Spare a thought for workers in a Hong Kong potato chip factory after they found an unexploded hand grenade in a shipment of potatoes just imported from France. The German grenade, thought to be from the First World War, was found in the potatoes while staff at the factory were unloading them. It is believed […] Read more
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Denmark builds fence to keep wild boar out of country
Denmark plans to build a fence along its border with Germany in a bid to keep out wild boar. Danish officials fear wild boar could spread African swine fever to the country’s hog barns with devasting effects. Denmark has about 3,000 pig farms with 12 million pigs. The industry is rated among the top in […] Read more
Cattle urinal to cut ammonia emissions
A new piece of livestock equipment designed in the Netherlands has left farmers feeling a little flushed. Hanskamp, a company based in Doetinchem, has developed a cow toilet that collects urine in an effort to reduce ammonia. Designed primarily to ease increasing regulations on the dairy industry, the CowToilet is an automatic urinal that cows […] Read more
Deere’s new electric tractor tosses the battery
John Deere says it is plowing ahead to develop electric powered agricultural machinery and has introduced an electric cable-powered tractor delivering up to 400 horsepower. The GridCON research project and tractor offers farmers the opportunity to supply and use their own energy for field work. Although John Deere presented its first fully electric tractor, known […] Read more
World’s dairy farms reduce emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from dairy cows have shown a decline globally over a 10-year period, a new study has found. The study, conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Global Dairy Platform, calculated greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy sector from 2005-15 and found reductions in all regions of the […] Read more
EU farmers anticipate Japanese trade deal
A key component of the deal is that 85 percent of tariffs on agricultural imports have been reduced or removed
A new trade agreement between the European Union and Japan takes effect this winter and should provide an economic boost for EU farmers. The EU say efforts to reduce the barriers that have restricted agricultural exporters from reaching Japan’s 126 million consumers in the past have paid off. One of the key components of the […] Read moreNo-deal Brexit prospect alarms U.K. producers
The National Farmers Union says leaving without a deal could lead to an immediate reliance on overseas imports
The likelihood is growing that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union March 29 without a deal, a scenario both the U.K. and the EU want to avoid. National Farmers Union president Minette Batters has warned about the consequences for U.K. farmers should there be no deal. “For example, a no-deal Brexit could lead […] Read more
Large Aussie farm sold
One of the largest farms in the world encompassing about four million acres has been sold to new owners in Australia. Clifton Hills Station stretches from Queensland into South Australia and is home to around 20,000 head of cattle. Previously owned by a partnership of a number of shareholders, Clifton Hills has been bought by […] Read more
Global outlook predicts fewer dairy farms
World milk production is expected to grow by 35 percent by 2030, even as 14 million farming operations leave the business
Fourteen million dairy farms will cease production around the world by 2030, according to global outlook predictions. However, world milk production is expected to grow by an average 35 percent internationally by that time to supply demand from a population estimated to be 8.7 billion people. Dairy experts suggest the current top three dairy-exporting regions […] Read moreEU increases soy imports from U.S.
Europe’s soybean imports from the United States have increased by 112 percent, knocking its traditional soybean source Brazil into second place. For the period from July to December 2018, the increase, compared to the same period in 2017, means the U.S. now supplies 75 percent of all EU soybean imports. From the U.S. point of […] Read more
