Hacker News with Generative AI: Agriculture

Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer? (civileats.com)
Eggs are suddenly a conversation starter as the latest wave of highly pathogenic avian flu clobbers U.S. poultry farmers in the worst outbreak of the virus since 2022.
Food, Agriculture, Economics, Avian Flu
304 points by greenie_beans 2 days ago | 832 comments
Show HN: Agriquery – helping people sell their food (agriquery.com)
Get access to the food buyers & sellers near you
Food, Agriculture, Marketplace, Business, Community
16 points by combinatorzx 3 days ago | 5 comments
High fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, longest study finds (theguardian.com)
Using high levels of common fertilisers on grassland halves pollinator numbers and drastically reduces the number of flowers, research from the world’s longest-running ecological experiment has found.
Environment, Science, Agriculture, Pollinators, Ecology
9 points by PaulHoule 7 days ago | 1 comments
Aphis Confirms D1.1 Genotype in Dairy Cattle in Nevada (2nd form of avian flu) (usda.gov)
On January 31, 2025, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed by whole genome sequence the first detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype D1.1 in dairy cattle.
Avian Flu, Agriculture, Livestock, Veterinary Science, Nevada
10 points by cf100clunk 14 days ago | 0 comments
Soaring egg prices are piquing interest in backyard chickens (apnews.com)
NEW YORK (AP) — Thinking about backyard chickens as egg prices soar? Think hard, especially in light of the bird flu outbreak.
Food Prices, Agriculture, Chickens, Bird Flu
5 points by geox 15 days ago | 0 comments
H5N1 bird flu spills over again; Nevada cows hit with different, deadly strain (arstechnica.com)
Cows in Nevada have been infected with a strain of H5N1 bird flu different from the strain detected in all other herds to this point in the ongoing dairy outbreak.
Agriculture, Disease Outbreaks, Livestock, Viruses, Nevada
32 points by ndsipa_pomu 15 days ago | 0 comments
Eggs US – Price – Chart (tradingeconomics.com)
Eggs US increased 1.28 USD/DOZEN or 22.03% since the beginning of 2025, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Historically, Eggs US reached an all time high of 7.09 in January of 2025. source: USDA
Economics, Commodities, Agriculture, United States
643 points by throwaway5752 16 days ago | 769 comments
Engineered waterways helped Ancient Amazonians became master maize farmers (sciencenews.org)
Water engineers in ancient South America turned seasonally flooded Amazonian savannas into hotbeds of year-round maize farming.
Agriculture, History, Archaeology, South America, Ancient Civilizations
60 points by andsoitis 22 days ago | 9 comments
Trump says he's sending water to LA. It's going to megafarms (grist.org)
While President Donald Trump has issued a flurry of far-reaching decrees during his first week in office, one relatively niche issue has received a disproportionate share of the president’s ire and attention: California water policy.
Politics, Water, Agriculture, California
31 points by rntn 24 days ago | 5 comments
Florida's citrus outlook remains bleak. But new science offers hope (tampabay.com)
Florida orange growers are bracing for yet another record-low harvest as climate challenges and diseased trees continue to cripple the once bustling industry.
Agriculture, Florida, Climate Change, Science
9 points by howard941 25 days ago | 3 comments
First outbreak of rare bird flu strain reported at California poultry farm (theguardian.com)
The first outbreak of a rare bird flu in poultry has been detected on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.
Bird Flu, Agriculture, Public Health, California, Animal Health
5 points by howard941 25 days ago | 1 comments
Eggs are pricey again. What's the government doing about it? (vox.com)
Bird flu is surging in the US again and has, once again, sent egg prices skyrocketing.
Economics, Agriculture, Food, Bird Flu
13 points by paulpauper 26 days ago | 0 comments
FTC, States Sue Deere and Company to Protect Farmers (ftc.gov)
FTC, Lawsuits, Agriculture, Antitrust
9 points by ChrisArchitect 37 days ago | 0 comments
FTC Sues John Deere over Its Repair Monopoly (404media.co)
The Biden administration and the states of Illinois and Minnesota sued tractor and agricultural manufacturer John Deere Wednesday, arguing that the company’s anti consumer repair practices have driven up prices for farmers and have made it difficult for them to get repairs during critical planting and harvesting seasons.
Antitrust, Agriculture, Lawsuits, Consumer Rights, Business
67 points by jbiason 37 days ago | 11 comments
Maintaining and sustaining soil health (worldsensorium.com)
"OK. There are more living organisms in one tablespoon of soil than there are people living on the earth."
Soil Health, Agriculture, Sustainability, Environment
50 points by dnetesn 37 days ago | 26 comments
Grocery Prices Set to Rise as Soil Becomes 'Unproductive' – Newsweek (newsweek.com)
Experts are warning of a looming increase in grocery prices as agricultural soil becomes increasingly unproductive.
Agriculture, Economics, Food, Climate Change
4 points by janandonly 39 days ago | 0 comments
Across southeastern US, weedy rice steals herbicide resistance from crop rice (phys.org)
Weedy rice is a close relative of cultivated rice that infests rice fields worldwide and drastically reduces yields.
Agriculture, Genetics, Biology, Environmental Science, Invasive Species
7 points by PaulHoule 40 days ago | 3 comments
When the U.S. tried to replace migrant farmworkers with high schoolers (2018) (npr.org)
In 1964, a program that brought migrant Mexican laborers to the U.S. ended. So the U.S. recruited American students to pick crops instead. When they saw their living conditions, strikes ensued.
History, Labor, Agriculture, Immigration
74 points by notamy 44 days ago | 84 comments
Deere Goes Driverless Beyond Midwest Farms to Ease Labor Crunch (bloomberg.com)
Deere & Co., which has already introduced driverless plows to farm fields in the Midwest, now wants to bring autonomous machines to orchards, quarries and grassy lawns to help ease a tight labor market.
Agriculture, Automation, Labor, Technology, Business
7 points by JumpCrisscross 46 days ago | 2 comments
In Colorado, a marriage of solar energy and farming (ksjd.org)
The fields surrounding Byron Kominek’s farm lay fallow. But on a sunny morning in mid-December, Kominek harvests the sun’s rays.
Renewable Energy, Agriculture, Colorado
191 points by dr_dshiv 49 days ago | 115 comments
How saffron became an American cash crop (nytimes.com)
It’s hard work to harvest, but a growing cadre of small farmers and home gardeners are cultivating the spice for profit, or simply pleasure.
Agriculture, Food, Economics, United States
89 points by Thevet 49 days ago | 61 comments
Iowa is "in crisis" due to illegal manure discharges into waterways (thenewlede.org)
Iowa regulators are failing to properly penalize Iowa factory farms for illegally contaminating state waterways with animal waste, according to an analysis released Monday by a public health advocacy group.
Environment, Agriculture, Iowa, Water Pollution, Law Enforcement
7 points by PaulHoule 56 days ago | 3 comments
'The dead zone is real': why US farmers are embracing wildflowers (theguardian.com)
Between two corn fields in central Iowa, Lee Tesdell walks through a corridor of native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Crickets trill as dickcissels, small brown birds with yellow chests, pop out of the dewy ground cover.
Agriculture, Environment, Biodiversity, Sustainability
17 points by robaato 57 days ago | 0 comments
Three-quarters of the land is drying out, 'redefining life on Earth' (grist.org)
As Earth grows warmer, its ground is becoming drier and saltier, with profound consequences for the planet’s 8 billion inhabitants — nearly a third of whom already live in places where water is increasingly scarce and the ability to raise crops and livestock is increasingly difficult.
Climate Change, Water Scarcity, Agriculture, Environmental Impacts, Earth Science
146 points by rntn 58 days ago | 105 comments
America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic (kffhealthnews.org)
Nearly a year into the first outbreak of the bird flu among cattle, the virus shows no sign of slowing. The U.S. government failed to eliminate the virus on dairy farms when it was confined to a handful of states, by quickly identifying infected cows and taking measures to keep their infections from spreading. Now at least 875 herds across 16 states have tested positive.
Agriculture, Public Health, Pandemic, Avian Influenza
17 points by leotravis10 60 days ago | 1 comments
WSDA, USDA announce eradication of northern giant hornet from the United States (agr.wa.gov)
Invasive Species, Agriculture, Government, Washington State, United States
169 points by rguiscard 60 days ago | 132 comments
Sour Prospects for Florida and Oranges (theguardian.com)
For decades it was the signature taste of Florida: orange juice from the state’s plentiful groves advertised to a thirsty nation as “your daily dose of sunshine”. But now another hyperactive hurricane season, paired with the dogged persistence of an untreatable tree disease known as greening, has left a once thriving citrus industry on life support.
Agriculture, Environment, Florida, Climate Change
9 points by howard941 61 days ago | 0 comments
Grocery Prices Set to Rise Due to Soil Unproductivity (newsweek.com)
Experts are warning of a looming increase in grocery prices as agricultural soil becomes increasingly unproductive.
Agriculture, Economics, Food Prices
7 points by paulpauper 62 days ago | 3 comments
Grocery Prices Set to Rise as Soil Becomes 'Unproductive' (newsweek.com)
Experts are warning of a looming increase in grocery prices as agricultural soil becomes increasingly unproductive.
Agriculture, Food Prices, Environment
5 points by colinprince 64 days ago | 0 comments
Two-inch long 'murder hornets' eradicated from US, agriculture department says (theguardian.com)
The world’s largest hornet, an invasive breed nicknamed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a hive of honeybees in as little as 90 minutes, has been declared eradicated in the US, five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.
Invasive Species, Agriculture, Entomology, Washington State, Canada
6 points by howard941 64 days ago | 10 comments