Rebekah Alstede Modery, left, and Sarah Alstede, sisters and co-owners of Alstede Farms in Chester, New Jersey. Courtesy: Alstede Farms Sisters Rebekah Alstede Modery and Sarah Alstede were raised on a New Jersey farm. This year, they decided to spend their careers there, too. Rebekah graduated in 2023 with a double major in agricultural business … Read more
In late March, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it had detected cases of bird flu in dairy cattle. Initially discovered in dairy farms in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico, there are now 36 confirmed outbreaks in dairy herds in nine states. Although the H5N1 virus circulates widely in wild birds, it is now … Read more
Two travellers have been fined $54,000 in a Federal Court ruling for attempting to smuggle 240 fish through Melbourne International Airport. One man was initially fined $420 for attempting to smuggle 120 live ornamental fish into the country in December 2019. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry launched an investigation when the same man … Read more
What if plants could talk to farmers and tell them when they’re in distress? That would not only save the plants, but it could reduce the amount of agricultural waste that threatens the planet’s health. Much of agriculture may look green, but the industry is one of the world’s biggest carbon offenders. It accounts for … Read more
Dana Kirkland grew up riding quad bikes on a farm in South Australia’s southeast but, after a life-changing accident in 2021, she’s now warning families to avoid using them all together. Kirkland shared details of her “traumatic” accident after the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide revealed eight children had been seriously injured in quad … Read more
The makers of the influential 2008 documentary “Food, Inc.” never planned to make a sequel. They figured they’d said it all in their harrowing look at a broken, unsustainable food system — a system led, they argued, by a few multinational corporations whose monopoly squeezes out local farmers, mistreats animals, workers and the soil itself, … Read more
A McDonald’s crew member prepares french fries in Miami, Florida. Getty Images It’s a timeless question at fast-food counters: Do you want fries with that? Responders continue answering affirmatively at a higher-than-average rate, a top potato supplier indicated. It underscores the resilience of consumer spending, even as inflation pinches pocketbooks and pandemic savings dry up. … Read more
To get an idea of the financial toll extreme weather is taking on this country’s agriculture industry, look no further than the government of Saskatchewan’s books. The prairie province had forecast a more than $1 billion surplus for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, but fresh budget documents released last month show that surplus … Read more
More subtly, heat influences volatile compounds that turn into gas—that’s the “nose” you get when tasting wine—which break down under higher temperatures. “The profiles tend to get pushed to what sensory scientists would call the ‘cooked’ side of the spectrum: more jammy, or like cooked fruit,” says Gambetta. “This can be a good thing. Some … Read more
Coles and Woolworths are being urged to scrap member-only prices for customers who have joined membership programs. A parliamentary hearing into supermarket prices will take place in Melbourne on Wednesday, with consumer advocates to push for fairer prices at the check-out. The inquiry was launched in response to allegations of major supermarkets price gouging customers, … Read more
