Citrus growers will soon have a new employment option: robots. Energid Technologies is developing a robotic citrus harvester for bulk fruit removal. Energid Technologies Corporation has been funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research Program to develop a new robotic citrus harvesting system. This system will combine the intelligence of robotics with the efficiency …
Milk Madness
Summer marks a season of dairy-related activities and events in Minnesota. Now residents can keep up with dairy and the nearly 5,000 Minnesota dairy families at ExploreDairy.com. ExploreDairy.com is designed to provide a complete rundown of summertime dairy activities, and give Minnesotans a closer look at what the state’s farm families are up to. If you’re looking for memorable things …
Lunching and Learning About Beef
Yesterday I had lunch with 5000 head of cattle – and about 60 people. It was the season kick-off of Missouri’s Lunch and Learn program, a summer series sponsored by all the ag groups in the state where they invite local community leaders to visit agricultural operations. The first event for this summer was held at Circle A Ranch in …
Lincoln Farmers’ Market
On a nice relaxing morning here in Lincoln, NE the Haymarket Historic District Farmers’ Market is in full swing. It’s open from 8am-noon. I wandered around after some coffee and made a few purchases including some purple asparagus, which I’ve never seen before. The vendor says it’s sweeter than the green variety. I’m going to find out on on Memorial …
Tree Farmer of The Year
The 2008 Washington State Tree Farmer of the Year goes to David Robbins of The Hama Hama Tree Farm. The Washington Farm Forestry Association says the award is meant to recognize David’s exceptional commitment to enhance his forest land. The tree farm is mostly composed of Douglas-fir with scattered stands of alder, hemlock and cedar, and supports a sustainable harvest …
NAFB 2008 Producer Media-Use Study – 1st Wave
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting has just released some initial results (pdf file) from the first segment of their new producer media use study. I think you should take note of how important text messages are to producers. That really stands out to me. Same for web-based information. The word “grown” is key. It’s growing! The fact that farmers …
Spring Planting
I saw a lot of this from the highway today in between areas of rain. It looks like some work was getting done. It’s a long way up here to Minneapolis but the scenery is beautiful if you like rolling farm country and I do. It’s so tempting to stop and take pictures. This was one I couldn’t resist. So, …
CNBC Special with Corn & Soybean Digest Columnist
While I was attending the Commodity Classic I met the crew from CNBC that’s been following Tyler Bruch who’s a farmer and columnist for Corn and Soybean Digest. I guess their production is complete and they’ve been promoting it with a series of video clips. You can find one of them here. Corn & Soybean Digests Brazil columnist, Tyler Bruch, …
Biofuels Digest Finds Global Impact on Rising Food Costs
The media has been pointing fingers at biofuels, blaming them for rising food costs. But a study from The Biofuels Digest suggests rising food costs are the result of global pressures, such as China’s increasing demand for meat. Biofuels Digest says their study finds that for every bushel of grain used to make U.S. ethanol, six are used to support …
Ceres First to Brand Bioenergy Seeds
As technology unleashes more and more energy possibilities from more and more crops, it can get a little confusing as to which plants can do what. Ceres, Inc. plans to clarify bio-friendly seeds with its new bioenergy seed brand. Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. plans to market its agricultural seeds and traits under the trade name Blade Energy Crops in …