FARM NEWS - ROBO DAILY

China takes 12.5% stake in Russian potash giant: company

Sep 24, 2013 (AFP)

A Chinese state investment vehicle has taken a 12.5-percent stake in Russia's leading potash producer Uralkali, the company said on Tuesday, in a new sign of Ch...

Smithfield agrees to takeover by China's Shuanghui

Sep 24, 2013 (AFP)

Shuanghui International won the largest ever Chinese takeover of a US company Tuesday when shareholders of pork giant Smithfield Foods approved its $7.1 billion...

Research minimizes effects of federal produce standards on mushroom industry

Sep 24, 2013 (SPX)

Strict requirements on the use of animal manures in fresh produce production imposed by the new federal food-safety law threatened to adversely impact the mushr...

Vaccinating cattle against E. coli O157 could cut human cases of infection by 85 percent

Sep 22, 2013 (SPX)

Vaccinating cattle against the E. coli O157 bacterium could cut the number of human cases of the disease by 85%, according to scientists. The bacteria, which ca...

Earthworms can survive and recover after 3-week drought stress

Sep 20, 2013 (SPX)

Earthworms are a welcomed sight in many gardens and yards since they can improve soil structure and mixing. But they are hard to find in the drier soils of east...

Sensors allow for efficient irrigation, give growers more control over plant growth

Sep 20, 2013 (SPX)

As water use and runoff regulations become more stringent and concerns about dwindling water supplies become more of an issue, finding ways to increase the effi...

New role for protein family could provide path to how crop traits are modified

Sep 20, 2013 (SPX)

Pioneering new research from a team of Indiana University Bloomington biologists has shown for the first time that a protein which has been long known to be cri...

Brazil rancher's conviction upheld in US nun's death

Sep 20, 2013 (AFP)

A court in Brazil said Friday it upheld the conviction of one of two ranchers blamed for ordering the 2005 murder of US nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang. L...

Different forage affects beef cattle weight, taste

Sep 20, 2013 (SPX)

Cattle are what they eat. The forage - grasses and other plants - beef cattle eat affects the nutrition and tastiness of the meat. Clemson University animal sci...

Urban agriculture: The potential and challenges of producing food in cities

Sep 20, 2013 (SPX)

In many cities around the world, patrons of high-end restaurants want quality food that is flavorful and fresh. To satisfy their guests, chefs are looking close...

Model of dangerous bee disease in Jersey provides tool in fight against honeybee infections

Sep 18, 2013 (SPX)

Scientists at the University of Warwick have modelled an outbreak of the bee infection American foulbrood in Jersey, using a technique which could be applied to...

Study recommends strategies for improved management of fresh market spinach

Sep 18, 2013 (SPX)

Throughout California's fertile central coast region, fresh spinach is a high-production, high-value crop. Spinach can be finicky, requiring sufficient nitrogen...

Flame cultivation promising as weed control method for cranberry

Sep 18, 2013 (SPX)

Cranberries are important agricultural commodities in states such as Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. But cranberry-growing operati...

Chinese demand fuels record soy crops in South America

Sep 17, 2013 (AFP)

Soy fields stretch as far as the eye can see in South America's fertile plains, boosted by a jump in demand from China and Europe. With more than 82 million ton...

The real reason to worry about bees

Sep 17, 2013 (SPX)

Honeybees should be on everyone's worry list, and not because of the risk of a nasty sting, an expert on the health of those beneficial insects said here today ...

Brazil's soybean bonanza hampered by choking ports

Sep 17, 2013 (UPI)

Brazil is set to overtake the United States as the world's largest soybean producer but its exporters face a potentially crippling bottleneck -- congested ports...

MSU lands first drone

Sep 17, 2013 (SPX)

Farmers can now get a birds-eye view - of their fields - in full HD - thanks to Michigan State University landing its first drone. MSU researchers are using its...

Carbon farming schemes should consider multiple cobenefits

Sep 17, 2013 (SPX)

Carbon markets and related international schemes that allow payments to landholders for planting trees, sometimes called carbon farming, are intended to support...

China's hunger for soya more animal than vegetable

Sep 17, 2013 (AFP)

China is the biggest soya consumer in the world, but demand driven by the increasingly wealthy country's voracious appetite for meat and fish raised on the prod...

Science supporting abundant, nourishing food for a growing civilization

Sep 17, 2013 (SPX)

The diets of people in North America shed almost 1.5 billion pounds of unhealthy saturated and trans fat over the last six years thanks to a new phase in an ong...