Free Republic

A former Pepsi factory that sat vacant for a decade is being reincarnated as an indoor marijuana grow — one of the largest in the pot-friendly state of Colorado. Doyen Elements, a holding company that leases real estate properties out to legal cannabis companies, bought an old bottling plant in Pueblo County. Upon completion in 2019, the facility could potentially produce up to 70,000 pounds of marijuana flower a year. According to a recent report in Forbes, the company is one of a growing number of real estate investment firms that are making money in legal weed without actually touching...

In a speech otherwise laden with praise for President Trump, Rep. Roger Marshall broke ranks on immigration, questioning the feasibility of a mammoth border wall and saying mass deportation would wreck Kansas’ economy. Marshall represents Kansas’ 1st District, a sprawling, mostly rural and agrarian district that covers the western two-thirds of the state. He said the U.S. needs to revise its immigration policies and document those who come to the United States to work in the farms and feedlots....

A farmer faces trial in federal court this summer and a $2.8 million fine for failing to get a permit to plow his field and plant wheat in Tehama County. A lawyer for Duarte Nursery said the case is important because it could set a precedent requiring other farmers to obtain costly, time-consuming permits just to plow their fields.

Azure Farm, a Certified Organic farm in Central Oregon, is under threat from the local county government who wants to spray Azure's Certified Organic farm with herbicides like Roundup (Glyphosate). Here's what you can do to help. Contact Sherman County court via email at lhernandez@co.sherman.or.us or call Lauren at 541-565-3416 and express your concern. See azurestandard.com/healthy-living/info/azure-farm-moro/ for more details. Video explaining legal action being taken against the 18 year certified organic farm in Oregon... http://vimeo.com/216920516

BURLEY, Idaho — Potato farmers say the expansion of the local McCain Foods USA processing plant should significantly increase demand for their crop and boost the area’s economy. McCain officials announced the $200 million investment this week. The expansion should be operational by the late summer of 2018 and will employ 180 new workers. “From my standpoint, that’s as big of a thing as we could have had announced in this area,” said Mark Darrington, a McCain grower from Declo. “For this to come right into the heart of our production area, this is a huge win for agriculture and...

Those who are responsible for feeding our world and keeping up with the forever changing challenges facing the food and agriculture industry have come together to work with those who have defended our nation. Michigan State University Institute of Agricultural Technology accompanied by extension agencies and some of the food and agriculture industry's leaders, work with partners like the Veterans' Services Division of the Michigan Workforce Development Agency and the VA Hospital System to train veterans and ultimately help them obtain a job within the field as part of a program called Vets to Ag. Founded in 1894, the Institute...

Amnesty International says a new decree in Venezuela that says the government can make any of its citizens farm the country's fields in order to combat its current, punishing food crisis "effectively amounts to forced labour." "The decree, officially published earlier this week, establishes that people working in public and private companies can be called upon to join state-sponsored organizations specialized in the production of food," Amnesty International reported. "They will be made to work in the new companies temporarily for a minimum of 60 days after which their 'contracts' will be automatically renewed for an extra 60-day period or...

Shaking his head and staring down at me, Jaybird said, “I almost feel sorry for yo’ brother. For him, it’s sho’ been one helluva bad day.” It was a torrid July day in the summer of 1961. On my father’s Mississippi Delta farm, a huge field was covered with 80-pound hay bales that had to be loaded by hand onto trailers and hauled to the barn. At five o’clock, Dad opened the bedroom door. “Hay time, boys, git up. Jaybird is waiting outside for y’all.”

The world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. China and India, the two largest countries in the world, have populations totalling around one billion. In four years, by 2022, India is predicted to have the largest population in the world, surpassing China. This means we need new ways to grow food that are smarter and helps regulate our use of land, water and energy in order to feed the planet and avoid a global food crisis. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute believe the answer lies in sensors, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. In a new...

Footage of some of the most imaginative (and functional) farming machines from around the world...these folks have some very powerful and fun machines to play with. I've never seen many of these machines before.

<p>On a rooftop in the Jewish-Arab Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, a former military technologist and an ex-journalist sit in a transparent bio-dome where their robot is busy learning how to grow food.</p> <p>Flux IoT’s Eddy, a robot measuring less than a foot tall and resembling a life buoy, is built with military-grade sensors and armed with image-processing technology.</p>

We ate some weird s**t in 2016. A person born in the year 1000 AD definitely wouldn’t comprehend a Dorito. He certainly wouldn’t understand why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and if you showed him a Twinkie, he’d probably burn you at the stake. But the way things are headed, our food is bound to get a lot weirder. Scientific research doesn’t just bring us more convenient and cheaper food options, but the hope of overcoming sustainability issues, too. The meat industry plays a huge role in climate change—around 10 percent of America’s total greenhouse gas emissions...

Humans have needs, but we need some things more than others. Back in the 1940s, American psychologist Abraham Maslow famously classified human needs into a hierarchy, often shown as a pyramid. At the foundation are our physiological needs: air, water, food, etc. Only when these needs are met can we reach upward to more and more refined stages of material, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual fulfillment. You could say, the very existence of civilization depends on the stability of the bottom layer. It’s thus no accident that a huge part of the economy exists to fill these basic needs. Even smart...

Indoor farming is a popular subject in the media, and a booming industry with new farmers joining the game every day. In fact, there are growing conferences held solely for indoor farmers, their suppliers, influencers, and resources. But many are still left with questions about the indoor farm. •Just what makes an indoor farm an indoor farm? •What makes indoor farming so popular? •What potential does indoor farming really have in the future? •How will I interact with indoor farms? Dr. Nate has an overview for you. What is indoor farming all about?(VIDEO-AT-LINK) What is indoor farming? Indoor farms take...

Both U.S. Senators from North Dakota were on hand as Mr. Trump signed his order to eliminate the Obama Administration's Waters of the U.S. rule WASHINGTON D.C. — President Trump has signed another executive order that will impact farmers and ranchers. Both U.S. Senators from North Dakota were on hand as Mr. Trump signed his order to eliminate the Obama Administration’s Waters of the U.S. rule. Senator Heitkamp says it’s time for Congress to act by giving the EPA direction on what water is jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act. Senator Hoeven says the rule was a regulatory overreach that...

According to ganjapreneur Rick Byrd, the future of farming is tall, dirtless and local. Byrd’s vision of skyscraper farms to feed city dwellers begins with a much different kind of crop: marijuana. The 45-year-old is chief executive officer and founder of Pure Agrobusiness Inc., a company that sells equipment to grow legal cannabis, a market worth $6 billion in 2016 and expected to reach $50 billion by 2026, according to Cowen & Co. Because cannabis has higher profit margins than food, and pot is mostly grown inside, Byrd said he hopes the innovations perfected by PureAgro, with the help of...

A total of 133 organizations and companies from the food and agriculture sector, which supports more than 15 million jobs nationally, sent President Donald J. Trump a letter this week expressing their eagerness to work with his Administration to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while preserving and expanding the gains achieved to date. “U.S. food and agricultural exports have produced a trade surplus for nearly 50 years,” the letter notes. “Consistent growth over this period resulted in over $130 billion worth of exports, which created $423 billion in U.S. economic activity in 2015.” The letter also noted...

William ThontonJanuary 23, 2017 The Oggun tractor, which will be manufactured in Fyffe, was developed for farmers domestically and in the developing world as a low-cost alternative to heavy farm equipment. (William Thornton / wthornton@al.com) In a new factory off Main Street in Fyffe, a business this week began marketing a product it says could revolutionize agricultural for the small farmer all over the world. CleBer LLC hosted the opening of its plant which will manufacture the Oggun Iron Horse, a tractor designed for small-scale domestic and international farmers. The tractor, which can sport a 19 horsepower Honda gas or...

FRESNO — Days after Donald Trump won the White House vowing to deport millions of people in the country illegally and fortify the Mexican border, California farmer Kevin Herman ordered nearly $600,000 in new equipment, cutting the number of workers he’ll need starting with the next harvest. Herman, who grows figs, persimmons and almonds in the nation’s most productive farming state, said Trump’s comments pushed him to make the purchase, larger than he would have otherwise. “No doubt about it,” Herman said. “I probably wouldn’t have spent as much or bought as much machinery as I did.”(continued)

For Randy King, the argument for indoor farming in Canada is just common sense. For one, Canada is a northern country with long winters. Two, during those long winters almost all fruit and vegetables in Canadian grocery stores are imported from Central America, Mexico or California. Three, wouldn’t it be better if Canadians grew their own fruits and veggies? “I think this is the way of the future for growing produce in northern regions,” said King, co-owner of West Grow Farms, a company with plans to build an indoor farm near Edmonton. “In order to gain food sovereignty, we need...