Archive for July, 2012
Impact of Dietary Protein Source on Life Cycle Assessment of UK Pig Production
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012Crop production for feed is the main contributor to environmental impacts of pig production systems, according to K.L. Stephen in her thesis from 2011. The results of her study suggest there is scope to lower the overall environmental impact by using home-grown peas, beans or lupins as [...]
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Agriculture and Energy Departments Announce New Investments to Drive Innovations in Biofuels and Biobased Products
Friday, July 27th, 2012WASHINGTON — As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above strategy to enhance U.S. energy security, reduce America’s reliance on imported oil and leverage our domestic energy supply, while also supporting rural economies, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy today announced a $41 million investment in [...]
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SGS Helps Debut New Technology to Improve Access and Use of Earth Science Data
Thursday, July 26th, 2012Researchers investigating global issues now have an easy method for finding and using earth science data through a new technology developed by the Data Observation Network for Earth, or DataONE.
Understanding broad and complex environmental issues, for example climate change, increasingly relies on the discovery and analysis of massive datasets. But the amount [...]Leia mais
Specialist from Texas A & M University will discuss air and water pollution from AFOs in a CPD activity during III Sigera
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012As part of III Sigera program, Dr. Saqib Mukhtar from Texas AgriLife Extension, Texas A & M System – USA, will discuss science, sources and mitigation of air and water pollution from AFOs (Animal Feeding Operations) in three CPD (Continuing Professional Development) sessions.
Dr. Mukhtar specializes in air and water quality improvement by [...]Leia mais
Food, agriculture, and environmental research part of sequestration spending slash
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) joined with 3000 other organizations in warning Congress– any automatic budget cuts set for January of 2013 will have devastating effects on the nondefense discretionary (NDD) community– especially [...]
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US pork council applauds farm database proposal withdrawal
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn a proposed rule that would have required large livestock and poultry farmers to report information about their operations and undermined court decisions related to producer obligations under the Clean Water Act.
The move is applauded by the US National Pork [...]Leia mais
Low-protein pig diets reduce nitrogen emission
Thursday, July 12th, 2012Feeding low protein diets to pigs can reduce nitrogen excretion, new research has found.
This is encouraging for pig producers who will come under increasing pressure to reduce nitrogen emissions, although the impact on growth and fat deposition must also be taken into account.
Three different diets were fed to finisher pigs of [...]Leia mais
Ethanol Fuel Mix to be Raised to 25%
Wednesday, July 11th, 2012RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, July 9th, Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Edison Lobão said that the government may increase the percentage of ethanol to 25 percent in gasoline sold, if there is sufficient production of ethanol in the country. Currently, gasoline sold at gas stations have twenty [...]
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Brazil’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012Cellulosic biomass technology developer GraalBio is planning to help build Brazil’s biorefinery industry with a R$300m ($146m) investment of a new 22m gallons/year cellulosic ethanol plant to be constructed in Alagoas using sugarcane bagasse and straw for initial feedstock.
GraalBio is also developing a new type of cost-competitive biomass [...]Leia mais
New agriculture offset protocol expands opportunities for farmers to participate in the carbon market
Monday, July 2nd, 2012The Climate Action Reserve, North America’s premier carbon offset registry, adopted its Nitrogen Management Project Protocol today. The protocol provides opportunities for farmers to generate carbon offsets by implementing agricultural management practices that reduce the application of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to corn crops in the [...]
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