Williams Inference

A plan approved by the USDA calls for large-scale cultivation in Kansas of rice that produces human im¬mune-system proteins in its seeds. The proteins are to be extracted for use as an antidiarrhea medicine and might be added to health foods such as yogurt and granola bars. (Wash Post, 3/2/07)

 "Back in the late '80s, I was told you'd never sell ma¬nure," said Kevin Elder of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. "Today, there are a large number of farms that broker it, that sell it to grain farmers." In 2003, only one person in Ohio was licensed to buy and apply large amounts of manure. Today, there are 30 - with 48 more in the process of getting their permits. (AP, 3/17/07)

The world's crop gene banks are in crisis, a meeting of maize researchers and organizations in Mexico was told in May. At least half the seed stocks are unable to ger¬minate because of incorrect storage. Maize - corn in North America - grows in 160 countries. (New Scien¬tist, 5/13/06)

India is preparing to import wheat for the first time in six years. (NYT, 6/30/06)

A British farmer has planted that country's first small grove of olive trees. (Wash Times, 6/2/06)

In the past five years, more than 1,000 U.S. ranchers have switched herds to an all-grass diet. (Time, 6/12/06)

The number of Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) farms, where local residents buy stock in a nearby farm, jumped from about 1,000 in 1999 to more than 2,000 in 2004. Seattle doubled the number of farmer's markets to 23 in past 10 years. (CSM, 2/9/06)

Kellogg is the first multinational food company to use a new type of soybean oil that eliminates some of the most unhealthy fats from foods. The Vistive seed produces a bean that does not have to be hydrogenated. (FT, 12/9/05)

In response to public pressure, four of the nation's top 10 chicken producers have stopped feeding broiler chickens low doses of antibiotics to make them grow faster and stay healthy. (USA Today, 1/24/06)

Despite the worst Midwest drought in 17 years, farmers harvested the second-largest corn crop ever. Last summer was the first real test of new drought-resistant seeds. Seed companies today are doubling the rate of genetic yield improvement in corn every year. (NYT, 12/8/05)

The worldwide glut of wine has become so huge that for the first time in history, France is distilling some of its higher-rated wines into fuel. (NYT, 10/6/05)

Northwest Missouri State University in conjunction with Ventria Bioscience will grow rice containing human genes for growing proteins to treat ailments such as diarrhea and dehydration. Once converted into a powder form, the proteins could be used in granola bars and drinks to help infants in developing countries. (AP, 12/20/05)

For centuries, hardy, hot-weather fruits such as lemons, oranges, and olives have grown only in southern Italy. Now there are citrus farms springing up all over northern Italy. Date palms are growing in the foothills of the Alps. (The Week, 9/9/05)

Germany is now coding its eggs with information about how the chicken was raised, where, and the farm that produced it. (CSM, 10/15/02)

Scientist said that by borrowing a gene from the E. coli bacteria, they had genetically engineered rice to withstand drought, salt water and cold.  (Reuters, 12/19/02)

In 2002, the U.S. was forecast to produce the smallest winter wheat crop in 24 years on the fewest harvested acres since 1971. (CSM, 7/10/02)

The average bushel of corn sells for $2 today; it costs farmers more than $3 to grow it. (NYT, 7/19/02)

Small farms in the U.S. are holding their own. Today’s total of 2.1 million is essentially the same as it was in 1990. More people are commuting to nonfarm jobs while they remain living on the farm. Nonfarm jobs now account for more than 90% of farm households’ income. (NYT, 3/7/05)

An increasing number of high school students in cities and suburbs are taking agriculture classes. The National F-F-A Organization says its membership of 476,000 students is the highest in 22 years. (AP, 2/3/05)

In Lincoln, Neb., a group of 10 farmers opened what most authorities think is the only grocery store in the country owned and managed by growers – the 5,000-sq-ft Centerville Farmers’ Market. (NYT, 9/21/04)

In June and August last year, the U.S. imported more agricultural goods than it exported, the first monthly trade deficits since 1986, when the Farm Belt was in the midst of a depression. (WSJ, 11/8/04)

Walnuts are the first food to be allowed to bear a qualified health claim by the FDA, a label stating that eating 1.5 ounces a day (a good handful) “may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.” (Boston Globe, 9/7/04)

Last spring, Mendocino County, Calif., voters banned production of genetically modified crops and animals there – the first county in the U.S. to do so. (SustainableBusiness.com, 6/11/04)

The Lohmeyers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland are raising a new crop: flowers. They are one of 19 local farming families who have turned to Dutch-style intensive greenhouse floriculture and away from grain, tobacco and poultry. (Wash Post, 6/22/03)

 For several growing seasons, the Horan Brothers farm in Iowa has produced pharma corn for Meristem Therapeutics, a French biotech firm. The corn contains the enzyme lipase, which Meristem processes into a drug to help victims of cystic fibrosis. “You’re looking at the only farmer-operated, human-pharmaceutical plot in the world,” Bill Horan tells visitors. (The Furrow, Mar 03)

The green revolution boosted yields so much that millions of the world’s poorest farmers in Africa became poorer. New rice and wheat varieties produced a grain glut that caused prices to fall. (New Scientist, 5/10/03)

A new Cargill Dow factory in Blair, Neb., converts field corn into a biodegradable substance it calls NatureWorks PLA. Coca-Cola is using it to make soft-drink cups, McDonald’s for salad containers and Pacific Coast Feather Co. to fill pillows and comforters.

India has approved the cultivation of genetically modified cotton. Although India has the largest area in the world under cotton cultivation, it is only the third largest producer behind the U.S. and China. This decision is expected to double cotton production in India. (FT, 3/27/02)

The United States now imports more frozen potato products than it exports. The Netherlands exports more of the sliced tubers than any other country. (CSM)

Once a net importer of beef, Brazil is now the third-largest exporter, behind the U.S. and Australia. Home to 165 million head of cattle, Brazil now boasts the largest commercial herd in the world and wants to become the world's top exporter by 2005. (WSJ)

After years of experimentation, port companies in northern Portugal believe they have at last perfected what the wine industry has been seeking for generations - a robot that treads grapes perfectly, tirelessly and cleanly. (FT)

With lower costs, Vietnam has overtaken Columbia as the world's second-largest coffee exporter. (FT)

Compared with grain-fed cows, those raised on a grass-only diet contain up to three times as much disease-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), prompting the American Dietetic Association to put beef on its list of functional foods. (Health)

A University of Wisconsin chemist, Rick Amasino, has discovered a gene that tells plants to die at the end of the season. By tweaking the gene, he can make a plant live longer and be more fruitful. China has licensed the patent to increase the yield of rice. (Chicago Tribune)

DNA from genetically modified corn has mysteriously turned up inside native varieties grown in a remote mountain area of Mexico, raising concerns of "genetic pollution" of indigenous crops. (USA Today)

Owners of mid-sized farms are becoming their own middlemen by banding together to process their crops into everything from liquid eggs for fast-food chains to corn-based fuel for cars. These "new-generation coops" are almost "paradoxical" says one observer. "By cooperating, the family farm can remain independent. It's a new way of thinking about agriculture." (CSM)

A new genetically engineered corn could replace tons of pesticides used by farmers against the destructive rootworm. The rootworms are killed when try to eat the roots of the altered plants. (Wash Post)

For the first time, the amount of every farm subsidy payment received by every farmer since 1996 has been made public. The Environmental Working Group posted the information gained through the Freedom of Information Act on their web site, www.ewg.org. (NYT)

Scientists at the University of Toronto have created a tomato plant capable of growing in salty water and soil. (Reuters)

A handful of counties in Maryland have begun offering "Farming 101" courses. "I've had 483 people run through the program," said an extension agent in Frederick County who started offering such a course five years ago. "They're just regular nonfarm people, like doctors, lawyers, mechanics." (Sun)

A new shrimp farm in the middle of the desert near Gila Bend, Ariz., is unique because shrimp farms have always been located near an ocean. Its shrimp are growing two or three times faster than coastal farms. Oceanside farms are running into problems with raw sewage, shrimp diseases, and parasites. (Furrow)

Seawater Farms in Eritrea on the Red Sea is the first commercial-sized saltwater farm in the world. The project is expected to produce $10 million a year in shrimp, fish, and products made from an edible succulent plant called salicornia that thrives in salt water. (Globe)

A growing number of farms are appearing where they were once least likely to be: in urban neighborhoods, suburbs, and small towns. Nearly 20% of the world's food now comes from city-based farms. (CSM)

A new technique for growing rice known as System of Rice Intensification (SRI) which doesn't depend upon chemical fertilizers, pesticides or expensive seed varieties is dramatically increasing rice yields across Asia. In China yields of 9-10.5 tons per hectare were achieved in the first year of the system, compared to the 6 ton national average. (FT)

Scientists at Texas A&M have cloned a disease-resistant black Angus bull. The genetically engineered calf is 10 to 100 times more resistant to disease than a normal animal. When vaccinated, the calf will become super resistant - between 100 and 1,000 times more resistant. (AP)

Eighty percent of the cocoa bean crop is grown by farmers with 10-acre plots. (NYT)

Last fall, an exact copy of a champion Holstein cow was auctioned - the first time a farm animal has been cloned for commercial sale. (USA Today)

A new degree program at the University of Florida trains students to become Doctors of Plant Medicine. The program combines existing course work in plant pathology, entomology and plant science in a new way to train practitioners to diagnose and treat plant diseases. (Sun)

Potato farmers in Chacas, Peru, are using a new propagation method to produce hardier and more plentiful potatoes for less money. Their 86,000 tons per acre each year is on par with yields in the U.S. and Europe. (CSM)

Planet Biotechnology is testing an antibody, produced in genetically altered tobacco plants, that blocks the bacteria that cause tooth decay. A one-year supply of the antibody could be affordably produced on a single large tobacco farm. (NYT)

For the first time, scientists report mapping the genes of a plant disease, an advance that could lead to new approaches to fighting a bacterial scourge that attacks orange groves and other crops. (AP)

A new wheat strain developed at the University of Florida may allow the same yield with a third less fertilizer. (Forbes)

Schools in Baltimore and Chicago are using math textbooks from Singapore. Singapore's eighth-graders ranked No. 1 in math among 41 nations tested. (AP)

A new wheat hybrid developed in China came from plants of different
genuses - the first such cross-fertilization in the world. The high-quality wheat is resistant to salt and thus able to grow in saline-alkali land, of which there are large areas in China. (AsiaPulse)

A new high-tech dairy farm in Wisconsin, the largest in the state, will milk cows three times a day and will use only five people to milk 500 cows at a time. (Gannett)

A genetically engineered corn that makes its own pesticide is supposed to kill only the pests it's aimed at. But lab tests have shown that the roots exude the poison into the soil where it can remain indefinitely. (CSM)

A new Israeli genetic engineering technique makes plants grow up to 50 percent faster than they normally do. The technique has shown promise in speeding up the growth of corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and rice. (Jerusalem Report)

Britain's largest chicken producer, Grampain Country Food Group, now raises all of its chickens without the use of antibiotic growth promoters. The company sells about 4 million birds a week. (Times)

Restaurant Nora, an organic eatery near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., is the nation's first certified organic restaurant. Organic Tilth, a nonprofit certifier in Salem, Oregon, has given its stamp of approval to 3,000 growers, 272 processors and now, one restaurant. (WSJ)

Infigen, a rural Wisconsin company, revealed last fall that it has a herd of 37 cow clones, of which 17 are transgenic. The cows are to provide four different products to Pharming, the Dutch pharmaceuticals maker. According to company estimates, one transgenic cow could produce $200 million to $300 million of product a year. (FT)

California is now the country's largest milk-producing state, surpassing Wisconsin. (NYT)

The vegetables of tomorrow could provide healthier meals, thanks to bacteria bred to produce high levels of vitamins and other important nutrients. Soya beans treated with bacteria had a 15% increase in amino acid levels. Lettuce is being treated to produce high levels of vitamin B12. (New Scientist)

Researchers at the University of Toronto have produced genetically modified plants that manage to flourish even when watered with concentrated salt solutions. (C&EN)

Genetic resistance bred into wheat crops 40 years ago has begun to break down. A new, mutated form of the stem-rust fungus - a disease that virtually disappeared after destroying as much as half of wheat yields decades ago - had reappeared at an experimental farm in the highlands of Uganda. (AP)

India is the only country in the world where every botanical species known to mankind is found. (FT)

In a move to avert pesticide resistance, a coalition of the major producers of genetically engineered corn seed will require farmers to grow sizable plots of non-engineered, old-fashioned corn along with their new biotechnology varieties. (Wash Post

In Britain, 24 of the 30 top food companies are removing genetically modified ingredients from their products. (FT

More than a dozen new varieties of rice can thrive in floods up to 13 feet and produce yields as high as 12,000 kilograms per hectare. Traditional varieties yield less than 1,000 kilograms a hectare. (JOC)

A change in the behavior of the western corn rootworm beetle is threatening the use of crop rotation instead of pesticides on millions of acres of Midwestern corn. Crop rotation used to strand the beetle lavre in fields of inedible soybeans. Adult beetles however have now developed a taste for soybeans. (NYT)

Two scientists at Demegen Inc., a biotechnology company in Pittsburgh, have won a patent for a process which increases the protein quality in potatoes, sweet potatoes and tobacco. The company plans to extend the technology to wheat, corn and rice. (NYT)

Last year, American farmers planted more than 50 million acres of gene-altered soybeans, corn, cotton and potatoes. Four years ago, that acreage was zero. (St. Louis-Post Dispatch)

Case Corp. new MX Series Magnum tractors come with facilities to support a PC, monitors, wireless links to the Internet, and other office machines right inside the cab of the tractor. (IW)

Mexico’s International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center has produced a new "wonder wheat" that yields 50 percent more grain per acre than any wheat variety in history. The new wonder wheat is a product of crossbreeding rather than biotechnology. (JOC)

"Enough food is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food per person a day worldwide. . . Hunger is quite simply the product of simple human decisions." - Peter Rosset in the Chicago Tribune.

More than a dozen varieties of higher-yielding rice growable in flood-prone regions of Asia are now available. The new varieties can thrive in floods up to 13 feet and produce yields as high as 12,000 kilograms per hectare. Traditional varieties yield less than 1,000 kilograms a hectare. (JOC)

Scientists in Australia have come up with a radical way to reduce the cost of wool harvesting: self-shearing sheep. Sheep injected with a natural protein they developed shed their fleece a week later. The wool starts growing back within 24 hours. (CSM)

A weed that was altered by scientists to resist a herbicide also developed far greater ability to pollinate other plants and pass its traits on. The genetically altered plants were able to fertilize other plants at a rate 20 times greater than that of other mutants. (AP)

By tinkering with the genetic make-up of potatoes, Canadian researchers may have discovered a painless way to prevent people from developing diabetes. Their genetically engineered potatoes can protect mice from the onset of type 1 diabetes. (New Scientist)

Last year, researchers at Applied Phytologics planted 4,200 rice plants engineered to manufacture alpha-1-antitrypsin, a human protein that could be used to treat liver disease. (New Scientist)

British scientists have created a dairy "designer cow" that can produce semi-skimmed milk and butter that spreads straight from the refrigerator. The dairy industry however expects consumer resistance because the techniques involve putting new additives into cattle feed. (High Plains Journal)

Urban agriculture is growing. One of the most radical initiatives aims to bring livestock to the inner city. Heifer Project International, a poverty relief group active in rural communities worldwide, recently opened a field office in Chicago. (CSM)

Howard County, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., hired its first agricultural marketer last year. In the last 10 years, the number of farms in New Jersey rose by 400, to 9,200. (NYT)

A Dutch researcher calculated 30 years ago that the maximum edible crop yield per acre was between 6 tons and 9 tons, depending on distance from the equator. The world's current average corn yield is only about 2.5 tons, and the average rice yield is 3.5 tons. (Dennis Avery)

"The market price of wheat adjusted for inflation has fallen over the past two centuries despite a growing world population and rising incomes. Even more startling, the price of wheat relative to wages in the U.S. has fallen to perhaps 1/20th of its level two centuries ago." - Julian L. Simon (WSJ)

In the early 20th century, corn farmers were planting about 5,000 plants per acre. Today many farmers are plant 25,000 plants per acre and a seed company in Michigan is testing a variety that can thrive even if crowded in at 50,000 plants per acre. (Dennis T. Avery)

Edible vaccines are being developed at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research. A potato vaccine fed to laboratory mice made them immune to cholera and other diarrhetic diseases. The same antigen is now being grown in bananas. (Pacific News Service)

Urban farming is spreading in every part of the world. In the U.S., 40% of the dollar value of food output in 1990 came from metropolitan urban areas - up from 30% in 1980. In 1990, 65% of Moscow's families raised their own food, up from 20% in 1970. There are 80,000 community gardeners in Berlin with 16,000 on the waiting list. (Sun)

In 1995, for the first time, the value of Iowa's non-farm exports ($4.1 billion) exceeded that of it's exports of crops and livestock ($4 billion). (NYT)

The increasing cost of land - $800,000 to $1 million for a 100-acre farm - is triggering the most important change the Old Order Amish have undergone since their immigration here in the mid 1700s: a move from farms into cottage industries. (Utne Reader)

Last year, a cotton farmer in Mississippi made the first-ever purchase of seed for a genetically engineered field crop. BXN cotton developed by Stoneville is virtually immune to Buctril, a potent, fast-acting contact herbicide. (The Furrow)

Creation of the Center for Research on Well-Being in Food Animals at Purdue University was prompted by concerns about how animals are raised and used for food. Center scientists are developing ways to measure animal well-being objectively through such indicators as heart rate, blood pressure, immune-system response, and the secretion of hormones. (The Furrow)

An aggressive new strain of the potato blight that devastated Ireland in the 19th century is threatening potato crops across the U.S. "This is the worst crisis to have hit the U.S. potato industry in history," says a research microbiologist with the Department of Agriculture. (NYT)

For the first time since the 1949 revolution inadequate harvests have forced China to import foreign rice. Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia also had to import rice last year for the first time in more than a decade.

Until recently, soy sauce had never been made in the United States .But now the world’s second-largest producer of soy sauce, Yamasa Corp. of Japan, is brewing it in a $30-million, 65,000-square-foot plant in Salem, Oregon. (The Furrow)

India is set to become the world’s third largest exporter of rice bypassing Vietnam. "For the first time, farmers are growing crops specifically for export and are using techniques to increase crop yields," says a senior official in the agricultural ministry.(FT)

The United States has run out of surplus food to give to poor countries for the first time since World War II. (Wash Times)

An Energy Department study concluded that 19 of the 50 most widely used chemicals in the U.S. could wholly or partly be replaced by biomass feedstocks. Construction companies have begun to use Bio-Form, which is made from the oil in rape, to coat the wood beams that keep concrete in place while it hardens. (NYT)

Penn State University researchers have demonstrated that minced horseradish can remove toxic by-products from industrial wastewater. Purifying 66,000 gallons of wastewater using minced horseradish costs only $920. (National Wildlife)

Farmers in parts of England and Scotland are experiencing yield reductions as a result of a sulphur deficiency. The Clean Air Act has reduced the amount of free sulphur falling from the sky. (Financial Times)

Genetically altered plants could revolutionize medical care by providing cheap, plentiful sources of 'edible' vaccines and other medicines. Mice fed an altered potato produced antibodies against a bacterium responsible for diarrheal disease. (WSJ)

Genetic engineers have developed corn lines that fight off European corn borers without any assistance from pesticides. These borer-resistant lines produce the same toxin that's normally produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringensis. The corn could be commercially available as early as 1996. (The Furrow)

Researchers have developed a prototype breed of 'super rice' that yields 25% more food per acre than today's best varieties. It also requires significantly less fertilizer than do today's varieties. (Wash Post)
For the first time since 1926, there were more planted acres of cotton in Georgia - 900,000 - than any other row crop. U.S. cotton consumption is at a 50-year high. (CSM)