Stemming the water crisis in the western US will require cities and rural areas to work together to make water use on farms – the largest source of demand – more efficient.
As crops fail in the rising heat, men are leaving many rural areas for migrant work in cities. Women are left to tend to the farming in increasingly dangerous conditions.
Kelly Bronson, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Big data from social media have been revealed as biased, but we should also pay attention to agriculture firms whose play for big data is likely to have detrimental environmental and social impacts.
Farmers are contending with huge spikes in fertilizer prices. The Biden administration is paying US companies to boost synthetic fertilizer production, but there are other, more sustainable options.
Industry seeks to capitalize on regenerative agriculture, but standards that focus only on carbon or other select environmental metrics will undermine its transformative potential
Mike Joy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
A new study of dairying in Canterbury shows previous estimates vastly underestimate the impact of intensive farming. A 12-fold reduction in cow numbers could be needed to meet safe water standards.
Avian influenza virus — or bird flu — can infect domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys, as well as wild birds. The H5N1 strain has been identified in Canada.
Scientists just grew plants in soil from the Moon, but Antarctica has long provided researchers with the perfect place to test their agricultural techniques for a future in space.
La Niña is only part of the problem. The long-term driver of increasing drought – even in areas getting more rainfall overall – is the rapidly warming climate.
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Professorial Fellow, Fenner School for the Environment and Society, Australian National University