Hacker News with Generative AI: Agriculture

The crazy race to stop cow farts and save the world (telegraph.co.uk)
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, amateur space explorer and one of the richest people on the planet, has joined the race to stop cows farting – and save the planet.
Climate Change, Agriculture, Environmentalism, Technology, Business
10 points by rmason 2 days ago | 3 comments
Farmers' Suicide in the United States (wikipedia.org)
Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations, according to a study published in January 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Agriculture, Mental Health, Suicide, United States
75 points by nativeit 3 days ago | 34 comments
Coffee Plants of the World (sca.coffee)
Coffea arabica, which is indigenous to Ethiopia and some neighboring lands, first was transported out of its homeland into neighboring Yemen. From Yemen, coffee was transported around the world. The coffees that we call typicas today originated from plants that left Yemen and were taken to Java and outlying Islands, possibly by the Dutch, possibly with some transport by the mythical monk Baba Budan. The coffees we call Bourbon today stem from plants transported to Ile Bourbon with the French.
Coffee, History, Botany, Agriculture
6 points by andrewstetsenko 7 days ago | 0 comments
South Korea faces kimchi shortage as cabbage prices soar (nikkei.com)
The price of Chinese cabbage, the main ingredient in perhaps the best-known Korean dish, kimchi, has soared to 2.6 times its normal price in South Korea due to plant diseases brought on by abnormal weather.
South Korea, Food, Economics, Agriculture
9 points by rawgabbit 8 days ago | 3 comments
Destructive weed, found in New York state, resists common herbicides (phys.org)
The invasive pigweed Palmer amaranth, first found in New York soybean fields in 2019, has been dubbed the "spotted lanternfly of weeds" for its ability to spread quickly and wreak havoc on crops.
Agriculture, Invasive Species, New York, Herbicides
13 points by PaulHoule 9 days ago | 2 comments
Svalbard Global Seed Vault evokes epic imagery and controversy (theconversation.com)
Two-thirds of the world’s food comes today from just nine plants: sugar cane, maize (corn), rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava. In the past, farmers grew tens of thousands of crop varieties around the world. This biodiversity protected agriculture from crop losses caused by plant diseases and climate change.
Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Science, Environmentalism
6 points by PaulHoule 10 days ago | 0 comments
7% of participating dairy workers had recent infection with bird flu (cdc.gov)
Since April 2024, sporadic infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) viruses have been detected among dairy farm workers in the United States.
Public Health, Avian Influenza, Agriculture
7 points by geox 12 days ago | 0 comments
The Weeds Are Winning (technologyreview.com)
Should you ever doubt humanity’s endless creativity, consider the list of ways weed scientists have devised to kill the pesticide-resistant weeds we’ve had a hand in creating: Steam. Lasers. AI. Pulverizing machines. Electrocution. Irradiation. Main’s piece is an engaging and accessible jaunt through the efforts weeds make to live, and the pains we increasingly go to in the name of our kale caesars.
Agriculture, Science, Technology, Environment
101 points by Jimmc414 13 days ago | 137 comments
Farm pesticides found floating in California air samples; officials say it's OK (latimes.com)
From the sprawling vineyards of the Bay Area to the strawberry fields of the Central Coast and orchards of the Central Valley, California remains an agricultural juggernaut, producing more fruits, vegetables and nuts than any other state in the nation.
Environmental Issues, California, Agriculture
9 points by PaulHoule 16 days ago | 4 comments
Soviet Russia's Merciless War for Grain [video] (youtube.com)
Soviet Union, History, War, Agriculture
3 points by creer 17 days ago | 0 comments
Billionaires are 'ultimate beneficiaries' linked to €3B of EU farming subsidies (theguardian.com)
The European Union gave generous farming subsidies to the companies of more than a dozen billionaires between 2018 and 2021, the Guardian can reveal, including companies owned by the former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš and the British businessman Sir James Dyson.
Agriculture, Business, Politics, Inequality
13 points by rntn 18 days ago | 1 comments
'Welfare for the rich': how farm subsidies wrecked Europe's landscapes (theguardian.com)
The Rhine overflowed last winter, covering fields miles from the river and in some places leaving just the tops of trees visible.
Agriculture, Europe, Environmental Issues, Economics, Politics
12 points by adrian_mrd 19 days ago | 0 comments
Brazil's Farmers Are Plowing over an Ancient Amazon Civilization (bloomberg.com)
In the badlands of the southwestern Amazon, Antonia Barbosa is fighting to protect ancient archaeological finds from Brazil’s unstoppable $523 billion agribusiness industry.
Amazon, Archaeology, Brazil, Agriculture, Environmentalism
28 points by atdt 19 days ago | 5 comments
Bird Flu Is Step Closer to Mixing with Seasonal Flu and Becoming a Pandemic (scientificamerican.com)
As the H5N1 avian influenza virus continues its rampage through U.S. dairy cow herds, it has also infected human farm workers.
Bird Flu, Pandemics, Health, Science, Agriculture
9 points by Brajeshwar 20 days ago | 0 comments
Vegetable growers in Australia deploy 'good bugs' to reduce pesticide use (abc.net.au)
You would not know it from the outside, but inside the glasshouses of the Adelaide Plains a silent war is being waged daily — a battle of the bugs.
Agriculture, Australia, Pesticides, Environmental Sustainability, Insects
10 points by PaulHoule 20 days ago | 1 comments
EPA cancels pesticide shown to be harmful to unborn babies (thenewlede.org)
Citing a need to protect the unborn babies of pregnant women, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday banned a pesticide used to kill weeds on farms, golf courses and athletic fields.
Environmental Protection, Health, Pesticide, Pregnancy, Agriculture
169 points by PaulHoule 22 days ago | 104 comments
We Are Living in a Golden Age of Apples (scientificamerican.com)
We are living in a golden age of apples, a time of delicious, diverse, mouth-watering abundance that we could barely have imagined at the turn of the millennium. How did we get to a time when most of us, most of the year, can eat our choice of fragrant, juicy, sweet, crisp (oh so crisp) apples?
Food, Agriculture, History
6 points by doener 22 days ago | 1 comments
Factory farms can contaminate onions with dangerous pathogens like E. coli (ewg.org)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration report that onions are the likely source of the McDonald’s E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened dozens more.
Food Safety, E. coli, Outbreaks, Agriculture
14 points by stareatgoats 23 days ago | 4 comments
More farms are turning to automation amid labor shortages (grist.org)
A growing number of companies are bringing automation to agriculture. It could ease the sector’s deepening labor shortage, help farmers manage costs, and protect workers from extreme heat.
Agriculture, Automation, Labor Shortages
32 points by rntn 24 days ago | 52 comments
Scythe Works Without Borders (scytheworks.ca)
The scythe works without borders, literally.
Tools, Agriculture, Sustainability
89 points by highway-trees 25 days ago | 47 comments
No One Knows How Big Pumpkins Can Get (theatlantic.com)
A decade ago, the world’s heaviest pumpkin weighed 2,000 pounds. Now the 3,000-pound mark is within sight.
Agriculture, World Records, Gardening
9 points by paulpauper 26 days ago | 1 comments
In the US, regenerative farming practices require unlearning past advice (investigatemidwest.org)
Early on a cool September morning, farmer Josh Payne tends to his flock in Concordia, just east of Kansas City, Missouri. As Payne opens the gate, about a thousand sheep round the corner and bound into fresh grass.
Agriculture, Farming Practices, Sustainability, United States
296 points by PaulHoule 27 days ago | 162 comments
H5N1 Outbreak in Central Valley, California: dead cows piled by roadsides (latimes.com)
There’s a sickness hovering over Tulare County‘s dairy industry.
Agriculture, Health, Outbreaks, California, Avian Flu
39 points by spats1990 27 days ago | 12 comments
Norman Borlaug – father of Green revolution – likely saved over 1 billion lives (wikipedia.org)
Agriculture, History, Science, Biography
12 points by gurjeet 30 days ago | 1 comments
The feds are coming for John Deere over the right to repair (gizmodo.com)
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating tractor manufacturer John Deere over long standing allegations that Deere makes its farm equipment hard to repair.
Agriculture, Law, Business, Consumer Rights
576 points by rntn 34 days ago | 244 comments
Global water crisis leaves half of world food production at risk in next 25 year (theguardian.com)
More than half the world’s food production will be at risk of failure within the next 25 years as a rapidly accelerating water crisis grips the planet, unless urgent action is taken to conserve water resources and end the destruction of the ecosystems on which our fresh water depends, experts have warned in a landmark review.
Water Crisis, Climate Change, Food Security, Agriculture, Environmentalism
3 points by ornornor 34 days ago | 0 comments
Farm waste can filter microplastics in surface runoff, prevent pollution (phys.org)
Using treated plant waste as a filter reduced the presence of harmful microplastics in agricultural runoff by more than 92%, according to a new study authored by a University of Mississippi research team.
Environmental Science, Pollution, Agriculture, Sustainability, Water Treatment
8 points by PaulHoule 35 days ago | 0 comments
What is the prospect of a perennial grain revolution of agriculture? (cambridge.org)
Agriculture has been dominated by annual plants, such as all cereals and oilseeds, since the very beginning of civilization over 10,000 years ago.
Agriculture, Perennial Plants, Food, Science
10 points by Breadmaker 37 days ago | 1 comments
AI helps farmers target weeds, livestock illnesses and pests (abc.net.au)
Artificial intelligence is being used on dairy farms, with some cows fitted with radio ID collars.
Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Livestock
8 points by adrian_mrd 40 days ago | 1 comments
Corn sweat is real, and it's made heat in the Midwest even more uncomfortable (npr.org)
Corn sweat is real. Corn draws in water, then releases it into the air through evaporation. And all that moisture produced by more than 90 million acres of corn nationwide can make it more humid.
Agriculture, Climate Change, Midwest, Weather
19 points by speckx 43 days ago | 4 comments