Tag Archive
Top ag blogs and tips for you
Brief, informal thoughts on some agricultural industry blogs that I like and some food for further thought. Have some additional opinions on the subject? Leave a comment below, or let me know by e-mail. Best use of a variety of new media tools Ag Wired. An interesting hybrid journalism/PR/paid content blog that’s skewed towards white-collar marketing... »
Interest in ag becomes more mainstream
A good bit of my writing and communications work has involved the agriculture industry. I started in this line of work about a decade ago, but it’s only been recently that anyone at social gatherings seemed to be even remotely interested in what I did for a living. I’m not sure to what degree this... »
Taco back in Africa
Another excellent blog from my friend Taco Tuinstra at Tobacco Reporter magazine. This time, Taco is back in Africa, following a shipment of Malawi burley tobacco as it makes it way from the Lilongwe auction floors to the port of Beira in Mozambique. Entertaining in itself, but also an interesting look at how a raw... »
Checkbiotech makes changes
One of my favorite sources for agricultural biotech information, Checkbiotech, has changed the appearance of its Web site and added new coverage to include news coverage of biofuels, alternative energy, life sciences (in Switzerland only, it appears) and orphan. While I like the look of the site, I hope that they continue their outstanding newsgathering... »
Monsanto passing DuPont in corn?
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the surge in corn demand, Monsanto has raised its annual profit forecast after second-quarter earnings rose 23 percent. Increased planting caused Monsanto to sell out of its “triple-stack” seeds. But, more surprisingly, is that Monsanto’s gain, the largest one-year gain ever, may allow the seed maker to pull even or pass DuPont’s... »
Two acquisitions advance Bayer CropScience´s U.S. cotton platform
Bayer CropScience announced Friday the completion of two acquisitions that advance the company’s strategy in expanding its cotton seed business. In separate transactions, Bayer CropScience purchased the assets of California Planting Cotton Seed Distributors, Bakersfield, Calif., and the assets of Reliance Genetics LLC, Harlingen, Texas. The combined price for the related transactions amounts... »
GM plant virus repels insect pests
Researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Virginia in the U.S. and from Belgium’s Catholic University have developed a GM variety of tobacco mosaic virus that they say protects fruits, vegetables and most other broad-leafed plants from attack by insects. Tobacco mosaic virus normally attacks plants, but the GM... »
Why no one is growing GM wheat
This article sums up nicely why no one is growing any GM wheat (the food industry is wary of consumer reaction) and one possible solution for companies interested in bringing something like this to market (try developing traits enhance nutrition or offer some other consumer appeal in order to overcome market opposition.) Could this solution... »
