Ag biotech industry launches new initiative about GMOs

The agricultural biotechnology companies that develop genetically modified seeds — or GMOs — are coming together to launch a broad, new initiative to provide accurate information and answer the toughest questions about GMOs and how our food is grown. GMO Answers (http://www.gmoanswers.com/) is a new conversation, public Q&A, and central online resource for information on GMOs, their background,

Why Don't Farmers Believe in Climate Change?

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This story first appeared in Slate and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
If it isn't torrential downpours, then it's too dry. If there's one thing US farmers can count on, it's bad weather, and perhaps as a result, many of them don't think humanity is to blame for the long-term shifts in weather patterns known as climate change. But even

Breeding for Animal WelfareTuesday

Chickens that do not peck each other to death, sheep with fewer maggots in their tails and double-muscled cows that can give birth naturally. Wageningen researchers are working on breeding programmes targeting animal welfare, reports Nienke Beintema in the latest issue of Wageningen World.

Lots and lots of meat, milk and eggs. Fast growth, strong immunity... it is for characteristics like

The Growing Problem of Heat Stress and the Possible Role for Genetic Strategies to Mitigate Its Effects

Scientists believe that, through genetic selection, genes can be used to improve heat tolerance in Hoslteins, although what still remains is the discovery into what impact heat tolerant genes will have on the economic performance of cattle, writes P J Hansen, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida.
Heat stress is a big problem for the lactating cow, write Mr Hansen. Cows exposed to

Case study in crisis communications

While we can’t predict the next public-relations crisis in animal agriculture, we can learn from past experiences and perhaps stamp out the spark before it becomes a firestorm. At last week’s Cattle Feeders Business Summit hosted by Merck Animal Health in Denver, several speakers outlined efforts to avert or manage these issues, with several saying the industry is better prepared than ever to do

Anthelmintic Resistance in Cattle - an Emerging Problem?

Widely considered to have resistance developed in sheep on many UK farms, Dr David Burden of ADAS explores the possibility of developing Anthelmintic resistance problems in cattle.
Back in 2011, more than 50 per cent of farmers asked at the Dairy Event said there were no anthelmintic resistance problem in cattle, according to Dr Burden.
He says that wide spread use of levamizoles, benzimidazoles

Reducing agriculture emissions while maintaining yields - can it be done?

While much of the public attention to climate change focuses on carbon dioxide it is two other greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide and methane that comprise the largest part of agriculture’s contribution to climate change.

Nitrous oxide is released when nitrogen from fertilizers or organic material is transformed by microbial processes in soil and it is nearly 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide