" I heard it through the AgLine"

September 25, 2009

 

 

·        McDonald’s fries – Holy grail for spud growers

·        Only five jobs more dangerous than farming

·        Scientists seek to confuse pests sense of smell

·        Pioneer to add, expand global research centers

·        Paris rooftops are all abuzz with beekeeping

 

 

McDonald’s fries – Holy grail for spud growers

 

(AP via Yahoo! News) – KIMBERLY, Idaho – From the fields of Idaho to tasting rooms in suburban Chicago, potato farmers, researchers and industry representatives are in the midst of an elusive hunt: finding a new spud for McDonald's french fries.

 

A decade has passed since the fast-food giant last added a new U.S. potato variety to three others approved for its golden fries, something that both irks and motivates potato researchers who hope their progeny will be next.

 

Because McDonald's buys more than 3.4 billion pounds of U.S. potatoes annually, it has the power to dictate whether a variety sprouts or winds up in the less-lucrative supermarket freezer's crinklecut bin — or worse yet, banished to become dehydrated taters.

 

"It's a card game where McDonald's holds nine-tenths of the cards," said Jeanne Debons, the Potato Variety Management Institute's director.

 

The institute was established in 2005 by the Idaho, Oregon and Washington potato commissions to handle licensing and royalties from new potatoes developed at universities and federal research facilities in the three states.

 

An unwritten ambition: to get new potato varieties looked at by McDonald's.

 

The company still relies on the Russet Burbank for many of its fries, even though this 130-year-old variety takes an eternity to mature, gulps water and falls victim to rots and other diseases, meaning farmers must douse it in chemicals. Socially conscious investors want McDonald's to help cut pesticides to protect the environment and farmworker health.

 

Still, coming up with a spud stud is no mean feat: One of the last varieties McDonald's tested, the Premier Russet, has a pedigree that on paper resembles the lineage of a thoroughbred race horse, with ancestors like the buff-skinned Penobscot of Maine. The company decided it was an also-ran.

 

"It has a smaller starch cell," Mitch Smith, McDonald's agricultural products director, recalls of tasters' conclusions about the Premier. "You get a smoother texture, it does affect the way it eats."

 

Other U.S. potato-growing regions are also on the case. In July, researchers and industry reps meeting in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., home of the U.S. Potato Gene bank, discussed new sustainable varieties — to help "McDonald's to advertise that potatoes they serve are produced with less chemical and water input," said Chuck Brown, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

To be sure, McDonald's has increased its use of other potato varieties in the last decades.

 

Early-maturing, Canadian-bred Shepody potatoes go into many of its fries sold in August, September and October. But those potatoes don't store well, so by November, Ranger Russet fries hit the fast-food joints. And better-storing Umatilla Russets — the last U.S. potato variety approved by McDonald's back in 1999 — fill the bellies of consumers from late December until the end of February.

 

From then on, Russet Burbanks, with robust storage qualities, consistent texture and taste, remain Mickey D's mainstay, though this variety brought West by Massachusetts botanist Luther Burbank in 1875 is costly to produce.

 

Across America, the Russet Burbank has a declining market share, but is still no small potatoes. In 2008, Idaho potato farmers planted 57 percent of their total acres with Russet Burbanks, while the variety accounted for 41 percent across the eight biggest potato-producing states.

 

Allan French, a globe-trotting J.R. Simplot manager who oversees potato varieties that feed a sprawling fry-processing empire stretching from Idaho to China, says finding a replacement has been elusive.

 

"We're always looking for the silver bullet to replace the Russet Burbank," French said.

 

Coming up with a reliable new variety takes years. The Premier Russet emerged from the breeder's greenhouse in the early 1990s, but wasn't released for commercial growers until 2006. Along the way, it underwent storage trials at facilities near the tiny farming town of Kimberly.

 

Here, University of Idaho researchers stack experimental varieties in refrigerated stalls, testing everything from sprout resistance to shrinkage. And in the test kitchen next door, storage scientist Tina Brandt fries up new varieties, to see how they stack up to Russet Burbanks, which tend to develop unsightly dark splotches that crop up on fry ends.

 

"There have been a lot of fantastic varieties that have come along over the years, but for one reason or another — shrinkage in storage, disease resistance, texture — they haven't been adopted," Brandt laments.

 

At the McDonald's campus in Oak Brook, Ill., perfume-wearing intruders are shooed from tasting rooms, to prevent contamination of french fries samples randomly pulled from restaurants around America for monthly scrutiny by representatives of the company's three main suppliers: J.R. Simplot Co. of Boise, Canada's McCain Foods Ltd., and Omaha-based Con-Agra Foods Inc.

 

These days, however, taste, texture and golden-brown appearance aren't everything.

 

In March, three activist investor groups won an agreement from McDonald's to promote best practices to cut pesticide use by its American potato suppliers.

 

So far, the groups say the company is doing a "great job" adhering to its commitments.

 

McDonald's Smith says he's satisfied growers are already working efficiently and sustainability, largely because wasteful water or chemical practices dent their profits. But finding new potato varieties to meet that goal — and that don't hurt quality — remains on the horizon.

 

Just now, Smith said, McDonald's is scrutinizing the Bannock Russet, a 10-year-old potato variety bred originally in Idaho that isn't as susceptible to disease as Russet Burbanks.

 

"If we can find a variety that does that, with less inputs, water or whatever, that's something we're looking for," Smith said. "To date, there are not a lot of varieties that perform consistently enough."

 

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Only five jobs more dangerous than farming

 

(Missouri Farm Bureau Federation) – Television fans of Deadliest Catch would probably say fishermen hold the most dangerous job, and they would be right. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fishing is the most dangerous occupation with more than 71 deaths per 100,000 workers.

 

The second most dangerous occupation belongs to pilots and navigators, which is a little worrisome to those of us who are frequent flyers. In third place come loggers. Timber cutters suffer fatalities nearly 30 times higher than those employed in a typical workplace, most killed by falling trees.

 

The fourth most dangerous job is structural metal workers, which is understandable since they walk the girders. In fifth place are waste management workers whose biggest threat comes on roads where they are exposed to fast moving vehicles while doing their jobs.

 

Power line workers are in seventh place, followed closely by roofers in eighth. In ninth place are construction workers and tenth place belongs to truck drivers. What, you say I skipped one? Let's see, structural metal workers, waste management workers-oh, yeah, the sixth most dangerous job...farming.

 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, farming is more dangerous than police work and firefighting. Those who serve with the police force and fire departments know their jobs are dangerous and are highly trained in protecting each other. Farmers frequently work alone.

 

Farming may not seem dangerous, but consider-Missouri is quite hilly, and tractor roll-overs are more commonplace. Farmers also operate large machinery when planting and harvesting and are always under pressure to get the crop in or out of the ground before the weather changes.

 

Working long hours for many consecutive days with heavy machinery is all too often a recipe for disaster. Another risk is farmers move machinery from one field to another via county roads where drivers frequently speed. Many drivers are not looking for a slow moving combine over the next hill.

 

Sept. 20-26 is National Farm Safety and Health Week. During this year's harvest, farmers are urged to take breaks, get rest and shut machinery off before attempting to work on a clog. If you are not a farmer, remember-your fast driving on county roads is a big hazard, for farmers and for you.

 

Denny Banister, of Jefferson City, Mo., is the assistant director of public affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization.

 

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Scientists seek to confuse pests sense of smell

 

(Wire Services) – Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research, published this week in Chemical Communications, describes how scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security.

 

Lead researcher Dr Antony Hooper of Rothamsted Research, an institute of BBSRC said: "One way in which insects find each other and their hosts is by smell, or more accurately: the detection of chemical signals – pheromones, for example. Insects smell chemicals with their antennae; the chemical actually gets into the antennae of the insect and then attaches to a protein called an odorant-binding protein, or OBP. This then leads to the insect changing its behaviour in some way in response to the smell e.g. flying towards a plant or congregating with other insects."

 

Studying an OBP found in the silkworm moth Bombyx mori, Dr Hooper and his team were able to look at how the OBP and a relevant pheromone interact. They also tested the interaction between OBP and other molecules that are similar to, but not the same as, the pheromone.

 

Dr Hooper continued: "As well as learning about the nature of this interaction we've actually found that there are other compounds that bind to the OBP much more strongly than the pheromone. We could potentially apply these compounds, or similar ones, in some way to block the insects' ability to detect chemical signals – the smell would be overwhelmed by the one we introduce. We'd expect the insects to be less likely to orientate themselves towards the crop plants, or find mates in this case, and therefore could reduce the damage.

 

"There is a lot of work to do from this point. We want to test this idea with important crop pests – we'll probably start with aphids because they are a serious pest and we have some idea of what the aphid OBPs are like from the genome sequence. We'd also hope to apply our knowledge to insects such as tsetse flies and mosquitoes that carry human diseases. And ultimately we'll look at developing ways to design suitable compounds to control these pests."

 

Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive said: "Around a quarter of crops are lost to pests and diseases and so if we are to have enough food in the future it is not just a matter of increasing gross yield. To secure our future food supply we must look for new and innovative ways to prevent and control pests and diseases. This is an interesting finding that could be applied across a number of important insect pests and may have far reaching implications for preventing human disease as well."

 

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Pioneer to add, expand global research centers

 

(Wire Services) DES MOINES -- DuPont announced the addition of four new seed research centers in developing countries and expanded operations at three existing facilities to develop seed to meet local needs for food productivity. The new research operations extend the research leadership DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred has built and bring the total number of Pioneer research centers to nearly 100 worldwide.

 

The new research centers include a multi-crop center in Ukraine for corn, canola and sunflower research; and corn research facilities in Beijing, China, and Udaipur and Vijayawada, India. Research operations at facilities traditionally focused on sorghum in Manhattan, Kan., and Plainview, Texas, now will be expanded to include additional resources for corn drought testing. In addition, cotton will join pearl millet and rice as crops with research programs in Hyderabad, India.

 

"Pioneer is the best in the industry at placing the right product on the right acre to maximize a farmer's productivity," said William S. Niebur, vice president - DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development. "The addition of these research centers allows us to strengthen our capabilities in these markets even further, bringing better genetics and traits that meet specific growing challenges to our customers faster."

 

This additional plant breeding capacity is part of the $700 million in research and development DuPont is committing annually to increase global food production. The investment also reflects the company's recently announced commitment for growth in emerging markets.

 

These facilities are the latest in a series of research centers Pioneer has opened within the last year, including a new corn and soybean research center in North Carolina and a multi-crop facility in Carman, Manitoba, for corn, canola and soybean research.

 

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is the world's leading source of customized solutions for farmers, livestock producers and grain and oilseed processors. With headquarters in Des Moines, Pioneer provides access to advanced plant genetics in nearly 70 countries.

 

DuPont Leaving Pioneer.com is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.

 

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Paris rooftops are all abuzz with beekeeping

 

(AP via newsday.com) PARIS – In the romantic city of lights, the bees are downright busy.

 

Common sense says it is better to keep hives of stinging insects in the countryside, away from city centers packed with people. Yet on storied rooftops and public gardens in the urban jungle of Paris, the bee business is thriving.

 

Bees are disappearing from fields across France and elsewhere in the world, victims of a slow decline in number because of loss of habitat compounded by a recent and mysterious catastrophe variously blamed on disease, parasites and pesticides. The most recent science research points to a combination of interacting diseases for new collapses of bee colonies.

 

But in the heart of the French capital, Nicolas Geant is preparing to sell off his honey. It comes from hives on the edges of the soaring glass roof of the Grand Palais exhibition hall, just off the Champs-Elysees.

 

"Paris has many balconies, parks and avenues full of trees and little flowers that attract many bees for pollination," said Geant, who has 25 years of experience under his belt.

 

The Grand Palais beehives went up in May. They also sit in the Luxembourg Gardens, on the gilded dome of the 19th Century Palais Garnier and the roof of the ultramodern Opera Bastille.

 

"In Paris, each beehive produces a minimum of 50 to 60 kilograms (110 to 130 pounds) of honey per harvest, and the death rate of the colonies is 3 to 5 percent," said Henri Clement, president of the National Union of French Beekeepers.

 

"But in the countryside, one beehive only gives you 10 to 20 kilograms (about 20 to 40 pounds) of honey, and the death rate is 30 to 40 percent. It is a sign of alarm."

 

The Luxembourg Gardens' hives alone produce more than half a ton of honey per harvest. It is sold to the public during the last weekend in September, and the income funds beekeeping classes and the facilities.

 

Alain Sandmeyer, 63, a volunteer instructor at the gardens, said trees and shrubbery have grown sparser in rural areas, attracting fewer bees. Also, he said, rural bees are dying off from pesticides and fertilizers. In Paris, on the other hand, pesticides are forbidden in all parks and gardens.

 

Urban beekeeping isn't just a Paris thing. Berlin, London, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., are among beekeeping cities. New York City on the other hand, lists bees as "venomous insects," and beekeeping is punishable by a $2,000 fine.

 

Parisian Erin Langenburg, 24, a student, said the bees don't bother her when she's in Parisian parks, but they do tend to migrate to outdoor restaurants. "There seem to be a lot of bees when I'm eating outside on a terrace and they annoy me, especially when they get in my drinks," she said. "I am kind of scared of getting stung by one."

 

For many years bee experts worried about an aging population of beekeepers, but a new young generation has suddenly taken on the hobby, said May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at the University of Illinois.

 

"There's definitely been an incredibly heartening increase in interest," Berenbaum said.

 

Domesticated bee populations worldwide have dropped significantly since the late 1940s. The causes have been mostly loss of habitat, disease, fungi and invading parasites, says a 2007 study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

 

It is estimated that half of the honeybee population has disappeared in the U.S. and Britain, according to an April report from the International Bee Research Association.

 

And lately the world has been hit by a new crisis, called colony collapse disorder. In 2007-2008, it caused the loss of 35 percent of U.S. bees.

 

Wild bee populations have also plunged, with disease and loss of habitat being blamed. Last year, 30 percent of Europe's 13.6 million beehives died, according to statistics from Apimondia, an international beekeeping body.

 

A conference last week in Montpellier, France was told that Ireland had a 53 percent drop in bees in 2006, Slovenia lost 30 to 35 percent of its bee colonies last year, and Italy 37 percent.

 

It's not just about honey. The U.S. Agriculture Department estimates a third of our diet comes from sources pollinated by insects, primarily bees. The French beekeepers' union reckons 65 percent of agricultural plants worldwide risk not getting pollinated. The U.S. has had to import huge numbers of bees from Australia to pollinate apple orchards and berry fields.

 

In the Luxembourg Gardens, beekeeping has been going on since 1856. Today, for around €160 ($230), Parisians can spend several months learning about and participating in beekeeping and honey-extraction.

 

Volunteer instructor Dominique Castel, 64, has been giving all his free time to beekeeping at the gardens since retiring from his aviation industry job 12 years ago. Asked if he gets stung often, he shrugged and said: "You get used to it."

 

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