(Reuters) — Crowd funding has found the farm. AgFunder, an online platform for agriculture-related companies to seek capital through a form of crowd-sourced fundraising, said Wednesday it was launching its first campaign by focusing on a California agricultural data company. Through the online platform, Fresno, California-based OnFarm is looking to raise $400,000 in capital to […] Read more
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AgFunder, crowd funding for agriculture, launches first deal
USDA to reinstate reports, including semi-annual cattle data
CHICAGO (Reuters) — Several reports that had been shelved last year due to budget constraints, including the mid-year cattle survey, are being brought back due to recent funding measures, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday. Following passage of its budget by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, USDA’s National […] Read more
Chinese GMO corn crucial for food security, says expert
BEIJING (Reuters) — China will need to plant genetically modified corn if it is to cope with the growing challenge of food security, said a leading biotech scientist, even as the country continues to reject imports of GMO corn from the United States. China’s rapid urbanization and rising wealth has triggered a rapid growth in […] Read more
China tests U.S. soy cargoes for MIR 162 contamination
BEIJING (Reuters) — China has begun testing imported U.S. soybean cargoes at the southern province of Guangdong for contamination with the unapproved genetically-modified MIR 162 strain of corn, traders said on Thursday. Strict testing of corn shipments for the variety developed by Syngenta AG, which has not been approved for import by China’s agriculture ministry, […] Read more
Bunge reports fourth quarter profit
CHICAGO (Reuters) — Bunge Ltd., one of the world’s largest agricultural trading houses, said on Thursday it turned a profit in the fourth quarter and was “actively” reviewing its loss-making Brazilian sugar business. The update on Bunge’s sugar milling operations came after chief executive officer Soren Schroder last year signaled plans to shed the business, […] Read more
Twelve EU ministers urge Brussels to rethink GM maize
BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Ministers from 12 EU countries have written to European Health Commissioner Tonio Borg asking him not to approve a strain of genetically modified maize to be grown for human consumption, even though he says he is legally bound to do so. Widely grown in the Americas and Asia, GM crops […] Read more
Fast Deere runs through fields
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Deere has entered the high speed planting business. High speed planting, which uses narrower machines to go faster, has been big news in agricultural machinery circles the past couple of years. A few Australian and North American farm machinery companies have air seeding equipment that will travel 10 m.p.h. or more, but […] Read more
Snowboarding-cowgirl Kaitlyn Farrington stands out from the herd
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) — The only thing more surprising than American Kaitlyn Farrington winning halfpipe gold at the Sochi Olympics on Wednesday is the story of how her early career was funded — by selling the family’s livestock. Snowboarders like Shaun White can command millions of dollars in endorsements, but the woman from Sunny […] Read more
Ohio department of agriculture finds new pig virus
(Reuters) — A new swine virus, distinct from the deadly PED pig virus, has been found in pig fecal samples taken from four different farms in Ohio during January and early February, the Ohio Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday. While the pigs that contracted the new virus, designated as Swine DeltaCoronavirus (SDCV), suffered from […] Read more
Mix of farm innovations could take a bite out of world hunger
CHICAGO, Feb 12 (Reuters) – A tailored mix of farming technologies could significantly improve global food security by mid-century as the world’s population swells to a projected 9 billion and the risk of adverse weather from climate change threatens crops and disrupts trade, according to a study published on Wednesday. Global corn yields could jump […] Read more
