#agriculture

#agriculture

The sign outside Tom Hermes's farmyard in Perkins Township in Ohio, a short drive south of the shores of Lake Erie, proudly claims that his family have farmed the land here since 1900. Today, he raises 130 head of cattle and grows corn, wheat, grass and soybeans on 1,200 acres of land. For his family, his animals and wider business, water is life.

They said these "dirt-cheap" prices cost taxpayers, add to the strains on scarce water, and discourage conservation - even as the Colorado River's depleted reservoirs continue to decline. "Federal taxpayers have been subsidizing effectively free water for a very, very long time," said Noah Garrison, a researcher at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. "We can't address the growing water scarcity in the West while we continue to give that water away for free or close to it."

Most posture gadgets target office workers hunched over laptops, buzzing when your shoulders curl forward, or your neck drifts too far from neutral. Meanwhile, people doing physically demanding jobs, like young farmers, quietly rack up back pain and joint strain from long hours of bending, squatting, and lifting in fields. That strain is often treated as just part of the job until it becomes a serious problem threatening long-term health and livelihood.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a 'Farm First' scheme to train graduates for careers in farming, aiming to prevent what they describe as a "lost generation" in the sector. The scheme would be similar to Teach First, a charity which trains graduates as teachers and places them in schools. The party estimates their proposal would cost 60m per year, funding two-year training placements for 1,000 trainees.

Leah Anderson, a senior executive at Land O'Lakes, has learned to make high-stakes calls even when the data is incomplete. It's a discipline that's become foundational to her leadership, especially as AI and digital tools accelerate the speed at which farmers and retailers must act. She says the biggest risk for decision-makers in this space isn't making the wrong call-it's getting stuck.

Cecafé, Brazil's coffee exporters council, called the tariff hike "a complete loss of competitiveness." "The tariff reversal comes after months of intense work representing the interests of Brazilian coffee. It is a historic victory for the entire coffee agribusiness production chain," the council said in a statement. Brazil has long been a key supplier of beef and coffee to the United States.

Working on the farm taught me patience and responsibility. We had more than 150 employees, so I learned quickly that leadership is about people. You need to listen, guide, and set an example. It wasn't glamorous work, but it gave me the foundation I still use today.

Anyone visiting farmer Henning Voigt's operation near Germany's Baltic Sea coast stands a good chance of getting their feet wet. About 25 years ago, his father began rewetting a once-drained peatland. "We've been an organic farm since 1996 and currently manage 350 hectares (864 acres) of grassland. Most of it is very wet," Voigt says. Speaking with DW, Voigt explains that the hay they harvest from these wet fields is burned in a power plant to produce district heating.

Authorities are scrambling to provide drinking water across Iran, particularly in the capital, Tehran, as Iranians grapple with the effects of multiple ongoing crises. If there is no rain by next month, water will have to be rationed in Tehran; in fact, the city of 10 million may even have to be evacuated, President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech on Friday. While experts say evacuating the city is a last resort that will likely not come to pass, the president's stark warning is indicative of the mammoth burden facing the country of more than 90 million, its ailing economy reeling under sanctions.

When life gets stressful, one of the oldest tried and true remedies comes from the calming scent of flowers. Lavender is at the top of that list, and when it's an entire field of lavender it can waft our troubles away with both the sight and aroma. Petaluma residents can see and enjoy such a visage on Chapman Lane where the Lavender Bee Farm has been enchanting locals and international guests for many years.

Flanked by farmland and nestled among the deep valleys of central Spain, few in Villamalea, a town of 4,200 people, expected to find their tranquil home splashed across Spanish media this summer. I've never been contacted by so many media outlets in my life, said Jose Nunez Perez, the conservative mayor of Villamalea. With a laugh, he added: It made me question, just what have we done here?

From a young age, Yushu Xia was keenly aware of the importance of environmental health-a passion sparked by her grandfather, a geology professor and author of popular science books who inspired her love for science and education. Today, Xia combines these interests as an assistant research professor at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is part of the Columbia Climate School. Xia's niche: the intersection of soil and agricultural science with modeling and data science, all of which are essential in "truly understand[ing] how soils function," she says.

He saved a portion of that and used it to sow 3 acres (1.2 hectares) of paddy. He placed his bet on the high-yielding pearl variety of aromatic Basmati rice. A good sale would have given him an earning of nearly 1 million rupees per acre ($11,400 per 0.4 hectares). But now, Singh's pearl paddy grains lie submerged in floodwater, buried under layers of soil and sediment.

Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer and president of the American Soybean Association, is warning of an agricultural crisis as China has placed zero soybean orders for the upcoming harvest. It's a departure from typical patterns, where 25% of the U.S. crop goes to China. With prices 40% below three-year highs and production costs rising, hundreds of thousands of farmers face losses unless there's a trade resolution between the two countries.

The European Commission took the first step on Wednesday to ratify a long-awaited free-trade package with Latin American countries: an agreement with Mexico, and, crucially, one with members of the Mercosur trading bloc. The EU spent over 25 years negotiating the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, the four founding members of the Southern Common Market, or Mercosur. Bolivia, which joined the group only last year, and Venezuela, whose membership has been suspended, are not included in the deal.

President Daniel Chapo launches $40m fund for small businesses at 60th annual Maputo International Trade Fair. Maputo, Mozambique Down the main aisle of a bustling conference pavilion in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, Lucia Matimele stands surrounded by lush green leaves, peppers on the stalk, and bunches of ripe bananas. We have land, we have water, we have farmers! she enthuses. What we need is investment.

The U.S. plans to build a $750 million factory to breed billions of sterile flies to combat the New World screwworm flies that threaten the cattle industry.