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01 / 05
Good News from the World’s Farms

Bloomberg | Agriculture

Good News from the World’s Farms

“The last two decades have seen huge improvements in agronomics. Seeds yield far more than before, even when rain and temperatures aren’t ideal, and irrigation has expanded. Farmers have access to much better hardware: large planters, powerful tractors, improved combines, larger storage facilities.

Compared with a decade ago, the world will harvest in 2024-25 about 10% more wheat, about 15% more corn, nearly 30% more soybeans, and about 10% more rice. Except for corn, all the other three key food commodities will enjoy a record high production.

Few regions show that combination of fair weather and scientific advances more clearly than the American Midwest.

On Monday, the US Department of Agriculture said it anticipates American farmers will reap record yields for two key food commodities: on average, 183.1 bushels per acre of corn, and 53.2 bushels per acre of soybeans…

Two decades ago, US corn farmers were harvesting about 150 bushels per acre; in the mid-1980s, the number was closer to 110 bushels.”

From Bloomberg.

New Atlas | Pollution

Crop-Spraying Robot Is Designed to Reduce Emissions

“The spraying of orchards and vineyards certainly isn’t an eco-friendly process, with tractors spewing exhaust as they douse crops in herbicides and pesticides. That’s one of the main reasons the electric, autonomous Prospr robot was created.

Manufactured by New Zealand agritech company Robotics Plus, the all-wheel-drive robotic vehicle was unveiled last September at the FIRA agricultural robotics show in California. It’s now in commercial use in New Zealand, Australia and the US.

Among other features, the robot sports a refillable spray tank, multiple spray fans, a diesel generator, a battery pack, and four knobby-tired wheels which are each independently driven by their own electric motor.

For relatively short spray jobs, Prospr can operate on battery power alone. The generator kicks in for longer jobs, producing electricity that reportedly allows the bot to work all day long without recharging or refueling. As a result, Prospr is claimed to use up to 72% less fuel than a traditional diesel tractor performing the same task.”

From New Atlas.

Bloomberg | Food Production

Biotech Wants Vegetarians to Eat Its Peas Spliced with Beef DNA

“Moolec Science SA is eyeing the vegetarian market after getting US planting clearance for its beef-infused peas, though it may be years before the genetically modified product finds its way to grocery shelves.

The legumes spliced with beef DNA, which received a green light from the US Department of Agriculture last month, would be the first GMO pea to come to market, said Gaston Paladini, chief executive officer of Moolec…

Moolec originally planned for the peas — much like its signature pork-infused soybeans — to be an ingredient for hamburgers and sausages. But now it intends to target vegetarians seeking iron-rich replacements for beef.”

From Bloomberg.

Blog Post | Treatment of Animals

The Horrors of Pre-Industrial Farming

The harsh realities of preindustrial farming are at odds with the popular notion of what farming was like in the past.

Summary: The realities of preindustrial farming were far harsher than the romanticized vision of peaceful rural life often imagined today. In 17th-century England, practices such as bull-baiting—torturing bulls before slaughter to tenderize the meat—were common, while urban dairy cows lived in filthy, cramped conditions, producing low-quality “blue milk.” These and other grim examples highlight how far farming practices have evolved and remind us that while modern agriculture has its own problems, past methods were far from idyllic.


Many people assume that before the days of factory farming, livestock lived in peace and happiness—with pristine, spacious surroundings, fresh grass to consume and kind treatment from good-natured family farmers, at least until the moment of slaughter. Sadly, the reality of how farm animals lived in the preindustrial and early industrial age was often far removed from this image. Consider the plight of the unfortunate creatures that provided our ancestors with beef and milk.

First, beef. In England, it was once illegal to sell “unbaited” beef. Between 1661 and 1687, over 40 cases of selling unbaited beef were prosecuted, notes British historian Emily Cockayne. For example, in 1662, an unfortunate fellow named Thomas Stevenson “was fined for selling unbaited bull meat.” To the people of that era, the idea of selling unbaited beef was outrageous. After all, baiting was standard and expected.

What differentiated baited beef from unbaited beef? The former came from an animal that spent its last moments alive being tortured. An excited crowd would gather to witness the “baiting,” or the releasing of dogs to attack the bull and induce a state of panic. The dogs were trained to bite the bulls’ necks and faces, especially the mouth and nose. The bull was typically trapped in a small, enclosed space or chained to an iron stake to prevent escape. Special dogs, from which the modern bulldog and pit bull derive their names, were bred for the task: to keep their jaws clenched into the flesh of a bull even as the bull ripped out the attacking canine’s entrails.

After a dog latched onto a bull with its teeth, the dog breeders would sometimes hack off the dog’s feet to test the canine’s toughness. “During a bull-baiting contest, the feet of the bulldog were chopped off to show gameness. This was done for the benefit of the spectators, and to put a higher value on the price of the pups of this dog. A bulldog that would quit after its feet were chopped was disposed of and not used for breeding.” In other words, the dogs were bred to keep biting the bulls even while being mutilated themselves. One bullbaiting witness in the 19th century, when the practice was dying out, wrote, “It was a young bull and had little notion of tossing the dogs, which tore the ears and skin of his face in shreds and his mournful cries were awful.”

What was the point of tormenting bulls and dogs in this manner, let alone legally requiring that bulls spend their last moments of life this way before becoming sellable beef? While the blood sport provided entertainment, baiting was also thought to produce higher-quality meat. Dying in battle meant that the bulls’ muscles worked hard until the final moment. This was thought to tenderize the meat and, inexplicably, to improve the beef’s nutritional quality. Today, in contrast, people consider the highest-quality beef to be that of certain Japanese cattle that live in a stress-free environment with daily massages to work out muscle tension and even soothing classical music. And most farmers now go to great lengths to ensure cattle’s final moments are calm, using a carefully designed system.

Next, consider dairy cows. Before the development of railways, it was difficult to transport milk from the countryside into cities without it spoiling first. As a result, many dairy cows were kept inside cities, decreasing milk transport times but often resulting in appalling conditions for the animals. Cockayne wrote this of London’s urban cows: “With a small and diminishing number of grazing opportunities and little space to store fodder, beasts were left to wallow in their own excrement, tied in dark hovels, where they fed on brewers’ waste and rank hay. Their milk was known as ‘blue milk,’ and was only good for cooking.” The already poor quality of the unhappy creatures’ milk was further diminished when the substance was taken into the marketplace through the city’s squalid streets. Consider the following description of milk in London from a work published in 1771:

The produce of faded cabbage leaves and sour draff, lowered with hot water, frothed with bruised snails, carried through the streets in open pails, exposed to foul rinsings discharged from doors and windows, spittle, snot, and tobacco-quids from foot-passengers, overflowings from mud-carts, spatterings from coach-wheels, dirt and trash chucked into it by roguish boys for the joke’s sake, the spewing of infants who have slabbered in the tin measure, which is thrown back in that condition among the milk, for the benefit of the next customer; and, finally, the vermin that drops from the rags of the nasty drab that vends this precious mixture.

From baited beef to blue milk, the harsh realities of preindustrial farming are at odds with the popular romanticized notion of what farming was like in the past. Of course, none of this is to excuse any mistreatment of animals today, but it can hopefully put debates about current farming practices in a proper perspective.

This article was published by RealClearHistory on 10/10/2024.

Solar Foods | Food Production

Solar Foods Obtains Self-Affirmed GRAS Status for Solein in the United States

“Solein has obtained the so-called independent conclusion of GRAS status (Generally Recognized as Safe) also referred to as self-affirmed GRAS status in the United States. Solar Foods has made a conclusion as an end result of this regulated procedure that Solein® is “Generally Recognized as Safe” for its intended use. Solar Foods sees the self-affirmed GRAS status as a major step towards Solein’s commercialization and entry onto the US market…

Solein is an all-purpose protein grown with the air we breathe: The unique bioprocess takes a single microbe, one of the billion different ones found in nature, and grows it by fermenting it using air and electricity. Solein is a nutritionally rich and versatile ingredient which can replace protein virtually in any food. Solein can also be used as a fortifier to complement the nutritional profile of various foods: it can be a source of iron, fiber and B vitamins.”

From Solar Foods.