Pope Francis put agriculture in focus this weekend when he met with a group of managers from the National Confederation of Direct Cultivators. His comments reflected on two main areas, poverty and hunger and protection of the environment. BTW. I love this photo of him from the L’Osservatore Romano. Here are a few excerpts from his comments “There is no …
New Holland Seeds of Life Part 3
New Holland has just published episode #3 in its Seeds of Life Series, “A storytelling project for the Heroes who feed us all.” New Holland Agriculture presents the third episode of the web series “The Seeds of Life”. Come and discover generations of our Heroes #ThanksToHeroes. Follow our farmers in their continuous efforts to meet the growing demand for food …
Introducing The Uganda Community Farm
The answer to extreme poverty in Africa could be Africa itself, if a new agricultural initiative lives up to its vision. The Uganda Community Farm (UCF) aims to create a prototype for self-sustainability within Uganda’s poor rural communities. Pursuing a comprehensive agricultural program, it intends to set a precedent for Africa’s rural poor to tread their own path out of …
2015 IFAJ Congress Australian Pre-Tour
If you are thinking about going to this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in New Zealand then you might want to leave a little early and stop in Australia. The Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists is joining with the Rural Press Club of Queensland to put together an enticing pre-congress tour. There will be a welcome gathering on …
Reports Say Pope Will Open His Farm
There’s a bunch of news stories on the web that Pope Francis will be opening up the papal farm at Castel Gandolfo to the public for tours next year, although I can’t seem to find any official word from the Vatican on its website or on the Catholic News Service. Since the original story is from the Associated Press, take …
African Seed Trade Learns from ASTA
It was AFSTA meets ASTA last week at the CSS 2014 and Seed Expo in Chicago. Denias Zaranyika is the Vice President of the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) and he attended last week’s event to see what he could bring home to his colleagues in the countries of Africa. “We want to exchange information and learn from Americans,” he …
Slovakian Journalist Wins IFAJ Star for Ag Journalism
Slovakian journalist Jozef Sedlák was recently named the winner of the coveted IFAJ Star Prize in Agricultural Journalism for his story, “Food Does not Come from Supermarket Shelves,” which was published in the weekend edition of the Pravda daily newspaper. Judges said they were captivated by the entrepreneurial story of a young Slovak farmer Pavel Petránek, a turkey breeder from …
Farmers Union President Discusses Sustainability in Ghana
National Farmers Union (NFU) officials made a stop in Africa to talk about how cooperatives can promote sustainability. This news release from the group says NFU President Roger Johnson talked about the development of cooperatives at the National Food and Agric Show (FAGRO) in Ghana. “I am excited to be able to discuss and promote cooperatives as a means for …
Serbian Ag Journalists Celebrate Ten Years
Our friends in the Serbian Association of Agricultural Journalists, AGROPRESS, recently celebrated the organization’s 10th anniversary. That celebration included a tour that began in the Serbian village of Crepaja. The event opened at the modern farm FOTOS (Member of Almex Company) that has more than 300 heifer calves of the Holstein breed. After a farm tour in Crepaja, the anniversary …
Global Yield Gap Unveiled at Water for Food Conference
Finding of the Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas were unveiled this week at the sixth annual Water for Food Global Conference. The outcome of a six-year international collaborative research effort led by the Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the Atlas is the first transparent, interactive and map-based …