The archives of this newsletter
See: http://www.informatique-agricole.org/category/gazette-efita/




B&B in Normandy (France)
See: http://www.lapivardiere.com/english/1summary.htm


Farmer Style (Gangnam Style Parody)
We are the Peterson Farm Bros, and we're farming and we grow it
We love agriculture, and we want the world to know it
Farming is a way of life with many different flavors
Being stewards of the gifts God gave us

Out here on the farm,
We're running green John Deere Tractors
Out here on the farm,
We work in many weather factors
Out here on the farm,
We're working hard to raise your food
Out here on the farm. On the family farm.

Agriculture, is so important to me, (and should be to you) HAY!
It feeds the world and will never ever cease to be, We need to eat!
We all need farmers to provide us with our food, food, food, food!

Workin' farmer style.
Farmer Style
Work, work, work, work, working farmer style

Haaaaaaay, for my cattle
Work, work, work, work, working farmer style
Haaaaaaay, from the field
Work, work, work, work

Farmers are working harder than you might imagine
But that is just because we have a job that is our passion
We will work sunup to sundown time and time again
As if working for the Lord and not for men

Out here on the farm
We get away from lights of cities
Out here on the farm
The countryside is nice and pretty
Out here on the farm.
We work together as a family.
Out here on the farm. On the family farm.


Agriculture, is so important to me, (and should be to you) HEY!
It feeds the world and will never ever cease to be, We need to eat!
We all need farmers to provide us with our food, food, food, food!

Workin' farmer style

Hay, hay, hay, hay
Is what we feed our cattle
So they grow big and strong
And then become the food that keeps us living nice and long.
Our crops like corn and wheat
Help make diets complete
Without the farmers working
We would all be starving
You know what I'm saying?

Workin' farmer style

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

Hey, thank the farmers!
Hey, for your food!
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX153eYcVrY&sns=fb
See: http://www.facebook.com/petersonfarmbros


Why We Freak Out About Some Technologies but Not Others
See: http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/11/st_opinion/


Progress is the most powerful motivating factor for employees
See: http://blog.results.com/Blog/bid/92028/Progress-is-the-most-powerful-motivating-factor-for-employees


Global Soil C Conferences
3-6 June 2012 - MADISON (WI)
The IUSS Global Soil C Conference will be held 3-6 June 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The IUSS Global Soil Carbon Conference is the first IUSS interdivisional and intercommissional conference that focuses on soil C in space and time, soil C properties and processes, soil C in relation to soil use and management, and the role of soil C in sustaining society and the environment. Abstracts can now be submitted till 1 February 2013.
See: http://iuss-c-conference.org/


Market Concentration is Increasing in Research-Intensive Agricultural Input Industries
The top eight firms in all five input sectors had between a 61% and 75% share of global market sales by 2009.
The growing concentration in agricultural input industries raises a number of issues. One is the inherent tension between public policies regulating intellectual property rights (IPR) and market competition. While antitrust laws restrict firms from exercising monopoly power, some exceptions are made for intellectual property rights over new innovations. However, antitrust rules may still apply to how firms license their intellectual property to other firms. Another issue is whether under the current market and policy environment there are significant economies of scale in crop and animal biotechnology, implying that only very large firms can hope to compete effectively in these sectors. This might mean there is a significant barrier to entry for new firms and a potential loss of new innovations, particularly from SMEs.

On the other hand, the global reach of the large, multinational agricultural input firms could speed up the rate of international technology transfer and help to close the productivity gaps between regions and countries. The rate of transfer will be influenced by international trade agreements and how countries regulate and protect IPR in new agricultural innovations, especially those involving genetically modified organisms. Finally, public investments in research can be an important enabler of market competition. Examples include public provision of elite parent material for crop/livestock breeding companies and the basic scientific tools necessary for commercial development using genomics and molecular biology.
See: http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2012-december/rising-concentration-in-agricultural-input-industries-influences-new-technologies.aspx


Call for papers for the special issue on "Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture" - KI - Künstliche Intelligenz
The major German AI Journal KI - Künstliche Intelligenz [2] is preparing the special issue on *Artificial Intelligence and agriculture* under the coordination of Professor Andreas Dengel [3], German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence [4] (DFKI).

For those interested to contribute to this issue, you can submit long papers (4) and short papers (3) on finished and on-going research or market studies.
In addition to technical research papers, this special issue will accept reports from project and dissertations as well as discussion and market reports. This should provide a comprehensive overview of current activities in this area.

It will be issued on the second half of next year.

>>> Topics for the call-for-papers (not limited to) are:

* Instrumentation and Sensor Technology
* Information Management
* Ergonomics in Agriculture and Food Processing
* Environment Control
* Data Mining
* Location-based Services
* Forecasting Systems
* Robotics and Mechatronics
* Resource Planning
* Mobile, Collaborative Agents
* Innovative Interaction/Operating Concepts/Paradigms
* Optimization of Value Chains
* Intelligent Soil Management (Cultivation of Land)
* AI-based Evaluation and Decision Making
* Precision Agriculture
* Simulation

>>> Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture

Besides the three classical production factors / land/, / labour / and / capital /, the factor "/information and knowledge/" becomes more and more important. This specifically holds for the agricultural domain because we are faced to the challenge that we have to double the crop yields until 2050 to feed the expended 9 Billion of people
worldwide.

Since the amount of arable land in developed countries is shrinking we have to concentrate on the better employment of knowledge and technology. This way, GPS with its area-wide spatial reference service already enabled a new dimension to the optimization of production processes in crop farming. In addition, first approaches of a standardized IT-infrastructure realize a promising basis to exploit the growing availability of geospatial information, reliable weather forecasts, soil quality records, status reports about plants, tips for yield optimization and environmental protection towards a better economizing.

The Web of Services in combination with mobile networks allows that a future GPS- and sensor-based tractor connects to the wireless sensor network of the present cropland in order to query the current soil moisture and other parameters to optimize upcoming tasks and workflows.

Especially for the Artificial Intelligence, this context reveals a variety of high-potential technologies to be applied, as the agricultural and environmental domains provide a steadily growing pool of publicly accessible knowledge, which is financed and maintained from governmental organizations.
Innovative AI technologies can significantly contribute to organize, connect, and further develop this knowledge in order to better supply the collective demand for food.


[1] http://aims.fao.org/community/metadata/blogs/call-papers-special-issue-artificial-intelligence-agriculture-ki-k-nstliche
[2] http://www.springer.com/computer/ai/journal/13218/UP
[3] mailto:andreas.dengel@dfki.de
[4] http://www.dfki.de/web/welcome?set_language=en&cl=en
[5] http://aims.fao.org/community/metadata/blogs/call-papers-special-issue-artificial-intelligence-agriculture-ki-k-nstliche


(French) "Forum Phyto"
- Private: Minor uses: draft report from the EU Commission
- “When Science met Society” (EFSA)
- Canada’s organic nightmare (National Post)
- 2011 E. coli allegations make Almerian cucumber a national symbol in Spain (Barfblog)
- “There’s No Such Thing as a Chemical-Free Lunch”


fertirrigazione.it: 26 Milioni di accessi nel 2012!
Vedere: http://www.fertirrigazione.it/index.php?p=2&l=ita


Apology Letter To Spouse - Priceless!



Hi Sweetheart,

I am sorry about getting into an argument about putting up the Christmas lights. I guess that sometimes I feel like you are pushing me too hard when you want something. I realize that I was wrong and I am apologizing for being such a hard-headed guy. All I want is for you to be happy and be able to enjoy the holiday season. Nothing brightens the Christmas spirit like Christmas lights! I took the time to hang the lights for you today; and now I will be off to the golf course.

Again, I am very sorry for the way I acted yesterday. I'll be home later.

Love you…





Her response:




Hi Honey,

Thank you for that heart-felt apology. I don't often get an apology from you, and I truly appreciate it. I, too, felt bad about the argument and wanted to apologize. I realize that I can sometimes be a little pushy. I will try to respect your feelings from now on. Thank you for taking the time to hang the Christmas lights for me. It really means a lot. In the spirit of giving, I washed your truck for you; and now I am off to the mall.

I love you too!






















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