News items related to ag tech, biotech, trade ? and perhaps some other interesting items out there related to agriculture ? will be posted on this page throughout the week (as the week progresses newest items will be in?green at bottom of sections). ?Be sure to come back and check the page during the week.
____
Congratulations to the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina from Nigeria, announced as this year’s recipient at an event Monday, June 26 in Washington, DC held at the US Dept. of Agriculture.
DR. AKINWUMI AYODEJI ADESINA, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), will be recognized as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. Through his roles over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria, Dr. Adesina has been at the forefront of galvanizing political will to transform African agriculture through initiatives to: expand agricultural production, thwart corruption in the Nigerian fertilizer industry?and exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent…
Read more at the World Food Prize website – click here.
TRADE, TRADE RELATED, INFRASTRUCTURE:
US suspends imports of Brazilian beef – GlobalMeatNews.com -?By Aidan Fortune (June 23)
“The US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has suspended all imports of fresh beef from Brazil due to safety concerns.” – Link
USDA proposes to allow cooked chicken from China – Food Navigator Asia -?By Joe Whitworth (June 21)
“A proposed rule to allow China to export cooked chicken from poultry slaughtered in the country to the US has been described as a ?slap in the face to American consumers? by a congresswoman.” – Link
EU hopes for free trade deal with Japan ‘very soon’ – The Mainichi (Japan) / Kyodo (June 27)
“We are right now in an intense phase of our negotiations. We hope to close an agreement in principle very soon” – Link
AG, AG TECH, PRODUCTION, PROTECTION, RELATED ISSUES:
Pesticide regulation talks threaten UK food supply chain – Food Manufacture (UK) -?By James Ridler (June 19)
“Poor EU decision making about the future of crop protection products could jeopardise the UK?s supply of cost-effectively produced food and cost farmers more than ?1bn, warned the National Farmers Union (NFU).” – Link
Farm Babe: From organics to GMOs, any farmer can be an excellent conservationist – AgDaily – By Michelle Miller, Farm Babe (June 20)
“Despite the fact that we are in a fast-paced, tech-savvy industry, people in general still seem to have a romantic image of farming. They want to envision beauty ? the red barns, the families, the beautiful scenery, amber waves of grain. The good news is we can have both ? technology just allows us to keep the lands more pristine than in generations past.” – Link
HLB-citrus greening disease confirmed in Alabama – Western Farm Press – By Cary Blake (June 22)
“HLB was found in leaf and insect samples from a residential property on Dauphin Island in Mobile County.” – Link
How to get rid of weeds by crossing them with GM crops – The Economist (June 22 edition)
“Domesticating weeds in order to destroy them” – Link
Urban ag provides only small environmental benefits – Feedstuffs (June 22)
Japan’s satellites bring new auto farming, stock management era – The Land (Australia) – By Andrew Marshall (June 27)
“…Hitachi, is trialling a range of different technologies enabling farmers to run driverless machinery or remotely calculate pasture and soil moisture conditions to make better grazing management decisions.” – Link
POLICY, REGULATORY, ACTIVISM, OTHER:
Review: In ?Food Evolution,? Scientists Strike Back – The New York Times – By Daniel M. Gold (June 22)
“With a soft tone, respectful to opponents but insistent on the data, ?Food Evolution? posits an inconvenient truth for organic boosters to swallow: In a world desperate for safe, sustainable food, G.M.O.s may well be a force for good.” – Link
Europol: False organic certification continues to be major problem for food industry – Food Navigator -?By Niamh Michail (June 23)
“Counterfeit certification labels, such as fake organic or?protected designation of origin (PDO) labels, continues to be a major problem for the European food industry, according to a report by Europol.” – Link
Take Feta. Add Frites. Stir in European Food Rules. Fight. – New York Times – By James Kanter (June 21)
“Fights over culinary traditions are common in Europe, where countries are fiercely protective of their gastronomical heritage, and the rule books are full of regional food and drink that are ?protected.?” – Link
This Cornell scientist saved an $11-million industry ? and ignited the GMO wars – Business Insider – By Erin Brodwin (June 23) – Link
Syngenta ordered to pay $217.7 million to Kansas farmers in GMO corn case – Reuters (June 23) – Link
Economic study suggests the extent and cost of food waste are dramatically overstated – Food Navigator USA – By Elizabeth Crawford (June 26)
“The increasingly loud debate about food waste could easily lead one to believe it is??the??biggest issue industry currently faces, but ?new study in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics suggests most estimates are overblown and many proposed solutions are off-base.” – Link
California to list glyphosate as cancer-causing; Monsanto vows fight – Reuters (June 26) – Link
*Note – see column about?CA Prop 65
EPA, U.S. Army Move to Rescind WOTUS – AgWeb – By Ben Potter (June 27)
“…the EPA, Department of Army and Army Corps of Engineers announced they are proposing a rule that rescinds the Clean Water Rule, a 2015 regulation that sought to clarify water resource management in the U.S. and attempted to define ?waters of the United States,? or WOTUS.” – Link