Farm Progress

10 agriculture stories you should read today, March 6

Water witches. Enviro regs eat their own. Nut pain. Pints over pastries. Wall Street is watching. Waiting for the end. A most hidden fish. The onion whisperer.

Chris Bennett

March 6, 2014

2 Min Read

1. Calling All Water Witches

Copper divining rods, pendulums or blind luck — some California farmers are calling in the water witches for drought relief. (Associated Press)

2. Wall Street Eager for US Farms?

Farmland turnover is expected to be high in the next 20 years and Wall Street is watching. (Modern Farmer)

3. Environmental Regulators Eat Their Own

When a British couple built a “green home” from recycled material with no power or running water, they refused to apply for a building permit claiming the application process used too much paper and electricity. Now the town council has ordered the house torn down. (Daily Mail)

4. Almond Pain

Candy bars, milk, Indian chocolates, pastries, marzipan and so many more products are going to feel almond pain. The California drought has blanketed almond prospects with questions over supply and jacked up prices with harvest six months away. (Bloomberg)

5. Pints Over Pastries?

The first farmers in history to toil over grain in the ground were after bread and beer. But which of the two was the biggest motivator? (Nautilus)

Scrape the Mold

6. Waiting for the End

No Seed Turned Away: 600 miles from the North Pole, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault keeps on building a seed collection for the future. (The Atlantic)

7. Scrape the Mold and Munch Away

Cheese historians are in ecstasy over reports the world’s oldest cheese has been found (dug up with mummies) in China — mucho ripe; maybe 3,600 years old. (USA Today)

8. A Most Hidden Fish

A fish that swims under the radar, a menhaden, is at the heart of the food system. “More menhaden are caught than any other fish in the continental United States by volume.” (Limn)

9. The Onion Whisperer

Leonard Pike, 73 years old: His 14 varieties of onions, carrots, and cucumbers have brought in billions of dollars. Nuff said. (Texas Monthly)

10. Macro Myco

Boosting Crops With Fungi? (The Ascender)

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From the "10" archives

10 agriculture stories you should read today, March 3

10 agriculture stories you should read today, Feb. 24

10 agriculture stories you should read today, Feb. 21

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