Around Washington
Conservation Client Gateway USDA NRCS
Conservation Client Gateway is a USDA public website that allows individual landowners and land users the secure ability to request conservation technical and financial assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Washington Week Ahead: Trade, Regulations, Spending Top Lawmakers Agenda Agri-Pulse
Lawmakers face a long to-do list as they head into June, starting with finishing work on a fast-track trade bill, moving fiscal 2016 appropriations measures and addressing a variety of regulations that Republicans want to block.
Around the Country
Irrigation Educator Faces New Normal: Lower Aquifers and Higher Crop Production Arkansas Online
Mike Hamilton, the newly minted extension irrigation education area specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that despite Arkansas' reputation as a major agricultural production state, he had begun to feel that farmland that sometimes fell short of its full production potential might benefit from incorporating some simple irrigation management practices.
Rains Swamp Mid-South Crops Delta Farm Press
Rain and more rain continue to dominate Mid-South agriculture with delayed and prevented planting, delays to fertilization and applications of herbicides.
Rice Quality Concerns Create Hurdles for Industry Arkansas Business
Part of the problem with U.S. rice is that for every advantage of a rice variety developed specifically for a built-in trait, there is a disadvantage. A variety might increase yield, but that variety might not "mill" well, meaning that the kernels easily break into pieces. Many other rice-growing nations do not raise hybrid rice varieties. Many rice-exporting nations almost exclusively grow one variety that is popular in a particular export market.
Around the World
At World's Fair in Italy, the Future of Food is on the Table NPR
The theme of the latest World's Fair, Expo Milano 2015, is "feeding the planet, energy for life." The global population is projected to pass 9 billion by 2050, and Expo organizers want to start a global conversation now about sustainability, biodiversity and food security. With exhibits from 145 countries over a 12-million-square-foot area, the expo is a showcase for the many cultures of food and environmental technology.
Science and Technology
Seed Science Blossoms into Big Business Arkansas Business
In today's world of specific-trait, genetically modified and hybrid crops, seeds are worth their weight (at least) in gold, and in the span of a generation, seed costs have increased exponentially, but in many cases the resulting crops offset that input cost.
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