You can also view the message online
EFITA


Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), March 28, 2022

EFITA newsletter / 1032 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


Do not miss the Virus Jokes in English and French


Blagues de janvier – février 2021
Coronavirus 1 
Coronavirus 3
Ant joke
Virus 1
Virus 3
Virus 5 
Histoires drôles de l'oncle Paul (Jamet)
Dernières histoires de Michel Gil-Antoli
Et encore... 
Et celles de mars-avril 2021
Special "Biblical studies"
Celles de juillet 2021 en français et en anglais, dont 17 sur le virus en bas de page)
Blague d'octobre 2021
Suite des blagues d'octobre 2021
Blagues de décembre 2021
(22 in English, 10 de P. Jamet)
Seconde vague 2022 de blagues
(nouvelles)
Coronavirus 2
Coronavirus 4
Virus et autres sujets
Virus 2
Virus 4
Virus 6
Histoires drôles de Georges Larroque

Les dernières histoires de Jean Pinon
Et encore

Tout sur le vaccin
Celles de mail 2021
Celles de juin 2021
Celles d'août

Celles de septembre
Le dico de Paul J.
Blagues de novembre 2021

Premières blagues de 2022

The informatique-agricole.org site now offers you the possibility of subscribing the RSS feeds of its two newsletters
See RSS feeds to implement to ensure that you continue to receive this newsletter

To unsubscribe this newsletter, please contact me directely: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net if this link Unsubscribe does not work.

Please note that I changed the presentation of the links that are embedded in the name of the web service.

page facebook

To correspond with me (GW), please use this address: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net


To subscribe the efita newsletter (please ask your friends and colleagues to test this link)
Efita Newsletters subscription


Before computers

0
 


Weekly newsletters about ICT in Agriculture in English and French
Both newsletters have around 14000 subscribers.

>>> Last weekly EFITA Newsletters in English (created in 1999) Efita Newsletters

>>> Last weekly AFIA Newsletters in French (created more than 20 years ago in 1997) Afia Newsletters

>>> Statistics for the last efita newsletter

>>> Last issue of the afia newsletter

>>> Last available satistics for the afia newsletter


To the EFITA / Green Telematics / ICT for Agriculture Community

Death of Mick Harkin

Michael (Mick) HARKIN of Killiney and formerly of Monkstown, Co. Dublin, died peacefully on 23rd March, 2022. Beloved husband of Annette, sadly missed by his sons Niall and Miki and their mother Una, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brother Niall, extended family and a wide circle of friends.

Reposing at Colliers Funeral Home, Old Connaught Avenue, Bray on Friday (25th March) from 3.00pm to 5.00pm. Funeral Service on Saturday (26th March) at 10.00am in the funeral home, followed by burial in Shanganagh Cemetery.

NB: He had had Parkinson's disease for several years and spent the last year or so in a care facility.

Contact: Val REILLY
E-mail: reillyval(a)gmail.com

My message to Val (GW): Please tell my heartfelt condolences to Mick's family. Mick gave a much appreciated contribution to farm Informatics for many years with his participation in the creation of EFITA and in a number of congresses and seminars about farm informatics.
I was impressed by Mick's vitality, his understanding of farmers, farm economics and ICT, and of course his sense of humor. He will have been a faithful and reliable friend. I will miss him.


To the Ag Stats community

Death of Pierre Dagnelie, Associate Member of the French Ag Academy, famous author of a famous manual about ag experiments and stats

Dears,
I am sad to announce the death on March 12, 2022 of my father, Professor Pierre Dagnelie. He left us as he lived, with dignity, surrounded by the love of his grandchildren and loved ones, after an extraordinarily rich and fulfilled life. Spare a thought for him.
Thanking you,
Contact: Thierry DAGNELIE
E-mail: thierry.dagnelie(a)gmail.com


Les taches des vignerons, Psautier fait en Normandie, La Haye / The tasks of the winegrowers, Psalter made in Normandy, The Hague

1
 


Farmers, draw me a robot

Farmers are key players in the introduction of agricultural autonomous machines. Either they are already practicing / experiencing the use of robots or only wondering what they could expect from them, the industry needs farmers’ visions and feedbacks.

First, farmers are as different as the different crops and farm sizes.

What farmers and users does robotics interest?

In a short term, let’s say next year, how do they imagine a robot could help their production? What kind of functionalities? For what value? What business model?

In « Draw me a robot », speakers will also explain how they are expecting to use their robot, who is the final user and thus, what they expect in terms of Machine Design (user experience, ergonomy, efficiency...).
See fira-agtech.com


Have a million-dollar idea to shape the future? Submit it to The Liveability Challenge today!, AgFunder, Temasek Foundation & Eco-Business

14 January – 1 April 2022
The Liveability Challenge is back on a search for innovative solutions to combat urban challenges of the 21st century! As the world’s population is expected to increase to 10 billion by 2050, current infrastructure and resources are straining to catch up. How can we live sustainably and within our planetary boundaries?

From 14 January to 1 April 2022, The Liveability Challenge will be accepting disruptive, game-changing solutions that will help cities accelerate decarbonisation, meet increasing demand for food, and conserve our planet’s natural ecosystems.

Finalists stand a chance to secure the grand prize of up to S$1 million in grant funding for project development by Temasek Foundation and a minimum of S$100,000 investment by Amasia, PlanetRise, Purpose Venture Capital, Quest Ventures and Silverstrand Capital!
…/…
Be part of The Liveability Challenge


Tech Hub LIVE is Back By Popular Demand
July 20-21, 2022 - Indiana Convention Center - Indianapolis, Indiana Early bird registration available soon.
See techhublive.com


Vendemmia, mosaico nel Mausoleo di Santa Costanza a Roma , IV secolo

2
 


Humans make up just 0.01% of Earth’s life — what’s the rest?

Our planet is home to an incredible diversity of organisms. What does the Earth’s biodiversity look like in the big picture?

Humans make up just 0.01% of the biomass on Earth. We’d need about 70 trillion of us to match the collective global biomass.

But we have an outsized impact: for one, the livestock we raise now accounts for 4% of all animal biomass, outweighing wild mammals and birds ten-fold.

In this short article from April 2019, we show the breakdown of the Earth’s biomass.



Le chômage des jeunes, au plus bas... / Decline in youth unemployment in France




 


The end of malaria / Plus de malaria, enfin, grâce au vaccin




 


Marieles Dinner - Funny Dog eats elegant at table - Le dîner de Mariele - Chien drôle mange à table
Voir vidéo



How did we see the future yesterday??

See the incredible collection developed by Alain Fraval


Archives of our newsletters in French and English
Voir Afia
Voir Efita


 



Profit boom for the commodity trading sector




 



Welcome to the Ag Leader Media Center

Consider this your personal workplace for everything precision agriculture and more! Please feel free to download any product images and logos for your media needs. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to contact the Ag Leader marketing department for special requests.
See agleader.com


RightSpot™ is the latest in Ag Leader’s trusted application technology

Its nozzle-by-nozzle control allows you to maximize the effectiveness of your inputs with the right droplet size and coverage to give your crop what it needs, while minimizing wasted product and time.
See agleader.com


AgFiniti

Connect every piece of equipment on your farm throughout every season with InCommand and AgFiniti.
Ag Leader is here to make your life easier. Whether with your family members, dealer, co-op, agronomist, or others on your team, you can safely work together by sharing information via AgFiniti. Share a prescription, coordinate field locations, or get support without the trips to the field using the sharing power of AgFiniti.
See agleader.com


La maison de paysans au Moyen-âge / Middle age farmers' house

3
 


The autonomous John Deere from a farmer’s perspective: Part IV
See futurefarming.com


SteadySteer, Pass-to-pass accuracy - right from your steering wheel.
See agleader.com


When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Data

EarthDaily Agro's Dave Gebhardt discusses why he believes a collaborative approach in data management is so important to working with customers.
See precisionag.com


Des vies difficiles, au Moyen-âge

4  


Agmatix Launches New Agricultural Data Technology Platform to Support Sustainable Food Production

New Agmatix technology creates a single engine that translates crop science into real life actions by digitizing research data.
See precisionag.com


Ceres Imaging Announces Integration Partnership with Sentek

Customers will now be able to view irrigation management data from both companies, side by side on the Ceres Imaging app.
See precisionag.com





Ceres Imaging Announces Integration Partnership with Sentek

Customers will now be able to view irrigation management data from both companies, side by side on the Ceres Imaging app.
See precisionag.com


ASABE to Develop Standard on Mapping Yield, Associated Data

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers is developing a standard for the processing of data files containing geographic harvest data.
See precisionag.com


AEF Makes Agtech History with Next-Generation ISOBUS

High-speed ISOBUS demonstrated for first-time at AEF Plugfest during Commodity Classic.
See precisionag.com


Araire au Moyen-âge Miccle Age Plow

5  


FutureFarming.com

> Power to the battery, or not?
This year certainly won’t be the first year in which electric tractors are introduced. 2022 will however be the first year in which the first factory-made electric farm tractors will be sold. And it’s not the obvious brands who are the pioneers!

> Robot with IDS camera eliminates the need for herbicides
An intelligent robot has been developed to reduce the use of herbicides in agriculture. Through the use of a robust industrial camera from IDS, the robot has been enhanced further.
Read more

> Soil analysis: The power of SWAT MAPS
A state-of-the-art Canadian soil and moisture analysis system for optimising crop yields called SWAT MAPS is making inroads in North America, South Africa and Australia. Two farmers, one in Montana and one in South Africa, share how they are using SWAT in combination with precision planting, fertiliser application and more.

> Autonomous tractors video: John Deere shows autonomous electric tractor
John Deere is still working on developing an electric tractor. The newly presented Sesam 2 has a 1,000 kWh battery pack and can operate fully autonomously.

> Expert opinion: Unlocking the potential of vertical farming in 2022 and beyond
Vertical farming holds immense promise to help meet the demand for better quality fresh produce for the world’s growing population, and offers innovative solutions to some of agriculture’s biggest challenges. Heading into 2022, we’re going to see vertical farming become more mainstream.

> Field robots: How to make money with robotic organic food production
Pixelfarming Robotics was created to grow organic food for the employees of data technology company Idea-X. Their goal is to produce organic or rather chemical free food for a price comparable to the price of conventional non-organic food. Here’s how they do that.

> Autonomy: Raven enhances development in AI, autonomy and machine learning
Raven has opened a new engineering center in Scottsdale, Arizona (U.S.) to accelerate the advancement of its ag technology and is planning an investment in the expansion of its Innovation Campus.

> PepsiCo and N-Drip aim to make drip irrigation accessible
Irrigation: PepsiCo and N-Drip aim to make drip irrigation accessible.
Global beverage and convenient foods company PepsiCo and N-Drip have announced a partnership to help farmers around the world adopt drip irrigation technology across 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) by 2025.

> Video: Retrofit kits to make your tractor autonomous
In this video, six autonomous retrofit kits that are available for purchase are presented to you. By installing the kit, a farmer can upgrade the existing tractor to an autonomous tractor without having to make major investments.

See futurefarming.com


Paysan au Moyen-âge / Middle age farmers

6  


Tired of waiting for autonomous vehicles? Head to a farm, Associated Press, by Scott McFetridge, March 16, 2022

For years Americans have been told autonomous technology was improving and that driverless vehicles were just around the corner.

Finally they’re here, but to catch a glimpse of them, you’ll need to go to a farm rather than look along city streets.

Beginning this fall, green 14-ton tractors that can plow day or night with no one sitting in the cab, or even watching nearby, will come off the John Deere factory assembly line in Waterloo, Iowa, harkening the age of autonomous farming.

The development follows more than a decade-long effort by the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, and marks a milestone for automation advocates, who for years have been explaining why driverless cars aren’t quite ready for prime time.
See apnews.com


Le calendrier des travaux agricoles au Moyen-âge / The calendar of agricultural work in the Middle Age

But the activities of peasants are not limited to those described above. The agricultural calendar below gives an overview of their work throughout the year.

- In January, they cleaned the ditches at home.
- In February, they spread the manure on the land with a spade and hoe.
- In March, they pruned the vines with bill hooks.
- In April, they sheared the sheep with scissors (called forces).
- In May, the lord hunted falcons. The peasants, meanwhile, were waiting for the moment of harvest...
- In June, they mowed the grass with a scythe.
- In July, they harvested with a sickle.
- In August, they threshed wheat with a flail on the village threshing floor.
- In September, they sowed on the fly.
- In October, they pressed the grapes with their feet in a vat.
- In November, they picked the glands for the pigs.
- In December, they killed the pigs.

Voir college.saintebarbe.pagesperso-orange.fr

7  


Ukraine farmers urged to sow, but fear for workers' lives, Bloomberg

Ukraine Farmers Urged to Sow But Fear for Workers’ Lives
- Zelenskiy makes appeal to growers as food supply threatened
- UN says 30% of fields for corn, sunflowers may not be planted
See bloomberg.com


As regenerative agriculture takes root, let’s hold corporates accountable, AFN, by Jennifer Marston

Earlier this year, AFN compiled a list of climate commitments from agrifood corporates in an effort to keep track of and hold businesses accountable to these promises. Increasingly, these include regenerative agriculture commitments.

Regenerative agriculture isn’t new — indigenous populations have used it for millennia, and modern-day farmers in industrialized countries have been attaching the word “regenerative” to their farming practices since the mid-20th century.

What is new is major corporations putting resources towards implementing regenerative agriculture in their own supply chains en masse. From agrifood mega-company Cargill to the world’s major beer-makers, companies are currently working with their farming partners to leverage cover-cropping, rotational grazing, and other regenerative agriculture practices that aim to restore soil health, increase biodiversity and have the potential to pull carbon out of the air and store it in the ground.

One complication is that regenerative agriculture has no one set definition. A good general one to go by is from the journal reNature, which stated last year that “regenerative agriculture aims at regenerating, renewing and further improving the soil functions and capabilities for ecosystem services in an always-improving process.” In other words, it’s not enough to just sustain our existing soil; we need to improve soil health by promoting the bacteria, fungi, and other soil microbes living in it so that they can better nourish plants growing out of it. This can improve crop yields and quality as well as regenerate degraded lands providing more farmable land to feed a growing population. It could also help reverse climate change as a carbon sink; healthier, less disturbed soils can store more carbon.
.../...
See agfundernews.com


L'attelage des bœufs

8  


Global market shares of Ukraine and Russia of key agricultural commodities / Global Food Markets and Prices (G7 Meeting, 11 March 2022)

See FAO
 



26 countries depending at least 50 percent of their wheat needs from RU and UKR

See FAO
 


New data explorer on fossil fuels

The global distribution of fossil fuels and energy resources has dominated public discussions in recent weeks.

In our new Fossil Fuels Data Explorer you can explore country–by-country data on reserves, production, trade, and consumption for oil, coal, and natural gas.



Bezos Earth Fund pledges $17m to Colombia’s Future Seeds plant gene bank, AFN, by Jennifer Marston

The Bezos Earth Fund will invest $17 million in global food security-focused research partnership CGIAR‘s Future Seeds plant gene bank. The gene bank was inaugurated this week in Colombia to preserve plant biodiversity and support agricultural research. CIGAR’s Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) will manage the new facility, which will also serve as an innovation hub for researchers.

What is it?
The Future Seeds gene bank will preserve and safeguard crop varieties while also serving as an educational and innovation hub for researchers working to breed new varieties of crops and improve the productivity, resilience, and nutritional value of plants.

- The new facility provides 30% more storage than its predecessor, an older CIGAR gene bank that held tens of thousands of crop varieties.
- The Future Seeds collection includes more than 37,000 samples of beans from 114 countries; 6,000 cassava samples from 28 countries; and 22,600 samples of tropical forages such as grasses and trees from 75 countries.
- The entire global catalog is open source, patent-free, and funded by a mix of governments, multilateral organizations and foundations; plant genetic material is free of charge to researchers breeding new varieties of plants.
…/…
See agfundernews.com



Gazette de vitisphere.com,
portail vitivinicole

 



SupPlant raises $27m to bring irrigation tech to climate-embattled farmers, AFN, by Jennifer Marston

Israeli irrigation tech startup SupPlant has raised $27 million for its platform that helps farmers optimize water usage and increase crop yields. Red Dot Capital Partners led the round. Menomadin Foundation, Smart-Agro Fund, Mivtach Shamir, Deshpande Foundation, PBFS, Boresight Capital and Maor Investments also participated.

In addition to expansion, funds will go towards building out the company’s new API developed for smallholder farmers around the world battling the impacts of climate change on crops.

>>>> Rethinking irrigation
The SupPlant system collects data from on-farm sensors and creates real-time irrigation recommendations for growers based on that data. This can help farmers increase yields through optimized water usage, particularly in areas where water supply has been adversely impacted by climate change.

Sensors are placed on the ground, track, leaves, foot, and fruit of the plant. The system then collects measurement data on plant size every half-hour and sends it to farmers via a digital dashboard. Changes in plant size can signal when plants are under extreme stress from, for example, a heatwave or insufficient water supply. Armed with this information, farmers can be more proactive about providing plants the exact amount of water they need, when they need it.
.../...
See agfundernews.com


Climate tech will become the next big VC thesis for Latin America, AFN, by guest contributors: Francisco Jardim & Marcella Falcão

Climate tech is quickly becoming a mainstream venture investment category worldwide, but is still relatively misunderstood. What follows is a summary describing our understanding of this exciting new space.

Let’s start with the basics. Climate tech encompasses a broad range of segments representing the challenge of decarbonizing the global economy, with many countries and companies having set specific goals to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 while preparing businesses for the adverse effects of climate change.

Climate tech’s applications can be grouped into three broad sector-agnostic categories:

- Direct emissions mitigation or sequestration
- Adaptation to the impacts of climate change
- Enhancement of our ‘climate understanding’
…/…
See agfundernews.com



 
The Efita newsletter is sponsored by:
page facebook


Chinese spies hacked a livestock app to breach US state networks, Wired, by Andy Greenberg

Vulnerabilities in animal tracking software USAHERDS and Log4j gave the notorious APT41 group a foothold in multiple government systems.

THE web-based software known as the Animal Health Emergency Reporting Diagnostic System, or USAHERDS, serves as a helpful digital tool for state governments to track and trace animal diseases through populations of livestock. Now it's turned out to be a kind of infection vector of its own—in the hands of one of China's most prolific groups of hackers.

On Tuesday, the cybersecurity incident-response firm Mandiant revealed a long-running hacking campaign that breached at least six US state governments over the past year. Mandiant says the campaign, which it believes to have been the work of the notorious Chinese cyberespionage group APT41—also known as Barium, or as a part of the larger Chinese hacker group Winnti—used a vulnerability in USAHERDS to penetrate at least two of those targets. It may have hit many more, given that 18 states run USAHERDS on web servers, and any of those servers could have been commandeered by the hackers.

APT41 has gained a reputation as one of China's most aggressive hacking groups. The US Department of Justice indicted five of its members in absentia in 2020 and accused them of hacking into hundreds of victims' systems across Asia and the West, both for state-sponsored espionage and for profit. The group’s goal in this latest series of intrusions, or what data they may have been seeking, remains a mystery. But Mandiant analyst Rufus Brown says that it nonetheless shows just how active APT41 remains, and how inventive and thorough it's been in searching for any toehold that might allow them into yet another set of targets—even an obscure livestock management tool most Americans have never heard of.
.../...
See wired.com


How Do You Make Yogurt Even Healthier?

Yogurt is considered a nutrient powerhouse, so how do you make it even healthier? ARS scientists studied the potential benefits of a yogurt fortified with heart healthy chickpea flour.
See tellus.ars.usda.gov


Dangerous levels of glyphosate in urine? Junk science paper based upon a large-scale anti-GMO testing campaign, by André Heitz, and Jon Entine, March 22, 2022

The public and journalists – the consumers of information about health – need to be aware of something that researchers know well – there is no paper that is so dreadful that it cannot be published somewhere.
Geoffrey Kabat, cancer epidemiologist, former faculty member at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine
See geneticliteracyproject.org


Engineered Bacterial Strains Could Fertilize Crops, Reduce Waterways Pollution, Feb. 15, 2022

Researchers from Washington State University have engineered strains of the ubiquitous, nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii to produce ammonia and excrete it at high concentrations, transferring it into crop plants in lieu of conventional chemical fertilizers.

“We presented conclusive evidence that ammonia released is transferred to the rice plants,” said Florence Mus, Ph.D., assistant research professor, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University. “Our unique approach aims to provide new solutions to the challenge of replacing industrial fertilizers with custom-made bacteria.”
See asm.org


Hiver / Winter

9  


Putin's Invasion Challenges Green Aversion to Nuclear Power, by Jonathan Ford

Greater political responsibility may force them to reconcile their climate goals with the imperative of security.

Ever since the 1970s, European Green parties have argued passionately for cutting carbon emissions from the continent’s energy, while at the same time reflexively shunning the world’s only reliable source of zero-carbon electricity: nuclear power.

Russia’s Ukrainian invasion is punching big holes in the logic of this position. That is especially true in Germany and Belgium, countries where the Greens sit in coalition governments committed to the phaseout of all nuclear power. Germany closed three of its last six reactors last year and the rest will follow by the end of 2022. Belgium has promised to close all of its seven units, which generate half its electricity, by 2025.

In Germany, the need to replace its heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas at the same time as nuclear is roiling the governing coalition and leading to the bizarre situation where a Green-dominated economic and energy ministry would rather burn dirty coal than operate zero-carbon atomic reactors.
…/…
See bloomberg.com


Ofensiva de Rusia en Ucrania: Preparativos para la derrota, para Francis Fukuyama, 16 mar 2022, El Pais

Rusia va camino de perder la guerra, lo que permitirá un “nuevo nacimiento de la libertad” y nos sacará del estado de depresión en el que estamos por la decadencia de la democracia mundial.

Las tropas rusas están atascadas en las afueras de varias ciudades ucranias y sufren enormes problemas de abastecimiento y constantes ataques de los ucranios.
.../...
Putin no sobrevivirá a la derrota de su ejército. Si tiene tantos apoyos, es porque lo ven como un hombre fuerte. ¿Qué podrá ofrecer cuando quede demostrada su incompetencia y se le haya despojado de su poder de coacción?
.../...
Ver elpais.com


Labours dans "Les Très Riches Heures" du duc de Berry

10



The first Jewish President of the United States is elected (the dream of Jewish mothers is to have a son doctor!)

The night before the inauguration he calls his mother.

“Mom, I’d love for you to come for the inauguration and stay with me for a few days.”

“Oh I don’t know, airfare is so expensive these days.”

“Mom, I’ll fly you out on Air Force One!”

“Oh, but you know, cab fare is ridiculous.”

“Mom, the presidential motorcade will drive you here.”

“But accommodations, especially during the inau—”

“MOM!! I’ll put you in the Lincoln bedroom itself!!”

She reluctantly agrees, hangs up and starts talking to her friend.

“Who was that?”

“My son.”

*Gasp* “The doctor??”

“No, the other one.

 


The distribution of this efita newsletter is sponsored by vitisphere.com

Please, contribute to the content of your efita newsletter, and advertise your events, new publications, new products and new project in this newsletter. Without your support, it will not survive!
Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net


To read this newsletter on our web site
See Efita


The archives of this newsletter

See Efita


About the EFITA mailing list

You can use the efita moderated list (> 15000 subscribers) to announce any event / product / web site / joke (!) related to IT in agriculture, environment, food industry and rural areas.
If you want to subscribe a friend, please fill in his form.
If you do not wish to receive our messages, please fill in the following form...