Hacker News with Generative AI: Agriculture

Remineralizing soils? The agricultural usage of silicate rock powders: A review (sciencedirect.com)
Soil nutrient depletion threatens global food security and has been seriously underestimated for potassium (K) and several micronutrients.

Agriculture, Soil Science, Environmental Science, Food Security, Sustainability

9 points by mooreds 1 day ago | 0 comments

A dozen states sue the Trump administration to stop tariff policy (apnews.com)
Vineyards in NY wine country push sustainability as they adapt to climate change

Politics, Lawsuits, Trade, Climate Change, Agriculture

13 points by bloppe 2 days ago | 0 comments

Chinese-owned farms press for repeal of California animal welfare law (kiowacountypress.net)
The largest pork producer in America is owned by a Chinese company, and a lot of people don’t like that.

Agriculture, Politics, China, California, Animal Welfare

24 points by miles 2 days ago | 1 comments

Pollen-replacing food for honey bees brings new hope for survival (news.wsu.edu)
Scientists have unveiled a new food source designed to sustain honey bee colonies indefinitely without natural pollen.

Bees, Food Science, Sustainability, Agriculture

12 points by geox 3 days ago | 1 comments

The complex origin story of domestic cats (phys.org)
Researchers looking into the origin of domestic cats have long considered that cats likely accompanied early farmers during the Neolithic, spreading through Europe alongside the adoption of agriculture.

Cats, Genetics, History, Agriculture, Europe

137 points by gmays 3 days ago | 84 comments

Inactive components in agricultural runoff may contribute drinking water hazard (phys.org)
Inactive ingredients in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and other common products have typically been excluded from consideration as potential contaminants in drinking water.

Water Contamination, Environmental Science, Agriculture

6 points by PaulHoule 4 days ago | 1 comments

The 'king of poisons' is building up in rice (grist.org)
As the planet heats up, this popular process of growing rice is becoming increasingly more dangerous for the millions of people worldwide that eat the grain regularly, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.

Climate Change, Food Safety, Health, Rice, Agriculture

8 points by libpcap 5 days ago | 1 comments

Baby chickens became America's hottest commodity (grist.org)
Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply in Helena, Montana, doesn’t often see a crowd. But, these days, the line to get in the door can be hours long. People have yelled at one another as they jockey for position and, inside, employees field as many 200 calls a day from eager patrons. Everyone is after the same thing: baby chickens.

Agriculture, Business, Supply Chain, Montana

10 points by rntn 6 days ago | 1 comments

Certain sunflower strains can be induced to form seeds without pollination (phys.org)
Syngenta Biotechnology China-led research, with partners in the U.S., France, the UK, Chile, the Netherlands, Argentina, and across China, has discovered that sunflowers can form viable haploid seeds through parthenogenesis in the absence of pollination.

Agriculture, Genetics, Science, Biology

5 points by PaulHoule 7 days ago | 0 comments

Europe deplores America's 'chlorinated chicken.' How safe is our poultry? (npr.org)
When President Trump recently griped about Europe's distaste for buying American chicken, his comments touched on a long-running and divisive trade spat that's flared up from time to time.

Food Safety, Trade, Politics, Agriculture

17 points by srameshc 8 days ago | 3 comments

Climate change will make rice toxic, say researchers (insideclimatenews.org)
Rice, the world’s most consumed grain, will become increasingly toxic as the atmosphere heats and as carbon dioxide emissions rise, potentially putting billions of people at risk of cancers and other diseases, according to new research published Wednesday in The Lancet.

Climate Change, Food Security, Health, Science, Agriculture

8 points by jnord 8 days ago | 1 comments

USDA's Regional Food Business Centers Caught in Federal Funding Freeze (civileats.com)
The program, which supports business development for local and regional farms, has been put on ice since the Trump administration took office.

Agriculture, Government Funding, Food Industry, Rural Development, Policy

9 points by mooreds 8 days ago | 0 comments

Climate change will make rice toxic, say researchers (insideclimatenews.org)
Rice, the world’s most consumed grain, will become increasingly toxic as the atmosphere heats and as carbon dioxide emissions rise, potentially putting billions of people at risk of cancers and other diseases, according to new research published Wednesday in The Lancet.

Climate Change, Food Safety, Health, Science, Agriculture

4 points by LinuxBender 9 days ago | 0 comments

Peru's ancient irrigation systems turned deserts into farms because of culture (theconversation.com)
Seeing the north coast of Peru for the first time, you would be hard-pressed to believe it’s one of the driest deserts in the world.

Ancient History, Agriculture, Peru, Culture, Deserts

158 points by PaulHoule 9 days ago | 78 comments

Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient (nature.com)
Around 60% of the European Union’s soils are considered unhealthy, but geographer Jesús Rodrigo Comino is determined to help change that in his native Spain.

Environment, Science, Agriculture, Sustainability, Spain

262 points by gnabgib 9 days ago | 141 comments

How dairy robots are changing work for cows and farmers (ieee.org)
Robots are taking over much of the daily manual labor at dairy farms, including milking, feeding, cleaning, and more. It makes dairy farmers’ lives easier, and makes the cows happier, too.

Robotics, Agriculture, Dairy Farming

225 points by DonHopkins 10 days ago | 170 comments

Robotic Gripper Based on Measuring Tape Is Sizing Up Fruit and Veggie Picking (today.ucsd.edu)
It’s a game a lot of us played as children—and maybe even later in life: unspooling measuring tape to see how far it would extend before bending. But to engineers at the University of California San Diego, this game was an inspiration, suggesting that measuring tape could become a great material for a robotic gripper.

Robotics, Engineering, Agriculture, Innovation

7 points by gnabgib 14 days ago | 0 comments

Coffee Too Weak? Try This (publishing.aip.org)
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2025 – Tens of billions of kilograms of coffee are consumed around the world each year. However, due to its very specific agricultural needs, coffee can be difficult to cultivate, and ongoing climate change threatens its growth.

Coffee, Climate Change, Agriculture

21 points by paulpauper 14 days ago | 1 comments

DIY experimental reactor harnesses the Birkeland-Eyde process (arduino.cc)
Nitrogen is critical for farming at scale and without some form of nitrogen to enrich the soil, we couldn’t grow staple crops efficiently enough to feed our large global population. Serious science goes into the production of fertilizers and the Birkeland-Eyde process was one early example. It uses electrical arcs to turn nitrogen in the air into nitric acid. Marb is an enthusiastic citizen scientist and built his own experimental reactor to harness the Birkeland-Eyde process.

DIY, Science, Nitrogen, Agriculture, Fertilizers

77 points by PaulHoule 21 days ago | 21 comments

The Life of a Dairy Cow (vox.com)
The surprising truth about milk is hiding in plain sight.

Dairy Farming, Animal Welfare, Agriculture

18 points by Luc 22 days ago | 8 comments

Coffea stenophylla: A forgotten bean that could save coffee from extinction (smithsonianmag.com)
One leading botanist is scouring remote corners of the earth to find new species that could keep our mugs full

Coffee, Botany, Climate Change, Extinction, Agriculture

170 points by derbOac 24 days ago | 138 comments

Bees have died this year. "the worst bee loss in recorded history," (cbsnews.com)
The U.S. beekeeping industry is in crisis over the shocking and unexplained deaths of hundreds of millions of bees over the last eight months.

Bees, Environmental Issues, Agriculture, Climate Change

11 points by mindracer 25 days ago | 2 comments

Six new ancient date trees (arava.org)
On August 23rd, 2021, Arava Institute staff harvested three bunches of dates from our world-famous ancient date palms. This is the second year of harvesting fruit from this previously extinct tree, brought back to life by Dr. Elaine Solowey.

Ancient Trees, Botany, Agriculture, Israel

28 points by mooreds 26 days ago | 0 comments

The return of Sicily's ancient 'white gold' (bbc.com)
It's mentioned 17 times in the Bible and was harvested in the Mediterranean for more than a millennium. Now, a farmer is reviving this ancient "superfood".

Agriculture, History, Food, Italy

14 points by andsoitis 28 days ago | 1 comments

Renegade Colorado Farmer Pushes Deeper into Unconventional Agriculture (agweb.com)
Who plants at least 12 different crops a season, slashes nitrogen applications by over half, aims to seed 3”-row grain in 2025, grows rice in bone-dry conditions, and steadily uncovers unique market demand? Roy the renegade.

Agriculture, Innovation, Sustainability

5 points by rmason 29 days ago | 1 comments

US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause (theguardian.com)
Honeybee deaths have hit record highs in the US, with the unprecedented loss of colonies pushing many beekeepers close to ruin as scientists scramble to identify the main cause of the huge declines.

Environment, Science, Agriculture, Climate Change, Bees

28 points by vinni2 31 days ago | 5 comments

Please stop planting only corn (virtualize.sh)
If you’ve ever watched a nature documentary (one of those where David Attenborough quietly whispers the doom of an entire species) you know monocultures are bad.

Agriculture, Environmentalism, Sustainability

12 points by plam503711 32 days ago | 0 comments

UK on alert after H5N1 bird flu spills over to sheep in world-first (arstechnica.com)
The H5N1 bird flu has spilled over to a sheep for the first time, infecting a domesticated ruminant in the United Kingdom much like it has in US dairy cows, according to UK officials.

Science, Health, Agriculture, Animal Health

12 points by pmags 32 days ago | 1 comments

Global chocolate supply is limited by low pollination and high temperatures (nature.com)
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) provides livelihoods for 5 million smallholder farmers, but the factors limiting cocoa yield are poorly understood.

Agriculture, Climate Change, Sustainability, Cocoa, Food Production

16 points by PaulHoule 33 days ago | 0 comments

The Safest Path to Stable Climate Is Designing New Plants (palladiummag.com)
<h3>The Amazon Was Created By a Lost Civilization of Gardeners</h3>

Climate Change, Agriculture, Sustainability, Botany

3 points by surprisetalk 33 days ago | 0 comments