriculture, reports the AP in a broad look. It could ease the sector’s deepening labor shortage, help farmers manage costs, and protect workers from extreme heat. Automation could also improve yields by bringing greater accuracy to planting, harvesting, and farm management, potentially mitigating some of the challenges of growing food in an ever-warmer world. But many small farmers and producers across the country aren’t convinced. Barriers to adoption go beyond steep price tags to questions about whether the tools can do the jobs nearly as well as the workers they’d replace. Some of those workers wonder what this trend might mean for them. A few examples of the tech:

  • Frank James grew up on a cattle and crop farm in northeastern South Dakota that has had to cut back on farmhands due, in part, to lack of available labor. They swear by tractor autosteer, an automated system that communicates with a satellite to help keep the machine on track. But it can’t identify the moisture levels in the fields, which can hamstring tools or cause the tractor to get stuck, and requires human oversight to work. “You build a relationship with the land, with the animals, with the place that you’re producing it. And we’re moving away from that,” says James.
  • Extreme heat, drought, and intense rainfall have made detasseling corn in the Midwest even harder. Jason Cope, co-founder of farm tech company PowerPollen, created a tool a tractor can use to collect the pollen from male plants without having to remove the tassel. It can then be saved for future crops. “We can account for climate change by timing pollen perfectly as it’s delivered,” he says. “And it takes a lot of that labor that’s hard to come by out of the equation.”

I do not foresee this benefiting society and its people but rather increasing profits and allowing the greed to grow deeper and deeper.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Fixing The Food System

I have never made it a secret that I believe the big agribusinesses are not a great idea…..for one is they are destroying the environment and for two the whole GMO craze does nothing for4 the quality of the produce just the quantity.

I have been growing my own produce for many years because I cannot stand the taste of the GMO crap…that basically has little to no actual taste it just last longer on the shelves.

Since the whole agribusiness is so entrenched in our system these days and young people have little idea what real produce or meat actually taste like is it here to stay or can it be fixed?

While the article I reference is basically tackling the meat industry it still bears exposure…..I offer it up as to make sure that I try to be as balanced as I possibly can (and it is not an easy trip for me)….

In addition to being the main cause of animal cruelty in the world, factory farming is a primary source of environmental degradation. The industrialized meat industry accounts for 37 percent of worldwide emissions of methane, a global warming gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first two decades after its release. It is also responsible for 65 percent of human-made emissions of nitrous oxide—a gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide—that depletes the ozone layer, which protects the Earth’s surface from the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Factory farming also depletes the planet’s fresh water. Just a single egg takes more than 50 gallons of water to produce. A pound of chicken, 468 gallons. A gallon of milk, 880 gallons. A pound of beef, 1,800 gallons. It also requires vast tracts of land, which means the industrial meat industry is also the cause of massive deforestation around the globe, destroying ecosystems, threatening Indigenous communities and their traditional ways of life, and endangering a host of wildlife. Data shows that companies in the supply chain of JBS, the world’s largest supplier of meat, are potentially responsible for the destruction of up to 124 square miles of Brazilian rainforest every single year to produce beef that is exported around the globe.

How to Fix Our Food System

Eliminate meat?

I am an old fart and that just is not going to happen….this article sounds more like an ad for the ‘plant based’ con job.

And to be fair here is a rebuttal to the meat thing….

Bev Turner brilliantly pulled apart a climate scientist on his dictate encouraging Britons to give up meat.

The GB News host, in a lively debate on Britain’s Newsroom delivered a withering summation of the advice being offered by environmental campaigner, Donnachadh McCarthy.

She said: “I think if we’re worried about farty cows, we’ve been had, Donnachadh, we’ve been had. Because the biggest landowner in America now is Bill Gates.

“I’m sure you’re aware of this. And what does Bill Gates want to do?

“He wants to make money out of us not eating meat because he’s not putting cows on those fields.

“He’s putting solar panels and he’s encouraging us whilst building factories of fake meat. And you talk about health.

“A good steak full of protein with some vegetables is better for you than a bowl of vegetarian pasta, all the carbohydrates we’ll eat in their place.

https://www.gbnews.com/news/meat-free-ban-news-bev-turner-climate-scientist-video-interview

Here!  Here!  I will take my protein the old fashion way….meat and veggies…..

Then there is the plant thing….

If we depend on plants for all our eating needs would that not be just as bad for the environment…..like more fertilizer run-off….more pesticides….etc all making its way into our ground water supply.

Something needs to be done but what?

I try to use small farm producers when I can and grow many of my own veggies….I know that is small potatoes (no pun intended) but surely we can find a solution to the problem of huge agribusiness.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Grow Your Own

Another hot Sunday and my search for something akin to FYI was in vain so this is my next best thing.

For the last couple of decades I have had a small garden to grow tomatoes, greens, carrots, radish, cucumbers…and lots of fruit trees….tangerines, satsumas, plums and figs and a few blueberry plants…..nothing to write home about but it keeps us in fresh grown food for several months….always a welcome treat.

This year because of a very mild winter the field mouse population has exploded and they in turn look to me for their food supply….my two pups do a find job of protecting the garden but they can only work so fast….I am thinking of training them to use pellet rifles.

I have a problem with all the GMO stuff….I am old so I remember what a fresh peach, tomato, plum, etc should taste like and the ‘fresh’ stuff in grocery stores does not come close.

Stop all this whining and get to the point, right?

I wish something could be done to change all that….well sports fans one Dem is trying and has been for 26 years…

Each year for the last 26 years – nearly his entire tenure in the US Congress – Earl Blumenauer has advocated for a law that would utterly transform US agriculture.

Nearly every time, though, his proposals have been shut down. Even so, he persists.

Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, wants to see a version of US agriculture that centers people, animals and the environment, rather than the large-scale, energy-intensive commodity crop farms that currently receive billions of dollars in subsidies. In effect, he has a completely different vision for how 40% of the country’s land looks and works.

“Every year is an uphill battle. We’re up against entrenched, wealthy, strong interests,” said Blumenauer, known for his signature bowtie, circular glasses and bicycle enamel pin. He’s the spitting image of a progressive environmentalist and doesn’t shy from discussing some of agriculture’s most divisive issues.

But he remains optimistic and steadfast in his vision for the American food system. Now more than ever, he feels momentum and support surrounding the future of farming and food production. People care about where their food comes from and what kind of impact their food is having on the climate, he says.

Blumenauer’s newest plan, the Food and Farm Act, was introduced earlier this year, as an alternative to the farm bill – the package of food and agricultural policies passed every five years that is up for renewal this fall. His proposal would redirect billions of dollars away from subsidies for commodity farms towards programs that support small farmers, climate-friendly agriculture and increasing healthy food access.

The bill also prioritizes food waste management and animal welfare – areas that have been completely neglected by previous iterations of the farm bill.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/26/earl-blumenauer-agriculture-farm-bill-congress

All Dems should step away from their paymasters at Big Agri and get on board with a bill that makes sense.

It is a shame that I learned of this from a UK newspaper…apparently agribusiness has its claws in the MSM as well as Congress.

We all should be in support of this effort for it makes a lot of sense (maybe that is why it is not popular).

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

Enjoy your Sunday and as always be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Satsumas–WTF?

On my property I have several citrus trees….tangerine and satsuma and both bear fruit every year….as a matter of fact these two bear excessive amount of fruit that I must share with the neighbors and family.

Satsumas are ripen first and by the time they are exhausted then the tangerines ripen…..

This year’s crop is making me talk to myself…..first it is going to be a bumper crop (more fruit than usual)

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….and then we had a wet months of June and July and then I started noticing this and it just kept getting worse and worse….

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So far I have not been able to find what the problem is that would make these satsumas to split and fall from the tree.

Luckily the picking season is close and there are still many satsumas left on the tree……

Next my pepper plants are squirting peppers out at an rapid rate…..this is just one picking

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Now the question is what do I do with so many peppers for there is no way that I can eat the peppers quick enough so what should I do?

Share with family?  Not big into hot peppers….what to do…..what to do?

I decided to make pepper sauce (peppers in vinegar)……an excellent addition to greens and beans…..

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All those peppers are from one plant and there is many more waiting to be picked…

Just to catch my regular visitors up on the situation with the Old Professor…..

Be Well….Be Safe…..Enjoy Your Saturday

“lego ergo scribo”

Farmers Get Help

Yesterday Our Beloved Supreme Leader had a presser to announce his aid to the American farmer that may have trouble with the tariffs……and they all bow down……

With more than a dozen farmers at his side, President Trump announced a $16 billion aid package to compensate farmers for their losses in the trade war with China. “This support for farmers will be paid for by the billions of dollars the Treasury takes in” from China, he said. That’s not the way it works, the Washington Post points out: China does not pay the tariffs; importers do. Some importers then pass the cost on to American consumers. The administration had announced $12 billion in emergency measures in July. The relief announced Thursday will be distributed to farmers in three installments, with the first payment in July or August, the others in November and January 2020, if the tariffs are still in place.

Randy Spronk, a hog farmer and past president of the National Pork Producers Council who attended the White House meeting, said farmers realize the aid will not make up for their losses in a trade war. “But it makes enough of a difference to keep a lot of farmers so they can survive,” Spronk said, per the Post. The aid for farmers will ultimately come from taxpayers, said one expert, ABC reports. “Do the Chinese pay some of the tariff? Yes, probably in specific cases,” he said. “Do they pay most of it? No, the consumer pays most of it ultimately.” The American Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union said that they appreciate the help, but that farmers would prefer to have a long-term trade deal with China.

This money was offered last Summer….and I agree with whoever said…”if tariffs hurt farmers then welfare is not the answer”……as always…I have written about the announcement a year ago……https://lobotero.com/2018/09/21/closing-thought-21sep18/

God knows our farmers need the help….but not everyone sees this politicial ploy as the answer to that problem……

President Donald Trump’s snap decision to send billions of dollars in new aid to farmers could be bad for the farm economy and the federal budget.

Many farmers are still deciding what to plant this spring and could be swayed toward crops that receive higher payouts from the aid package, such as soybeans. That would add to already record supplies and further depress prices that have been falling for five year

But the Trump administration’s decision to roll out the program now is drawing critics.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told reporters Wednesday that the White House should have been more cautious about the timing of the announcement because farmers are still planting.

“[W]e want farmers to make decisions on how many acres of corn and soybeans to plant based on the market and not something the government’s doing,” he said.

“The timing couldn’t have been worse,” said Jonathan Coppess, an agricultural policy professor at the University of Illinois, and a former head of the USDA Farm Service Agency during the Obama administration.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/23/trump-farmer-bailout-trade-usda-1459840

Our farmers do not want the ‘welfare’ they prefer to earn their money….keep one thing in mind….agri-business also will get this ‘welfare’ and that who it is truly protecting.

Where are the deficit hawks?  They have plenty to say when food stamps are on the agenda….where are they now?

Freaky Saturday–2019 (Part 2)

Saturday my day of mental relaxation and a bunch of “honey dos”……weather is warm for February and seems to linger…looks like our cold weather ended early this year…..

I have been watching the treatments that the medicos are using to try and help people with problems like PTSD…..I posted about the use of seem psychedelics from the 60s…….https://lobotero.com/2019/02/02/freaky-saturday-02feb19/

Since I wrote that there have been more studies that have shown promise on a wide array of mental problems…….

The reputation of the synthetic drug MDMA has changed dramatically since it was outlawed in 1985. Right now, it’s the centerpiece of a Food and Drug Administration-approved Phase III clinical trial on its ability to help heal the damage caused by post-traumatic stress disorder when used alongside therapy. While those trials are underway, scientists are seeking to understand the long-term impacts of MDMA, preparing for a future where it’s widely used to treat illness .

https://www.inverse.com/article/53143-psychological-effect-mdma-drug

Then there is the study of the “demon” of the 60s….LSD……

New neuroimaging research provides evidence that the psychedelic drug LSD alters the capacity of the thalamus to control the flow of sensory information to other areas of the brain.

The thalamus is a small section of the midbrain through which most sensory inputs from the body flow. The new findings, which appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate that LSD decreases information filtering in the thalamus — allowing more information than normal to flood into the brain.

“LSD and other psychedelics induce unique effects on perception and emotion. These effects could on the one hand be interesting to understand certain symptoms in psychiatric patients (for example schizophrenia), but they could also be clinically beneficial for the treatment of other illnesses (for example depression),” said study author Katrin Preller of the University of Zurich.

https://www.psypost.org/2019/02/lsd-allows-more-information-to-flood-into-the-brain-by-altering-activity-in-the-thalamus-53062

The use of the drugs could be disastrous if not tightly controlled….but if these can help someone suffering from PTSD or other mental problem then I say give it a chance before it is condemned.

I must go out to the garden and start getting it ready for the crop this year…….hope everyone has a good day and give someone a hug…make their day.

Be Well, Be Safe……

Sucks To Be A Farmer!

I know I spend a lot of time watching and writing on foreign affairs and international situations……I try to keep an eye on the doings domestically……the one that needs attention is our FARMERS.

I have written about what Trump’s tariffs are doing to our farmers….https://lobotero.com/2018/07/25/the-coming-farm-aid/

There is more news that farmers are starting going broke at an accelerated rate……

Farmers in the Midwest are filing for bankruptcy at record rates as a result of President Trump’s trade war.

Bankruptcies in courts that cover the largest farm states in the country were nearly double in 2018 what they were in 2008, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers a region that includes Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, received twice as many bankruptcy filings in 2018 as it did in 2008, during the height of the Great Recession.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska and both Dakotas, saw a 96 percent increase in bankruptcy filings last year compared to 2008.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/midwest-farmers-going-broke-record-rates-thanks-trumps-trade-war/

American farmers feed the world….what will happen when there are fewer and fewer of them to grow food?  Importation will prove expensive…..so forget that…..

We could always depend on lab grown meat……but that may not be all it is cracked up to be…..

High impact: Proponents of lab-grown meat say it could one day supplant livestock—particularly cattle, a huge source of greenhouse-gas emissions.

The problem: Animal-free meat might be worse for the environment, researchers from the University of Oxford argue in a new report. They say previous studies have clumped together all emissions from cattle, rather than analyzing individual gases. Methane, for example, has a greater impact on warming in the short term, but it remains in the atmosphere for only around a decade, whereas carbon dioxide persists and accumulates for centuries, coauthor professor Raymond Pierrehumbert told the BBC. Emissions from the lab will be almost entirely made up of carbon dioxide.

A pinch of salt: It’s eye-catching, but this finding comes with plenty of caveats. Lab-grown meat isn’t even on sale to the public yet, and the researchers are making a lot of assumptions about meat consumption and future availability of lab-grown meat that may prove incorrect. For now, its climate impact may prove one of the smaller barriers to its adoption: for one thing, it’s still ridiculously expensive to produce.

Thoughts?

How About That Farmer’s Bailout?

In one statement…..It is Crap!

The Dear Supreme Leader has decided, in the past, that what the US needs is a good trade war to make everything okay for the future…..his trade wars and tariffs have hit our farmers the worst but not to worry the president has a plan to stop the bleeding of our farmers….a bailout!

SO now that it is in place how is it doing?  Are our framers making out okay?

American farmers are struggling to find storage for crops that would usually be sold overseas, with some being forced to leave produce rotting in fields as a last resort, as the trade conflict between the US and China continues.

Farmers in some US states are being forced into plowing their crops under — effectively burying them under soil in fields — as there is not enough room to store them in storage facilities, and they are unable to sell their products thanks to Chinese tariffs, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-china-trade-war-soybeans-left-rotting-thanks-to-lack-of-storage-2018-11

And the bailout?

Well $6 billion has been promised to our farmers to ease their pain and so far $838 million have been doled out….so things are better right?

Well let’s be honest……the plight of the American farmer still sucks!

President Donald Trump’s $12 billion bailout of farmers who had been hurt by his trade wars has been a massive bust politically — and a New York Times report has found that very little of it has gone to the struggling farmers who need it most.

According to the Times, the bailout program “has done little to cushion the blow” of the president’s trade wars, “with red tape and long waiting periods resulting in few payouts so far.”

In fact, the Times estimates, just $838 million of the $6 billion worth of bailout funds that have been authorized so far has been paid out.

https://www.alternet.org/trumps-12-billion-bailout-farmers-hurt-his-trade-wars-has-been-massive-bust-nyt

Will the pain continue for the American farmer or will these tariff thingys do what they were promised to do?

My guess is the promises will not be met…..something that is a reoccurring trait of Trumpism.

Biotech Gone Bad?

The weekend begins and I try to find the stuff that does not make it to the headlines…..basically I try to be an FYI post……

I read disturbing stories and reports all the time but the ones that involve our environment especially when the food supply being tampered with…. like the below report……

How about GMO insects and the possibility of them being used as a bio-weapon?

A team of scientist sounds the alarm in a new Science Policy Forum report about a mysterious US government program that is developing genetically modified viruses that would be dispersed into the environment using insects. The virus-infected or ‘Frankenstein’ insects are being developed as countermeasures against potential natural and engineered threats to the US food supply. The program is operated by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) could be viewed as an attempt to develop an entirely new class of bioweapons that would prompt other nations to seek similar weapons, they cautioned.

The researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and the University of Freiburg both in Germany, and the University of Montpellier in France suggest DARPA’s program could likely breach the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons.

https://www.technocracy.news/darpa-developing-gmo-insects-that-genetically-modify-crops/

It should be a crime to use food as a weapon.

Personally, I do not like the idea of anything GMO.  It makes veggies tasteless…..and seeds worthless….I think we would be better off without the burden of GMO anything.

I try to grow my own veggies from non-GMO seeds as much as I can these days…..

Any thoughts?

Cooler mornings, more time in the garden…..I love Autumn!

Closing Thought–21Sep18

An American institution is heading for a fall.  American agriculture is heading for a fall.

It is time for the harvest!

I have been watching this sector of our economy closely….one because the new tariffs could have a lasting effect on the farming in this country…..I have written a couple posts recently….

https://lobotero.com/2017/12/18/closing-thought-18dec17/

https://lobotero.com/2018/07/25/the-coming-farm-aid/

The Wall Street Journal is also watching this sector and their insights are not very good for the coming year…..

The Farm Belt is hurtling toward a milestone: Soon there will be fewer than two million farms in America for the first time since pioneers moved westward after the Louisiana Purchase.

Across the heartland, a multiyear slump in prices for corn, wheat and other farm commodities brought on by a glut of grain world-wide is pushing many farmers further into debt. Some are shutting down, raising concerns that the next few years could bring the biggest wave of farm closures since the 1980s.

The U.S. share of the global grain market is less than half what it was in the 1970s. American farmers’ incomes will drop 9% in 2017, the Agriculture Department estimates, extending the steepest slide since the Great Depression into a fourth year.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-next-american-farm-bust-is-upon-us-1486572488

How sad that a true American institution is slowly withering away….the government will step in but it may be too late for it to save this way of life.