Agriculture

Agriculture

At the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission's Annual Meeting, Dr. Craig Yencho was presented with the prestigious 2026 Distinguished Service Award: a recognition that celebrates his extraordinary contributions to the state's sweetpotato growers and the broader agricultural community. It's a well-deserved honor for a scientist whose work has generated billions in revenue and transformed how we grow, harvest, and enjoy this beloved root vegetable.

There are two types of grants that U.S.-based organizations can apply for: Accelerator Grants for those who are already leveraging our AI glasses to scale their impact, and Catalyst Grants for organizations proposing new, high-impact applications using our Device Access Toolkit. We will award 15 Accelerator Grants of $25,000 and 10 of $50,000 USD, depending on the scale of the project. We'll also award five Catalyst Grants of $200,000. In total, we'll grant nearly $2 million to more than 30 organizations and developers.

There is a type of rhododendron which makes a superb container plant, and even performs greatly when pot bound, since many species are epiphytes in nature. https://growplumeriafrangipani.blogspot.com/2011/04/tropical-rhododendron-vireya.html These are vireya rhododendrons. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v32n1/v32n1-leach.htm https://rhododendron.org/vireya/index.html https://rhododendron.org/vireya/gallery.htm https://www.rhododendron.org/vireya/archive/StevensNRBGE85.pdf https://www.rhododendron.org/vireya/archive/CallardRSF2011.pdf https://www.rhododendron.org/vireya/history.htm http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v46n1/v46n1-moynier.htm Many vireya hybrids were created in the Bay Area, especially at the San Francisco Botanical Garden which was the Strybing Arboretum. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v45n1/v45n1-morebeck.htm

Since 2017, he has owned 10 acres of Evangelho, leasing the remaining 23 acres from PG&E. Rooted beneath a cat's cradle of power lines, the 135-year-old vineyard owes its survival in part to the utility company, which is prohibited from developing the land. The reality is that the economics of farming a vineyard are so tough that not a lot of people can do it, Twain-Peterson said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which breaks the country into 13 zones that help determine the best time of year to get started on various fruits and vegetables, such as peppers. Each zone varies by 10 degrees, and each subzone varies by five degrees, even if a single state can technically be broken into several zones.

Maui's lush landscapes have drawn visitors for decades, but now what comes from the aina (land) is also attracting attention. As the island continues to recover from the 2023 wildfires and a 20.7% drop in tourism between July 2023 and July 2025, more Maui farm owners are opening their fields and facilities to visitors. Farm tours offer educational, entertaining and enriching experiences that offset the high cost of farming and help stimulate the island's economic recovery.

To coincide with this event, the Heinrich Boll Foundation, which has close ties to the Green Party, has published its "Corporate Atlas 2026." The study states: In Germany, more and more small and medium-sized farms are dying out. One reason is that the domestic supply chains for milk, meat and vegetables are dominated by just four large retail chains that dictate prices and squeeze farmers out of business.

"We've been asked to diversify," he said, "and when we try to do that, the local authorities tell us we can't - and that needs addressing."

Come join a volunteer work party at The School Farm every second Saturday from noon to 4 pm to lend a hand and learn about farm work. All skill levels and abilities are welcome, even for moral support and comic relief. They will provide some water and maybe a snack, and plenty of well worn gloves, but If you'd like, bring some more refreshments to share or your favorite personal protective equipment. For more info, contact sam@eco-sf.org.

Fine Gael TD says protections are in place to counter any major disruption to beef prices

Future Farm is a modular vertical farming system designed by Qing Duan for integration within urban architecture, proposing a model where buildings function as hydro-ecological systems. Rainwater is collected, filtered, and redistributed to support plant growth and domestic needs, establishing a closed-loop water cycle that combines sustainable agriculture with everyday city life. The project incorporates public greenhouse spaces, shared kitchens, rooftop farms, and educational zones to enable collective care, learning, and interaction with urban farming processes.

If you're cold, your outdoor plants probably are too - and it's time to bring those tender leafy greens indoors. Wintertime container gardening can be a satisfying, cost-effective way to incorporate more leafy green veggies into your daily diet, and few fast-growing veggies are as suited to the task as arugula. These seeds grow happily in your kitchen, thriving in countertop gardens and shallow pots even when the annual chill sets in.

Growing your own vegetables is a fun and rewarding activity. Not only will you ensure they are at their freshest when you eat them, but you will also know how they are grown, especially if you care about pesticides and other harmful chemicals found in commercially grown produce. If you don't have an outdoor garden space, you can still grow some tasty veggies indoors - and some of the simplest (and fastest-growing) are radishes.

The company announced the appointment of industry veteran Mark Munger as their first-ever Vice President of Marketing & Business Development - a role that didn't exist before but clearly needed. This isn't just another corporate reshuffle. When a 23-year-old company creates an entirely new executive position, it means they're ready to play at a different level. Why This Appointment Matters

Tomatoes have a reputation for being a temperamental garden crop. They're thirsty, both fragile and heavy, and can be prone to disease. Cherry tomatoes, on the other hand, are widely considered among the easiest tomato variety to grow because of how efficiently (and abundantly) they go from flower to fruit. They ripen within about two months of planting and replenish themselves constantly.

Steffan MessengerWales environment correspondent BBC Wales' controversial post-Brexit subsidy scheme for farmers has come in, almost a decade after the vote to leave the EU. It will provide payments with a greener focus and see farms agree to a checklist of requirements. Farms have to actively manage at least 10% of their land as habitat to join, and while some have land that qualifies, many dairy farmers say they don't.

Arya.ag, an Indian agritech company offering storage facilities near farms and offering lending services to hundreds of thousands of farmers, has drawn investor interest and remained profitable even as global crop prices continue to fall in a volatile commodities market. The investor interest has taken shape in the latest all-equity Series D round from GEF Capital Partners, totaling $81 million, of which more than 70% was primary capital and the rest secondary share sales, according to the company.

According to a recent report, the sector is in dire need of an infusion of new blood and must recruit 22,600 younger workers over the coming years as the current generations of growers reach and exceed retirement age. The report, commissioned by the Spanish Wine Interprofessional Organisation (OIVE), found that 38.9% of wine-growers are aged 51-65 and 35% are over 65. Those aged 41-50 make up 16.9% of the sector, while the under-40s comprise only 9.3%.

You think you've made the deal of a lifetime, and it turns out it could have been even better. And at a certain age, those strong emotions can be dangerous, as Mauri Oliveira, a 66-year-old Brazilian coffee producer, can attest to. Owner of the Campestre estate, he speaks with delight about the ritual he shares with other landowners every full moon night. They have dinner at one of the estates before embarking on a horseback ride by the light of the moon along the trails.

American beef plants are under threat as the number of cattle destined for their facilities stays far below historical levels, reflecting the smallest herd in more than half a century. Cattle placed in feedlots, where animals are fed until ready to be slaughtered, are expected to have dropped in November to the lowest levels for the month since 2015, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Norwich Meadows Farm, an organic farm based in Norwich, New York, reported on Instagram that a major fire destroyed its main barn and packing shed overnight on Thursday, December 11, wiping out its packhouse, refrigeration, machinery, scales, and other essential equipment. No one was hurt. For now, the priority is restoring power to protect winter storage crops; the team says it's not yet clear what the next few days or weeks will look like for markets and orders.

Crop yields have increased enormously over the past few decades. But early warning signs have arrived as crop yield rates flatline, prompting warnings of efficiency hitting its limits and the impacts of climate change taking effect. At first glance trends seem positive. Farming methods have become more and more efficient over the last 80 years. However, multiple projections suggest that climate change will soon have key crops plateauing, then sliding down again.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.