I didn’t just see hills covered in coffee plants during my motorcycle excursion through central Vietnam. I also witnessed just how the locals dry their beans. No, there are no big factories or warehouses with some sort of huge electrical dryers as you might imagine. The Vietnamese way isn’t quite so fancy or complicated. The locals just lay some tarp …
Cali Orange Comeback
Last year, California orange growers sustained a crippling freeze and lost 40 percent of their crop. But, this year California citrus growers are reporting healthy, plentiful crops. Call it global warming or just a freak of nature, but last year’s crop of California oranges weathered a forty percent decrease because of a devastating freeze. Thanks to good planning and a …
Agri-Culture: Central Highlands of Vietnam
As I mentioned before, I haven’t quite made it back to the States yet after traveling to Germany in November (where I covered the Agritechnica farm equipment show in Hanover). For the last month and a half or so, my travels have taken me throughout much of Southeast Asia. I have already posted pics from when I stumbled upon a …
Kansas Gets Customized
Customized farming equipment is now available for Kansas farmers thanks to Martin Farm Power. The nearly century-old company is now offering Leica Geosystems’ mojoRTK Auto-steer system. The mojoRTK is the first auto-steer system that allows farmers to buy a basic system and then upgrade only the features they need, creating a completely customized system at an affordable price. Martin is …
Colorado Cooks Up Sustainable Dishes
More chefs are unleashing the tasty zest of American produce. The Culinary School of the Rockies is responding to the market for “sustainable cooking” with more courses involving the local flavor. Call it farm to table, seed to fork, farm to fork, or sustainable kitchen — by any name, diners in today’s top restaurants are demanding locally grown seasonal food. …
Giving It A Go In London
Would you classify this as hobby farming? I don’t think it’ll fit into a “rural lifestyle” category. It’s “Giving It A Go.” I’ve been following them for a while as they sort of give it a go. My house mates and I live is a small mid-terrace house in south London. We have decided to try and get the small …
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo boasts 21 star entertainers for this year’s event. Tickets go on sale starting tomorrow (Saturday, January 12). The 21 different star entertainers scheduled to perform at the 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo represent a wide variety of musical genres. Together, these superstars have garnered numerous music industry honors, including 18 GRAMMY(R) awards, 73 …
Free-Range? Pah… It’s All the Same for United Egg Producers
What’s important is keeping the birds happy. Happy birds produce better eggs and more of them… right? Right or wrong, the United Egg Producers say, either way, free-range birds aren’t necessarily “happier.” Animal rights activists have long alleged that hens in modern cages live a horribly stressed life, but new research appears to debunk those claims. Researchers have discovered that …
ViaGen Offers Easier Tracking of Cloned Livestock
To be honest, I haven’t really given much thought whether my milk or meat comes from a farm animal that’s unique in every way… or whether it has come from a cloned specimen. That’s probably because there isn’t a significant amount of cloned livestock out there… yet. Now that ViaGen is offering a program that tracks cloned animals with ease, …
Pennsylvania Youth ‘Gear Up for the 21st Century’
The 2008 Pennsylvania farm show is featuring youth who are “Gearing Up for the 21st Century.” Seven chapters from Future Farmers of America will be showcasing agricultural advances at the 2008 Pennsylvania Farm Show‘s Agricultural Technology Display competition. In its third year, the theme of this year’s competition is “Gearing Up for the 21st Century.” Students are allowed to use …