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April 19, 2010
· ‘Every day is Earth Day’ for pro farmers
· Renting land helps new farmers get started
· EPA rethinking atrazine and drinking water
· China accused of dumping glyphosate in US
·
‘Every day is Earth Day’ for pro farmers
(mydesert.com) – It's not so much the green of money — although that certainly keeps the third-generation family-operated farm in good stead.
Rather, he sees it as another opportunity to embrace an innovative, environmentally friendly practice.
Peter Rabbit Farms recently began washing tons of carrots
before loading them into trucks bound for packing houses in
By eliminating dirt, vines and other debris, the Coachella farm is able to pile substantially more carrots into each 80,000-pound truck.
The result: The farm cuts about 10 round-trips per day, six or seven days a week, saving gas, cutting emissions and keeping more trucks off freeways.
“Every carrot we grow in the
It's no surprise that farmers across the valley who
cultivate everything from dates to artichokes to lettuce and persimmons embrace
“green” practices, said Albert Keck, president of
“Basically, every day is Earth Day for professional farmers,” he said.
The valley is the top date-growing region in the nation, producing nearly 95 percent of the crop, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
With that kind of volume, the work by date growers to routinely compost prunings and put them back into the soil has a huge impact.
Valley farmers such as Powell, a Stanford graduate, and Keck look to combine the latest technological advances with innovative farm management skills to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
It's critical in
A vast, underground aquifer supplies irrigation water to grow some 40 million pounds of dates during a typical harvest in the valley.
Still, Keck said date growers treat water as a limited, valuable natural resource by using the latest drip irrigation technology and other conservation measures to limit waste.
“Drip technology allows you to spoon-feed the crops,” Keck said. “A complementary component is fertilizers. We can spoon-feed nutrients in micro-doses as well.”
In the valley and statewide, water efficiency during drought conditions has been a continuing priority for farmers and ranchers, said Dave Kranz, spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation.
“There has been quite a lot of investment in water-saving technology, both in terms of better predicting the weather so you know when to irrigate and when not to, as well as irrigation techniques,” Kranz said.
In the past six years, for instance, farmers in the
Some of the most advanced farms bury irrigation tubing just at the crop's root zone. Satellite-guided tractors plant and cultivate by operating within the furrows and maintaining equipment accuracy within a fraction of an inch of the drip lines.
Table grape and date growers are among valley farmers employing advanced pesticides and biological insect controls that target specific species of harmful insects.
“That technology uses really advanced chemistry, letting the good-guy (beneficial) bugs survive,” Keck said.
Many farmers also are looking at pesticides derived from natural elements rather than those synthesized in laboratories, Keck said.
Kranz cited other examples of environmentally conscious measures farmers and ranchers are embracing statewide.
Gill's Onions of Oxnard, the largest fresh onion processor in the nation, launched a system last year that converts all of its daily 300,000 pounds of onion waste into ultra-clean heat, electrical energy and cattle feed, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30,000 tons per year.
Some dairy farmers in
Powell said being green means keeping an eye out for opportunity.
Peter Rabbit Farms recently donated an entire unharvested field of broccoli to Hidden Harvest, an organization that “rescues” produce from fields and packing houses and distributes it to the needy.
“It's a way to reduce waste and provide nutrition to people at a very low cost,” Powell said. “That's a very green practice.”
Renting land helps new farmers get started
(The
Oregonian)
If he could, he would own the ground he tills and harvests. But acres aren't easy to come by these days, so Radtke pursues his farming dreams on someone else's soil.
As more people choose to eat locally grown food, more metro residents are turning to farming, the Oregon Farm Bureau says. That's good news to advocates who worried that newer generations would reject farming. But as more people choose agricultural careers, they're learning there's one missing commodity: land.
Renting has become an attractive option for new farmers, who lack the money or the family connections to buy a farm, as well as for older farmers who are transitioning into retirement but want their land to keep producing food.
There's enough demand for rent agreements that a new
organization, iFarm
"Younger people, urban eaters, are really intrigued by the idea of farming," said Michele Knaus, who works with Friends of Family Farmers, the nonprofit that runs iFarm. "There has been so much in the media that has made farming sound less like something your great grandparents did and more like something that you can actually do."
Radtke, 35, was in his 20s when he began growing his own
food in his
"I loved it," he said. "I wanted to do more of it."
It made sense to start small. Both he and his wife worked for nonprofits. Owning a farm would be expensive, and though he wanted to work outside and grow his own food, he wasn't sure then whether he'd be any good at it.
"It's not just gardening on a bigger scale," he said. "It's actually a business."
He started as an apprentice on Dancing Roots farm in
Troutdale then began renting 2 1/2 acres in
Florence Jessup, a farmer and the facilitator for the Portland CSA coalition, said Radtke's slow-growth approach is smart. Jessup, who began farming at 48, has put $65,000 into her CSA, Artisan Organics, since beginning it on rented land two years ago.
"You can expect three to five years without profit, and you have to have something to live off while beginning your business," she said. "So when I talk to young farmers, I suggest not buying land yet."
The Oregon State University Extension Service recently started a program for new and small farmers. It cites the 2007 agriculture census, which showed a 144 percent increase in farm-direct sales between 2002 and 2007. Those are farmers selling crops at farmers markets, CSAs or to restaurants or schools.
Landowners across the state have latched on to some of those new farmers. Some landowners depend on renters for income or farm deferral tax breaks. Others simply want their land to stay agriculturally active, though they aren't able to work it themselves.
But for farming hopefuls, finding open land to rent can be difficult. Even when properties are protected as rural reserves, the state does not require them to be actively farmed, so farmers compete with others who just want to live on an open expanse, Radtke said.
Jessup, who leases eight acres in south
Farmers have to be creative. Donna Smith started her CSA by
cobbling together backyard parcels. Smith and partner Robyn Streeter plant the
crops, do the maintenance and leave fresh produce by their clients' doors each
week. They now farm in 67 backyards in
But local institutions are working to make more land
available. Metro, the regional government, leases 16 acres to Sauvie Island
Organics, a 400-member CSA that also provides mentorships for emerging farmers.
Mercy Corps Northwest, through the city of
And last year Friends of Family Farmers started
ifarmoregon.org, a Web site that links landowners with farmers. Knaus said the
organization has far more people looking for land in the metro area than
landowners hoping to rent, but the site has helped people such as Greg
Malinowski, who runs Malinowski Farm near
Their father bought the land in the 1940s, Malinowski said, and for decades, his sons have worked on the farm. Eventually, they grew tired or too busy, he said, to tend the entire farm. But they want to keep their organic farm active and profitable, so they lease land to new farmers. The Malinowski rental agreement is unique: Instead of a flat fee, farmers pay a percent of their earnings to the Malinowskis. Infrastructure upgrades are done together.
"If they have a bad year, we suffer. If they have a good year, we do, too," he said. "It makes sure we keep an eye on things. It makes sure they have the things they need like irrigation or field help."
That setup could work for other farmers, who, like
Malinowski, are inching toward retirement. The average age of an
And if they find someone like Radtke, who is in his 30s, landowners could reap many years of crops. As it turns out, Radtke is pretty good at farming. Every year his business has grown. But it's not enough, he says, to support his family. Until recently, he worked a part-time job. His wife, Mishelle, works full time for Darigold dairy.
He dreams of a bigger operation. He'd like to plant some perennials, some fruit trees. He'd like to build a few more greenhouses. He'd like to do it all on his own land.
He has saved money, made dozens of calls. So far, it hasn't happened. Instead he wakes up every day, drives out to someone else's farm and plants another round of crops. It isn't his dream, but it's a start.
EPA rethinking atrazine and drinking water
(Chicago
Tribune) – Despite growing health concerns about atrazine, an agricultural
weedkiller sprayed on farm fields across the
High levels of the herbicide can linger in tap water during the growing season, according to more frequent tests in some agricultural communities.
Spread heaviest on cornfields, atrazine is one of the most commonly detected contaminants in drinking water. Studies have found that exposure to small amounts of the chemical can turn male frogs into females and might be more harmful to humans than once thought.
Manufacturers say their own research proves the chemical is safe. But alarmed by other studies, the Obama administration is conducting a broad review that could lead to tighter restrictions. It is also mulling changes in laws that require water utilities to test for atrazine just once a quarter or, in some cases, once a year.
"There always have been a lot of questions about atrazine, and we want to make sure the agency's regulatory posture is consistent with the science about possible health effects," said Steve Owens, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's assistant administrator for prevention, pesticides and toxic substances.
Even with limited official testing, atrazine in the past
four years was detected in the drinking water of 60
Under a deal between the EPA and the chief manufacturer of
atrazine, about 130 water utilities in 10 states are tested weekly or biweekly.
The Tribune analysis showed that during 2008, four downstate towns --
In Flora, about 240 miles south of
The more frequent tests are done outside the EPA's official monitoring program and don't count when regulators consider whether communities meet the legal limit for atrazine.
They also don't trigger provisions in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act that require the public to be notified about water contamination. As a result, residents are rarely advised that they can buy inexpensive filters to screen the chemical out of their tap water.
Atrazine can't be sprayed in Europe because it contaminates
groundwater, but it remains widely used in the
Before clearing the way for continued use of the chemical, Bush administration officials met privately with Syngenta executives at least 50 times and convened two industry-dominated panels that shaped the agency's decision, according to records obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that advocates a ban on the chemical.
The new review is related to an effort to overhaul the
nation's chemical safety laws. Last year the nonpartisan Government
Accountability Office criticized the EPA for failing to adequately assess the
risks posed by thousands of toxic chemicals. The agency is generally required
to prove chemicals are harmful before it can take regulatory action; in
Pesticides such as atrazine are studied more rigorously than industrial chemicals, and the weedkiller has been on the market since the late 1950s. But researchers are increasingly identifying atrazine as an endocrine disruptor -- a hormone-like substance that can affect development and the reproductive systems of humans and wildlife.
Syngenta contends that the vast majority of studies show no harmful effects from atrazine at levels found in the environment.
"It's one of the best-studied herbicides on the planet," Tim Pastoor, the company's chief scientist, said in an interview. "When it comes to atrazine, the water is safe."
A key question is whether EPA regulations reflect the latest science. The agency is considering dozens of studies published since its last atrazine review, including about 100 on human health effects.
One study released last year by Indiana University researchers found that nine types of birth defects occurred more frequently in babies born to mothers whose last menstrual period occurred between April and July, when levels of atrazine in lakes and streams are highest. Neonatologist Paul Winchester said his work couldn't definitively pin the blame on atrazine -- that would require deliberately exposing pregnant women to the chemical -- but he said the correlation was statistically sound.
Government scientists also have raised concerns. One EPA study found that rats were more vulnerable to cancer later in life when exposed to small, brief doses of atrazine as fetuses.
"There's still a lot more we need to learn about atrazine, but it appears to have effects during critical stages of fetal development," said former EPA researcher Suzanne Fenton, now at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The human research was prompted by studies of wildlife. In
January,
Tyrone Hayes, a
Syngenta says much of the independent research on atrazine is flawed. Company-financed studies, Pastoor said, have found atrazine doesn't harm frogs or humans. He said the EPA, under guidelines developed during the Bush administration, considers one-day exposures of up to 297 parts per billion safe for people.
Removing atrazine from drinking water can be expensive. Last
year, 44 water systems in
Some farm groups say there is enough evidence to vouch for
the safety of atrazine. Banning it would raise costs for farmers and cut corn
yields, supporters say. Yet that view isn't universal. Several states,
including
John Kiefner still uses atrazine on the 500 acres he farms
near
A few miles away, Bill Heintz said he stopped using atrazine a decade ago. Alternative chemicals, he said, have worked just as well at controlling weeds on the 100 acres he farms near Peotone.
"Even 10 years ago, it sounded like something to steer away from," he said.
China
(Iowa
Farmer Today) – A
After a run up and then a drop off in the price of glyphosate, Albaugh Inc., a privately held manufacturer of off-patent crop protection products filed the petition on March 31, said company president Spencer Vance.
He said the company asked the Department of Commerce to investigate the dumping after it was found Chinese glyphosate is being sold for less than the cost of production.
Vance says the dumping of the herbicide into the
In 2007, Chinese producers increased the price of glyphosate by 400 percent. That price increase encouraged more production capacity to be built, he said.
That led to the Chinese glyphosate producers having a production capacity of 650 million to 700 million gallons — 150 percent of the global glyphosate market.
Vance said the global glyphosate market is estimated at 450 million gal.
In 2008, due to overproduction and the drought in
He said glyphosate prices have dropped 75 percent since mid-2008 and are below the costs of production for the most-efficient producers.
In 2006, Albaugh built a $40 million glyphosate plant in
Due to the Chinese competition, Albaugh shut down glyphosate production in mid-2009, although it is still conducts formulation activities there.
Albaugh and Monsanto are the only two domestic producers of glyphosate.
The key issue in the middle of the trade battle is if
Vance said if the losses continue for domestic glyphosate
producers, they eventually will stop their production and the
He said his company has purchased Chinese glyphosate in the past. However, he said there are quality issues as they find contaminants, including glass and wood shavings in the chemical.
“It is not a consistently good product,” he said.
In addition, he said the Chinese glyphosate producers will likely increase the price after domestic production is stopped.
In the petition, Albaugh is asking the Department of Commerce to consider putting a tariff on Chinese glyphosate.
Vance said after the petition was filed, the federal government will send questionnaires to importers and suppliers to gather information.
He said there will be hearing with the U.S. International Trade Commission on April 22 to determine if the case is valid.
Then, he expects the Department of Commerce to issue a preliminary ruling in the fall.
At that time, the Department of Commerce would likely set the duty at a certain percent, and importers will have to put some expected tariffs in a bond or escrow account.
In the spring of 2011, there could be a final ruling including the tariff rate and how long it will last.
“There will be no impact on glyphosate price for a year,” he said. “We (the domestic producers of glyphosate) don’t get any of the money from the duties.”
In a written statement, Monsanto, the other domestic producer of glyophsate, had the following response:
“While we believe the technical merits in Albaugh Inc.’s
anti-dumping claim regarding imports of Chinese glyphosate may be valid, the
“Anti-dumping petitions are filed on behalf of a
“We will respond to any such request, taking into account
our own discussions with growers and leaders in the
“We agree that a stable, reliable domestic source of
glyphosate is important for
Monsanto recently opened a $200 million expansion at its
Vance said Albaugh officials have met with producer groups, such as the soybean, corn and cotton organizations. The groups have a taken a neutral position on the case, he said.
Generally, they understand the need for a stable domestic supply of glyphosate. Therefore, they will not oppose the case.
He said Albaugh is meeting with
India short on quality planting materials
(sify.com)
– Despite the rising need for horticultural crops in
Further, an inadequate availability of storage and processing facility lead to a high rate of wastage in this sector.
"The horticulture sector is facing an acute shortage of planting material as most of the nurseries are unorganised and government agencies are unable to provide adequate quantity of quality planting material to the farmers," H P Singh, deputy director general, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said.
As per government estimates, hardly 30-40 per cent of the requirement of planting materials for horticultural crops is met through public sector agencies like state agricultural universities, state seed agencies, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research and such others.
Horticulture contributes 30 per cent of the agricultural gross domestic product despite 10 per cent of land under them. Due to the rising importance of this sector, planning commission has fixed seven per cent growth rate per annum for horticulture sector against four per cent for agricultural sector in this plan period.
Further, demand for this crop is also rising with the population growth and changing food habit of Indian population.
"Demand for horticultural crops has increased from 400 million tonne in 1995 to present level of 1200 million tonne. Consumption of horticultural produce in average diet has also increased to 35 per cent from 10 per cent in last 30 years," Singh said.
However, productivity is yet to rise to meet the ever-increasing requirement.
As per the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), multiplication of plants in the fields instead of nurseries, distant transportation of plants with earth ball and selection of scion shoots (branch with multiplication capacity) from a diseased tree are some of the practices followed by the farmers which affect productivity.
"By 2012, the requirement of planting material for fruit plants is 1.4 billion, for plantation crops is 170 million and for vegetable seeds is 1.5 million tonnes," Amrit Singh Sidhu, Director, IIHR said.
To meet the ever-increasing need for planting material, the
government should have a uniform nursery rule for all states and
Government is planning to formulate a new Seed Act by replacing Seeds Act, 1966. Though the proposed legislation was tabled in the Parliament in 2004, it has been put in cold storage since that time.
End Transmission