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How Refrigeration Transformed Agricultural Trade in America

One of the most important inventions for agricultural trade was something that most consumers today can’t imagine living without – refrigeration. The original idea to use refrigeration for farm goods is credited to dairy farmer Thomas Moore of Maryland who was simply looking for a better way to get his butter to market. First, it’s …

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Something I Never Heard… How Midwest Grape Growers Helped Save the French Wine Industry

Montpelier, France is home to a statue depicting a young woman cradling an older woman in her arms, a representation of the New World (America) saving the Old World. Specifically, it recognizes how rootstock from Missouri grape growers rescued the French wine industry from total destruction. In the early 1860s, the vineyards of France began …

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Why More Ranchers are Turning to HerdDogg

It’s been years since location-based technologies and geofencing-enabled apps, like Foursquare, changed what users expected from their mobile devices. Now we all have access to geo-located tools like Uber, Lyft, and more right at our fingertips. A company called HerdDogg has leveraged this technology to help ranchers keep tabs on their herds and improve efficiency.  …

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Interesting… USDA Enlists Tiny Wasps to Save North America’s Ash Trees

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to stop regulating the movement of living ash trees and wood products as a way to control the spread of one of North America’s most devastating invasive insects, the emerald ash borer. The strategy, which had been in place for over a decade, has proven no …

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For Your Enjoyment… Pick Your Winter Forecast

It’s that time of year, the Old Farmer’s Almanac and their younger sibling, the Farmer’s Almanac (FA) is forecasting the coming winter season. Lets see what both have to say…The Old Farmer’s Almanac (OFA) was founded in 1792 and has been releasing annual long-range weather forecasts for centuries. Remember, the OFA’s weather predictions are made …

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Iowa-Based Startup PowerPollen Makes “Pollination-on-Demand” a Reality

Pollination is an essential step in food production and one that nature facilitates in several ingenious ways. Unfortunately, nature isn’t always the most efficient or reliable partner in this critical process. Iowa-based PowerPollen says it can eliminate the uncertainties with a breakthrough technology that can collect and store pollen, allowing it to be applied on-demand …

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How Hybrid Flex-Fuel Vehicles Could Beat Plug-In Electrics

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) wants to put the spotlight on E85 as a viable solution to lowering vehicle carbon emissions. The group recently unveiled an ethanol-powered vehicle demonstration to counter the narrative that electric vehicles are the only path to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to ACE, hybrid flex-fuel vehicles powered …

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