USDA Also Announces Additional Investments in Research and Consumer Education WASHINGTON, May 30, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the signing of a formal agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to renew their Federal Interagency Collaboration to Reduce Food Loss and Waste (FIFLAW). U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also joined the collaboration to help reduce food loss and waste internationally. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf, and USAID Administrator Samantha Power signed the formal agreement renewing…
Author: urbanagnews
The University of Florida IFAS (UF/IFAS) Extension and FreshLearn have released a major update to the popular and free BackPocketGrower.org website. Designers Paul Fisher and Maria Kinslow (UF/IFAS) and Bruce MacKay (FreshLearn) encourage growers to link to this web app for easy access to English/Spanish grower calculator tools, training videos, and fact sheets on a wide range of production topics. The Tools section includes calculators for fertilizer and agrichemical dilutions, container substrates, light levels, vapor pressure deficit (VPD), crop budgets, and water quality. For example, you can calculate parts per million concentrations of fertilizers or how much daily light integral…
GreenTech Amsterdam 2024 is the global horticulture tradeshow which inspires the market about the latest trends and developments on topics like data, energy transition, a tasty & healthy horticulture and from farm to pharmacy. More than 500 exhibitors, around 12,000 attendees, over 80 knowledge sessions and topnotch innovations are the ideal ingredients which will lead to spontaneous and unforeseen encounters. The event will be held from 11 to 13 June at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. A selection of the 80 knowledge sessions: Vision Stage: Technology Stage: Medicinal Plants/ Vertical Farming Stage: Vertical Farming: More information at: https://www.greentech.nl/amsterdam/. Registration policy visitorsGreenTech offers a 3-day entrance ticket for €95 excl. VAT per…
Zenith Global’s Vertical Farming World Congress is the highest level and most significant dedicated industry event of the year.Bringing together vertical farming operators, investors, suppliers and customers, the 5th annual event in Frankfurt will assemble key industry leaders from around the globe to debate and advance the industry’s future. There will be two days of conference sessions, where industry leaders, innovators, suppliers, advisers and investors will share their insights through a series of presentations, interviews and interactive panel discussions, in addition to industry policy round tables, extensive networking breaks and a gala industry dinner where the Vertical Farming World Awards…
CEA Summit East 2024 is now accepting abstracts for the Graduate Student Research Poster Competition to be held as part of the October 1-2, 2024, edition at the Institute For Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) Conference Center in Danville, Virginia. CEA Summit East is focused on bringing together the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) industry and academia. Co-hosted by Indoor Ag-Con, the leading global gathering of the vertical farming | CEA sector, and the Virginia Tech-IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center, a joint project between IALR and Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center,…
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for four positions on the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. USDA will accept nominations until July 7, 2024. The 12-member Committee, which first convened in March 2022, is part of USDA’s efforts to increase support for urban agriculture and innovative production. Members of the Committee provide input on policy development and help identify barriers to urban agriculture as USDA works to promote urban farming and the economic opportunities it provides in cities across the country. “The Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Committee has already submitted more than…
Greenhouse 101 starts on June 3 and is the first 2024 course in the award-winning Greenhouse Training Online series from the University of Florida IFAS Extension (UF). If you have grower staff who will benefit from extra training or if you are interested in joining the horticulture industry, this course will help you make better crop management decisions by learning the underlying horticultural science of plant growth. Join the over 1100 growers from around the world who have successfully completed this course and received a certificate of completion from UF. Greenhouse 101 is designed for people with no formal training…
Did you know the the USDA Farm Service Agency provides opportunities for young entrepreneurs to acquire experience and education in agriculture-related skills. These loans provide up to $5,000 for people 10 to 20 years old. Youth loans can be used to start and operate income-producing projects of modest size and are available to members of 4-H clubs, FFA, a Tribal youth group, or similar agricultural youth organizations. Read the full article on farmers.gov by Shantelle Turner, FSA “This Friday meet Trinity Waguespack, an 11-year-old urban farmer in Lafayette, Louisiana. When she’s not tackling her schoolwork, Trinity is busy growing lettuce in her…
Photo above: UF students engage in sensory training for Thompson-Witrick’s study, learning how to identify certain smells emanating from the shredded hops. (by Tyler Jones, UF/IFAS) Although plenty of Florida’s craft brewers advertise their libations as brewed with state-grown ingredients, a vital ingredient – hops – is not readily available within the Sunshine State. A University of Florida study currently underway, however, may help pave the way for a robust crop of Florida-grown hops. Researchers with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) believe they have identified a method for making hop-growing viable despite Florida’s incompatible climate: greenhouses. “This…
GreenTech Amsterdam is pleased to announce that 6 from the 47 submissions have been nominated, in 2 categories – ‘Innovation’ and ‘Concept’ – for the GreenTech Innovation & Concept Awards 2024. According to the jury, the rapid adoption of data science and AI in the market is striking, resulting in a significant increase in the number of submissions and focus on reducing energy, water, and nutrient usage. The winner per category will be announced during the opening of the show on the first day. GreenTech Amsterdam will take place from 11 – 13 June at RAI Amsterdam. Egon Janssen (chairman jury)…
Prospective applicants can now apply for available positions at ClimateCorps.gov WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has selected 28 organizations to host members of USDA’s Working Lands Climate Corps (WLCC), an effort that will train the next generation of conservation and climate leaders, providing technical training and career pathway opportunities for young people and helping them deliver climate-smart agriculture solutions for farmers and ranchers. Selections were made in partnership with The Corps Network. WLCC is part of President Biden’s historic American Climate Corps initiative and harnesses funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. Last month, President Biden announced that Americans can now apply to…
Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds agricultural producers that Farm Loan Programs can be used to support a variety of climate-smart agriculture practices, which build on many practices that farmers and ranchers already use, like cover cropping, nutrient management and conservation tillage. “Farmers and ranchers are already doing their part to be stewards of our land, but some may lack the financial resources to take their efforts to the next level,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “USDA’s Farm Service Agency offers a variety of loans that can help those who would like to…
Village Farms Fresh is pleased to announce the company has been recognized as a ‘Giga Guru’ by its valued customer Walmart through their sustainability initiative ‘Project Gigaton’. There are currently over 6000 Walmart suppliers participating in Project Gigaton and Village Farms Fresh is in the top 18% of suppliers who have earned the status of Giga Guru. This milestone collectively with other suppliers’ actions reported is expected to reduce, avoid, or sequester over one gigaton of CO2 emissions which helped Walmart to reach their intended goal 6 years early. To make a comparison, according to Walmart this is equivalent to…
Free, downloadable report provides guidelines to improve the resource efficiency by reducing energy consumption and peak loads, as well as water consumption PORTLAND, Ore. — Resource Innovation Institute (RII), a not-for-profit, public-private partnership advancing climate resilience, announced today the availability of its Controls and Automation Best Practices Guide for Controlled Environment Agriculture Operations. It can be downloaded from RII’s resource catalog at this link. “The technologies serving Controlled Environment Agriculture have advanced at an exhilarating pace over the past decade,” said Rob Eddy, Resource Efficiency Horticulturist of RII and author of the completed guide. “One of the biggest challenges for growers and their facility design…