" I heard it through the AgLine"

January 21, 2010

 

 

·        DuPont lost case, but goes ahead with seeds

·        Farming fuel in Middle Eastern salt marshes

·        Hip youngsters reviving Japanese agriculture

·        California organic certifications on the rise

·        World Ag Expo launches Attendees’ Choice awards

 

 

DuPont lost case, but goes ahead with seeds

 

(Bloomberg) – DuPont Co., the world's second-biggest seed producer, will continue creating modified soybeans that a court ruled violate a license with Monsanto Co. because it expects to prevail on other claims in the case.

 

DuPont plans to begin selling Optimum GAT soybean seeds that include Monsanto's Roundup Ready gene as soon as 2013, Paul Schickler, president of DuPont's Pioneer Hi-Bred seed unit, said Tuesday in a telephone interview. U.S. District Judge Richard Webber in St. Louis ruled Jan. 15 that such a combination violates the licensing agreement's ban on creating seeds that resist Roundup, the world's best-selling herbicide, in two ways.

 

Creve Coeur-based Monsanto, the world's largest seed producer, is facing a U.S. Department of Justice probe into competition in the genetically modified crop industry. While the judge upheld Monsanto's effort to block the release of Optimum GAT soybeans, Webber hasn't yet heard DuPont's counterclaims that Monsanto is using its dominance in biotech seeds to stifle competition and that its Roundup Ready patent is invalid.

 

"It's important to recognize that the whole set of information around the dispute has yet to be presented to the judge," Schickler said.

 

 

Scott Partridge, Monsanto's chief deputy general counsel, said DuPont's plans go against the judge's ruling. "He just entered a ruling that they are not licensed to make this combination," Partridge said. "They are doing so at their own peril."

 

DuPont will prevail on its claims, clearing the way for the release of Optimum GAT combined, or stacked, with Monsanto's Roundup Ready gene, Schickler said.

 

"We negotiated for right to stack, and we believed in the license agreement that we received it," Schickler said. "We also have the option to consider an appeal of this ruling."

 

Return to Top

 

 

Farming fuel in Middle Eastern salt marshes

 

(Scientific American) – A new biofuels project at Abu Dhabi's Masdar Institute of Science and Technology will unite Boeing, Honeywell and others in search of a system to produce fuel and other useful products from biomass and seawater.

 

The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project is focused on integrating aquaculture and farming to create a closed-loop system that thrives in areas where fresh water is scarce.

 

Waste from the aquaculture project will be used to fertilize mangrove forests and plantations of another saltwater plant, and the resultant biomass will be used to make aviation biofuels and clean energy.

 

A cooperative agreement for the project was signed Sunday at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

 

The project is seen as a way to produce fuel in arid environments with ample saltwater supplies.

 

Backers said the integrated seawater agriculture system captures atmospheric carbon, promotes biodiversity by creating new habitat, frees up scarce fresh water supplies for other uses and can potentially reduce the impact of sea level rise on coastal communities, in addition to producing solid biomass for energy and liquid biofuels.

 

"The paradigm for energy supply is shifting," said Jennifer Holmgren, vice president and general manager of renewable energy and chemicals for Honeywell's UOP, in a statement. "To meet the growing demand for energy worldwide, we must identify regional biofuel solutions that are not only sustainable, but can actually regenerate the ecosystems where they are produced."

 

Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, stressed the future value of plant-based fuels. "We are forging our energy future by developing a renewable fuel supply now, not when fossil fuels are depleted," he said. "Developing and commercializing these low-carbon energy sources is the right thing for our industry, for our customers and for future generations."

 

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will also partner on the project.

 

The technology being demonstrated through the project was developed by Carl Hodges, who now leads Global Seawater Inc. and will contribute to the project as a special adviser.

 

The major commercial partners did not disclose their financial commitments for the project.

 

Return to Top

 

 

Hip youngsters reviving Japanese agriculture

 

(AFP via Yahoo! News) TOKYO – Young Japanese are fleeing the urban jungle for the half-abandoned countryside on a mission to make farming cool again and cut Japan's frightening food deficit in the process.

 

Organic farming converts, rice-growing Tokyo fashionistas and other young greenfingers have trickled back into rural Japan where many farm towns have been slowly dying amid fast-greying Japan's demographic crunch.

 

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, now imports 60 percent of its food, and many worry about future food security if climate change rocks global food supplies or energy costs swing international grain prices.

 

In a high-tech country that grew rich on selling cars and electronics, the young farmers are standing up to reinvent the image of agriculture.

 

"No matter how big Japan's economy is, no matter how much cash it stacks up, this country will soon be unable to buy so much food from overseas," Yusuke Miyaji, 31, recently told a crowd of young farmers.

 

"I want to make a job in the primary sector cool, striking and profitable," said Miyaji, dressed in overalls, to applause from his audience. "Kids should dream of becoming farmers, not baseball players!"

 

Miyaji, who comes from a pig farming family, has created a network called Kosegare, a word meaning farmer's son, that has attracted more than 200 young farmers and supporters who share his sense of crisis.

 

"The time left for us to revamp this industry is probably about five years," Miyaji warned his squad of youthful activist farmers.

 

Under his scheme, produce is marketed under the network's "Refarm" brand. Members share information on organic farming and urge supportive consumers to buy directly from them to cut distribution and commission costs.

 

Encouraged by the movement, Kaori Nukui, 31, who joined her parents last year to grow green tea and shiitake mushrooms, said that after years in the city she now saw a business opportunity in family farming.

 

"I had no interest before in taking over this business," said Nukui, who had worked for Tokyo consulting and public relations firms for seven years, as she drove a pick-up truck to a mushroom house in Iruma, north of Tokyo.

 

"My mother also wanted me to marry a businessman rather than work the land," she said. "But when I thought of starting a business myself, I realised my parents had already built a good foundation for me."

 

Data shows Japan's farming population is quickly ageing and that many farm households have no working heir, as birth rates have fallen and children have left country towns for the bright city lights.

 

More than 70 percent of Japan's working farmers are aged 60 or older, and nearly half are over 70.

 

Only 8.5 percent are aged 39 or younger.

 

About 3,800 square kilometres (1,520 square miles) of farmland have been abandoned and laid waste throughout the nation. In 88 percent of cases, the owners said they were too old to work the fields.

 

Japan, which kept its food self-sufficiency ratio above 70 percent in the late 1960s, now produces only 40 percent of its food and buys almost all its wheat, corn and soy beans from overseas.

 

Domestic production of meat, particularly beef and pork, has fallen from 96 percent in 1960 to about half in 2007.

 

The country grows enough rice for domestic consumption, thanks to heavy trade protection which has also made the rice sector highly inefficient.

 

The government has for years tried to reduce rice farming acreage in order to limit supply, keep the market price high, and thereby allow Japanese rice farmers to continue to make a living.

 

The new government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has pledged to abolish the policy but keep subsidising rice farmers.

 

Seeing the dire situation of farmers, even girls with trendy hairstyles and long painted fingernails in Tokyo's fashionable Shibuya shopping district have jumped onto the rural bandwagon.

 

Shiho Fujita, a 24-year-old singer, music producer and model, is leading a squad of "gal" farmers who have cultivated rice in the countryside, and dishes out advice in her blog on growing zucchini and tomatoes.

 

"It may be difficult for gals and young people to start farming instantly," she writes. "But if the agro-industry becomes more exciting by young people joining it, then Japan's farming will definitely change.

 

"And I think, Japan needs it."

 

Return to Top

 

 

California organic certifications on the rise

 

(foodproductdesign.com) – California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) reported an 8-percent growth in the number of certified operations and total certified organic acreage in 2009. The number of CCOF certified operations increased from 2,007 in 2008 to 2,168 in 2009, while the certified acreage grew from 558,137 to 603,545.

 

Fruit crops, especially raisin grape and citrus acreage, experienced substantial increases. In 2009, CCOF added 1,545 new certified organic raisin grape acres, an increase of 45.4 percent. Raisin acreage has risen 168 percent over the last four years. CCOF certified organic citrus acreage grew 39.2 percent. Organic berries also showed strong growth with certified acreage increasing 20 percent; certified organic acreage for berries increased 203 percent in the last four years.

 

Acreage for certified organic nuts increased from 18.8 percent in 2009; pistachio orchards led the way with 42-percent growth, while almonds increased 26 percent.

 

Some organic vegetable crop acreage grew while others declined. Organic garlic experienced 533-percent growth, while lettuce, carrots and processing tomatoes acreages declined.

 

CCOF certification of handler or food processor operations grew at 9 percent, a 50-percent higher growth rate than the grower segment. The organic beverages category is one of the largest; encompassing organic coffee, tea, dairy and wine. Chocolate and confections are two other key areas of growth. CCOF anticipates that the processed goods certification category will continue to expand, especially as large scale retailers begin to enter the market and with the introduction of private-label organic brands.

 

Return to Top

 

 

World Ag Expo launches Attendees’ Choice awards

 

Tulare, Calif. – (AgPR)  – World Ag Expo show management announced today that it has added an Attendees’ Choice Award to the 2010 Top-10 Contest. A five-star rating system will allow attendees to select the product that they believe most deserves the Attendees’ Choice accolades. 

“Our committee selected 10 great products to receive Top-10 New Product awards,” said Bernie Cargle, 2010 World Ag Expo Chairman. “Now it’s up to our attendees to decide which product deserves the Attendees’ Choice Award.”

Prior to the expo, attendees are invited to vote online at worldagexpo.com/attendeeschoice. During the expo votes will be cast at the New Product Pavilion. The product that receives the most votes will receive special acknowledgement after the expo.

“This new addition to the Top-10 New Products Contest is really exciting,” Cargle said. “When the dust settles from the 2010 Expo we will know which product was viewed by attendees as the top product of 2010.”

A panel of agribusiness professionals from across the nation including farmers, ranchers and industry professionals selected the Top-10 New Products and 10 Honorable Mention Products from more than 70 entries. The Top-10 New Products will be showcased inside the New Product Pavilion on Expo Lane and R Street and will be toured on Feb. 8 during World Ag Expo’s Media Day. An estimated 100,000 attendees are expected to attend World Ag Expo, which is the largest annual exposition of its kind.

“These products showed the most potential to advance ag production and have the most potential to power global agriculture,” Cargle said. “Attendees can find out more about the Top-10 New Products and the 10 Honorable Mention Products before the expo at worldagexpo.com.

 

The 2010 Top-10 New Products are:

 

AutoFarm OnTrac2 GPS, Novariant - AutoFarm, Fremont, CA

The OnTrac2 GPS Assisted Steering System works with two-wheel and four-wheel drive tractors, combines, sprayers and spreaders. With unit in place farming operations are performed with greater accuracy, covering more ground faster and more efficiently.

Cooling Station, Heat Relief Solutions, Napa, CA

Self-contained mobile heat-relief facility helps prevent heat illness among farm workers. The 16-foot, all-steel tandem axle trailer is highway legal and can carry a total of 300 gallons of potable water. Features include an aluminum shade canopy; a commercial two-stage oscillating fogging fan plus an optional satellite fan that can be used with a water misting pump up to 200 feet from the trailer; and two 10-gallon food-grade drinking water tanks with dispensers for large cups.

 

Forklift 180-degree Bin Inverter, Schieler Harvester, Terra Bella, CA

This fork lift attachment for dumping bins of fruit, nuts or other bulk items, does what no conventional hydraulic bin dumper can – it allows the bin to turn over a full 180 degrees to completely empty the bin of its contents. The attachment saves growers time and money.

 

Gripple T-Clip, Gripple, Inc., Aurora, IL

An innovative wire-gripping device, called the Gripple T-Clip offers a revolutionary way to start or terminate a fence. It replaces the time and trouble of knotting or stapling wires at the end post with a fast, simple twist and push action. 

Hoof Supervisor System, Feed Supervisor Software, Dresser, WI 

Hoof Supervisor, a new computerized chute-side data recording system, enables hoof trimmers to collect report and analyze results of their work more efficiently.

 

Magswitch Magnets, Forney Industries, Fort Collins, CO

Magswitch Magnets offer farmers and ranchers a faster, more precise and easier-to-use alternative to clamp, hold, position or lift ferrous steel for fabrication, welding, wood working projects and general repair projects.

 

LWR Manure Treatment System, Livestock Water Recycling, Calgary, Alberta

An innovative alternative to a lagoon is designed to protect profits and the environment by converting dairy and swine waste into clean potable water, dry solids and a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer. 

 

One Shot Tree Recognition System, Nelson Mfg. Co., Inc. , Yuba City, CA

The One Shot limits spray applications to trees offering an inexpensive yet dependable and effective way to minimize chemical costs and drift when spraying orchards. 

 

44 Super Magnum Sand Pump, McLanahan Corporation, Hollidaysburg, PA

The new 44 Super Magnum Sand Pump is the only pump on the market specifically designed for handling sand and manure. It fills a void in the agricultural market where there is a need for a vertical, rubber-lined, high-wear pump.

 

Stinger Automatic Load Securing System, Stinger, Inc., Haven, KS

Trying to throw straps against high winds, fussing with tie-down ropes and crawling on top of the load when securing a trailer full of large square straw bales are a thing of the past with the new Automatic Load Securing System. The hydraulically operated system features two straps suspended between a stationary bulkhead at the front of the trailer and a sliding bulkhead at the rear. To secure the load, press a switch, activating hydraulic cylinders carefully securing the load.

 

World Ag Expo occupies more than 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, hosts more than 1,600 exhibitors and draws an estimated 100,000 attendees over its three-day exposition. All attendees are encouraged to preregister and save $2 per ticket at worldagexpo.com.

 

Return to Top

 

End Transmission