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 Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), November 22, 2021 EFITA newsletter / 1014 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment Do not miss the Virus Jokes in English and French 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. 
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
App May Help Save Milk Money and the Environment Dairy farmers have a new mobile app from the Agricultural Research Service that measures milk urea nitrogen—a compound in milk that can be analyzed to determine how effectively dairy cattle are processing the protein in their feed. This may become a key tool to reduce expenses and limit pollution. See ars.usda.gov A-maize-ing: 5 of the best FFA corn mazes, by Kacie Hulshof, November 01, 2021 (FFA: Future Farmers of America)
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 Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory: Les glaneuses, eau-forte, 1855-1856, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Gallica
Fossil fuel subsidies: If we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions we should not pay people to burn fossil-fuels (I have not yet understood what these fossil fuel subsidies are, given what we pay in France as tax on gasoline for example - GW) Instead of making fossil fuels more expensive, many governments do the opposite — they subsidize them, often to a very high degree. In many countries subsidies are higher than $100 per person per year. It’s understandable that governments subsidize fossil fuels. Having access to reliable and affordable energy is very important to people. But if these subsidies support the consumption of fossil fuels, they come with very large downsides — air pollution and accelerated climate change. In this article, we discuss why repealing these subsidies is not easy, but it is possible. And the world is slowly making progress. Futurefarming.com > Ag Robotics showcases at World FIRA 2021 Since 2016, FIRA has hosted the global agricultural robotics industry community. From robot demos to panel discussions, technical workshops and B2B meetings, World FIRA 2021 will host more than 3,000 international attendees thanks to its hybrid format, online and in Toulouse, France, December 7 to 9. > When Farmers Take Over Robots! > Harvesting and picking robots: new tools > Push for Australian robotics test and innovation centre > Study: Don’t exclude small farmer from agtech innovations > Agricultural robots market worth $ 11.9 billion by 2026 According to a research report published by MarketsandMarkets, the global agricultural robots market is expected to grow from USD 4.9 billion in 2021 to USD 11.9 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.3%. > Field robots: Field robot with grass rake A field robot in combination with a rake was used for the first time on a plot in the Netherlands. > Machine guidance: Trimble improves CenterPoint RTX correction service Farmers using the Trimble NAV-900 controller for machine guidance applications can now begin working with 2.5 cm accuracy in less than 5 minutes. > Business: Fieldin acquires autonomous driving company Midnight Robotics Fieldin now also offers guided decision-making and autonomous execution via driverless tractors and other machinery. > Sustainability: John Deere Tests Multi Fuel Concept John Deere successfully tested the use of multiple fuels in the same standard tractor in Germany. > Drones: XAG launches V40 and P40 agricultural drone globally The XAG V40 and P40 are fully autonomous drones that can conduct mapping and spraying. > Start-ups: $ 50 million capital fund for agtech start-ups launched Growmark and CHS launched Cooperative Ventures, a new $ 50 million capital fund for agtech start-ups. > Field robots: Wiferion automates charging of field robots in outdoor areas Wiferion’s fast-charging and weatherproof etaLINK charging system transfers energy automatically and is wireless. See futurefarming.com Bloomberg newsletter : Livestock should be able to limit its GHG emissions
China: Pinduoduo > Pinduoduo Smart Agriculture Competition teams deploy low-cost precision tech to help smallholder farmers > Smart Agriculture Competition: Designing a Sustainable Future For Agriculture > Farmers and data scientists join hands to develop precision technology for agriculture Nothing
is more responsible for the good old days than
a bad memory: Le semeur, lithographie,1er
ou 2e état, 1851, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Gallica
Market Watch: EarthOptics Launches New Soil Carbon Project Labeling to Help Consumers Choose Climate-Smart Products Calls on CPG companies to display on packaging amount of carbon removed from atmosphere and stored in soil to demonstrate positive impact on climate change. See precisionag.com Data Management: Big Agriculture and Consolidation: The Good, the Bad, and the Fabulous As the industry continues to get bigger through mergers and acquisitions, it may be setting itself up for big efficiency gains derived from big data analysis. See precisionag.com Drones: First U.S. T-30 Drone Approval Granted to Iowa-Based Rantizo Approval adds above-55-pound drone option for ag retailers and custom applicators. See precisionag.com Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory: La baratteuse, eau-forte, 1er état, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Galica
Market Watch: Fieldin Acquires Midnight Robotics to Accelerate Autonomous Farming Business Smart farm operations platform and agricultural autonomous driving startup merge, begin deployment of autonomous farming with California farms. See precisionag.com Irrigation: SupPlant Selected to the Best Inventions List By TIME for AI-Based Irrigation The Israeli smart irrigation company aims to digitally inform every irrigation decision on earth. See precisionag.com Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory: La baratteuse, eau-forte, 1er état, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Galica (détail : le chat)
How significant is Bayer's new digital ag data infrastructure deal with Microsoft? AFN, by Louisa Burwood-Taylor We’ve all seen those announcements before: Company X ‘partners’ with Amazon or Microsoft to ‘enhance’ their digital capabilities. Translation: Company X is now an Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure customer – ie, they’re using the tech giants’ processing power for their digital platforms. Not exactly news, which usually means a pass for AFN. When Bayer reached out this week with details of a new deal with Microsoft Azure, my immediate reaction was that it was something similar in support of its farm data product, Climate’s FieldView. But reading the initial press release, it looked like this could have a broader impact on the agtech industry, significant ramifications for ag data more broadly, and be a major new revenue stream for both Bayer and Microsoft. According to the release, the organisations are building “a new cloud-based set of digital tools and data science solutions for use in agriculture and adjacent industries, bringing new infrastructure and foundational capabilities to accelerate innovation, boost efficiency, and support sustainability across value chains.” This new “off-the-shelf infrastructure” could be licensed by startups as well as large, global enterprises, for use in their own “farming operations, sustainable sourcing, manufacturing and supply chain improvement, and ESG monitoring and measurement” offerings, the companies said. .../... See agfundernews.com/ Fieldin acquires Midnight Robotics to make farm management more autonomous, AFN, by Jennifer Marston …/… Founded in Haifa, Israel in 2013, Fieldin has since expanded to the US and Australia. It claims to be the largest ‘smart farm management’ company in the US, with 30% of the country’s lettuce crop — and 20% of the world’s almond crop — running through its platform. Bachar adds that Fieldin’s customers are typically medium to large farms of 1,000 or more acres. Singapore-based agribusiness Olam and Taylor Farms in the US are among the startup’s clients. These farms use Fieldin’s software platform, AgOS, to digitalize practices like spraying, harvesting, mowing, and hedging. AgOS gathers data from around the farm via sensors placed on tractors and other equipment, and analyzes that data to provide real-time recommendations to farmers. Midnight Robotics was founded in 2019 by Yonatan Horovitz and Edo Reshef, both veterans of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology company Innoviz. The startup’s core product is a retrofit kit for tractors that uses LiDAR perception — a key self-driving technology — to enable farm vehicles to work autonomously. Integrated into Fieldin’s platform, this technology will provide autonomous execution of some farm tasks via tractors and other machinery while providing additional data. See agfundernews.com/ CHS & Growmark launch $50m VC fund to invest in ‘breakthrough’ agtech, AFN, by Jack Ellis US agricultural cooperatives CHS and Growmark have combined forces to establish a VC fund that will invest in “breakthrough technologies” that can advance the farming industry, they announced today. Both companies will be equal partners in the fund, which has $50 million in capital. Named Cooperative Ventures, the operationally independent vehicle will seek out startups that demonstrate a “strategic fit” with CHS’s and Growmark’s broader activities. It will primarily look for opportunities in three core investment areas: crop production, supply chain, and sustainability. …/… See agfundernews.com Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory: La Bouillie, eau-forte, 4e état, 1861, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Gallica
Iowa company REG is helping others meet sustainability goals with its biofuel innovations, AFN Sponsored Post As companies and organizations around the world look to reduce their environmental footprint and meet sustainability goals, a growing number are leveraging custom-made renewable fuel solutions from Iowa-based companies. Renewable Energy Group (REG) in Ames, Iowa, is one such company providing innovative solutions to government and industry. It takes low-value feedstocks like waste and byproduct fats and oils, and refines them into higher-value fuels with lower carbon emission profiles than petroleum diesel. “Historically, the demand for our products has come from regulation, but we’re seeing an exciting shift. As society demands change, end users are seeing they have the ability to be part of the climate solution,” said Kristin Dillavou, manager of corporate environmental and social responsibility at REG. “We are working with customers and stakeholders to understand their challenges and priorities and develop solutions to meet their unique needs.” REG is a global leader in the development of biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels. The company began as operations within West Central Cooperative (now Landus) in Ralston, Iowa, in 1996, as a way to add value to grain produced by farmer-members. It grew along with the biodiesel industry and became an independent corporation in August 2006. …/… See agfundernews.com Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory (?????): Le départ pour le travail, eau-forte, 3 état, 1863, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Gallica
My farm childhood helped shape my identity today, by Elizabeth Maslyn, October 20, 2021 Growing up on a farm is a unique experience, to say the least. I “learned” how to fix a fence before I could even write my name! Many of my childhood memories took place in the wheelbarrow or skid steer. My mom couldn’t leave her kids in the house while she worked, so she towed us along wherever she went. When we weren’t being wheeled around the farm, my brother and I would run amuck collecting frogs or playing in the sandbox. Growing up on a farm teaches you a lot of life skills at a young age. You learn how to treat animals and the land with respect, develop a strong work ethic, and learn how to be responsible. .../... See agdaily.com Deere taps software engineers to assemble tractors amid strike, Bloomberg, by Joe Deaux (source: AFN) .../... Some IT workers at the company have already been assembling sprayers and harvesting machines, normally a job done by skilled union laborers, as part of a continuity of work plan, the email said. Earlier this month details emerged that customers are facing weeks-long delays for parts and components, orders U.S. farmers usually receive in days and are needed to keep combines running. See bloomberg.com Strike is over: John Deere reaches agreement with employees Late Wednesday night, John Deere and UAW announced the employees approved the third tentative by a majority vote of 61 percent. .../... I’m pleased our highly skilled employees are back to work building and supporting the industry-leading products which make our customers more profitable and sustainable,” said John C. May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Deere. “John Deere’s success depends on the success of our people. Through our new collective bargaining agreements, we’re giving employees the opportunity to earn wages and benefits that are the best in our industries and are groundbreaking in many ways. We have faith that, in return, our employees will find new and better ways to improve our competitiveness and transform the way our customers do their work. Together, our future is bright. See agdaily.com I Want you to Panic as if your Lights Just Went Out, Posted by Riskmonger on November 14, 2021 .../... So COP26 is done. Tomorrow most people will try to get to work, pay their bills and put food on the table. Glasgow will mean nothing to them. But if it means they cannot survive comfortably, if it means they are sitting in the cold and the dark, then the result of this entire exercise will have been an utter failure. That will rest not on the media, teenage activists or wind industry lobbyists, but on the leaders who must be accountable. See risk-monger.com Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory (?????): La fileuse auvergnate, eau-forte, 2e état, 1862, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Gallica
New study shows there's no evidence that glyphosate affects bumble bees The authors observed that there was no significant affect on bee mortality when bees were exposed to glyphosate. See agdaily.com What the USDA's bioengineered label says -- and doesn't say -- about our food Hopefully the bioengineered label will help to educate consumers about the safety of bioengineered foods, and their nutritional value in food security. See agdaily.com The time price of Thanksgiving dinner in 2021 will be 7 percent higher than it was in 2020, 2.4 percent lower than it was in 2019, and 37 percent lower than it was in 1986
Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory: Femme vidant un sceau, cliché-verre, 1862, Jean-François Millet, BnF/Gallica
The distinction between weather and climate on the farm, by Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, October 28, 2021 See globalfarmernetwork.org European Soil Data Centre Newsletter No.136 (Nov. 2021) See esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu Copper accumulation and export in European vineyard Soils Copper-based fungicides are used in European (EU) vineyards to prevent fungal diseases. Soil physicochemical properties locally govern the variation of the total copper content in vineyards. Using a machine learning model, a study found that the main variables to predict the Cu distribution in EU vineyards are precipitation, aridity and soil organic carbon. The estimated average net accumulation and net export of Cu in topsoil in European vineyards are respectively 24.8 and 0.29 kg Cu ha−1.
USA: Cases are rising again Cases are rising again — as of Wednesday, the U.S. was averaging over 88,000 new cases a day, up 23 percent from two weeks ago — and another winter surge seems possible, particularly in parts of the country with lower vaccination rates. (Look up your county’s numbers.) That increases the urgency of getting more Americans as much protection as they can.
People with covid jabs have been less likely to die of other causes A new study finds a discrepancy, but not an explanation See economist.com Access to basic education: Almost 60 million children in primary school age are not in school How different would your life be if you never went to school and never learned how to read and write? This is the reality for the 58.4 million children of primary school age who do not go to school. In most cases these children are kept out of school by ongoing regional violence and poverty. In the worst cases poverty requires children to work instead of going to school. As terrible as this is, it is much better than in the past. Compared to the previous generation 20 years ago, the share of children who are out-of-school has declined in all world regions. Globally this share has halved, from 16% to 8%. In this article, we look at the problem of out-of-school children and the progress we’ve made, and what this progress means for tackling other large global problems. Regenerative Agriculture: The Next Trend In Food Retailing, by Jack Uldrich, Forbes Councils Member .../... At its most basic level, regenerative agriculture is a more nature-friendly way of farming. It can be thought of as the next step beyond organic and sustainability. Although there is not yet an officially agreed-upon definition, regenerative agriculture employs farming and grazing practices that restore degraded soil, improve biodiversity among pollinators (especially bees and butterflies) and increase carbon capture in the soil to create long-lasting environmental benefits. See forbes.com Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory: La précaution maternelle, cliché-verre, 1862, Jean-François Millet, Gallica/BnF
A duck walks into a bar and goes up to the bartender The bartender says: "What can I get you?" Duck: Umm. Do you have any grapes? Bartender (looking surprised and finding the question odd): No, I'm afraid we don't. And the duck waddles slowly out of the bar. The next day at the same time, the duck waddles into the bar, hops up on a bar stool. Bartender: Hi. What can I get for you? Duck: Umm. Do you have any grapes? Bartender (a little annoyed): Hey! Weren't you in here yesterday. Look buddy, we don't have any grapes. OK? The duck hops off the stool and waddles out the door. The next day, at the same time, the bartender is cleaning some glasses when he hears a familiar voice Duck: Umm.. Do you have any grapes? The bartender is really ticked off. Bartender: Look. What's your problem? You came in here yesterday asking for grapes, I TOLD you, WE DON'T HAVE ANY GRAPES!! Next time I see your little ducktail waddle in here I'm going to nail those little webbed feet of yours to the floor. GOT me pal? And the duck hops off the bar stool and waddles out. The NEXT day at the same time, the duck waddles into the bar, walks up to the bartender and the bartender says, "What the heck do YOU want?" Umm. do you have any nails? What!? Of course not. Oh. Well, do you have any grapes? 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... |
