Efita Newsletter 1085, dated December 25, 2023

Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), December 25, 2023


EFITA newsletter / 1085 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


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25/12/2023

01 - 25/12/2023

Gioie infantili, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

02 - 25/12/2023

Future Farming: The best of 2023

As we stand at the crossroads of technology and agriculture, it's essential to investigate the groundbreaking advancements that have shaped the farming industry over the past year. I collected 10 remarkable articles that show the essence of 2023.

"Dive into the realm of agricultural electrification with the Best of Future Farming 2023. While our coverage spans various themes like ag-robots, drones, precision farming, and autonomy, this white paper focuses solely on the most impactful articles related to electrification in agricultural machinery."

To get access to this exclusive compilation and gain insights in the future of farming, we invite you to leave your details and unlock The Best of Future Farming 2023.

The following rules apply to the use of this site: Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Enjoy reading!

Kind regards,
Geert Hekkert, editor in chief Future Farming
See get.futurefarming.com/


FutureFarming.com

> Plant-specific spot spraying to become mainstream
John Deere isn’t the first and certainly not the only company to offer a commercial spot spraying system. The fact that major tractor manufacturers have now started to adopt the technology will certainly accelerate market introductions.
Read more

> Field robots video – Modular Tipard 1800 field robot from Digital Workbench
The German engineering company Digital Workbench presents the Tipard 1800 field robot at the Agritechnica trade fair.

> Autosteering: Hands-free steering on headlands with TurnPath from Ag Leader
Autosteering on the headland is possible with the TurnPath autopilot from the American manufacturer Ag Leader.

> Smart farming: Amazone & FieldView to collaborate on smart farming
Amazone and FieldView start a strategic collaboration for further promoting and simplifying the adaptation of smart farming practices.

> Climate change: 27 new AIM for Climate Innovation Sprints were announced at COP28
At COP28, 27 new AIM for Climate Innovation Sprints were announced, bringing the total to 78 sprints since the initiative's launch at COP26.

> FIRA 2024:More than 20 in-field demos and dozens of robot manufacturers at World FIRA 2024
World FIRA will offer more than 20 in-field demos next year, and dozens of robot manufacturers will present their latest advances.

> Pest control: ‘Cut pesticide use, but how?’
Successful green innovation requires knowledge of plant cultivation, behavioural science, technology and ecology.

> Unmanned autonomous tractor ‘mainly interesting for soil preparation’
A group of Dutch arable farmers, bulb growers, contractors, were introduced to the opportunities and limitations of autonomous tractors for their operations.

> Carbon farming: Bread with low-carbon wheat closer to store shelves
Low-carbon wheat has been delivered to mills in the summer of 2023.

> Connectivity: BASF Xarvio extends connectivity options with CNH integration
Xarvio® Digital Farming Solutions expands its platform connectivity options for farmers with CNH integration.

> Acquisitions: CropX acquires Green Brain to expand in Australia
CropX Technologies announced its acquisition of the Australian company Green Brain, a digital irrigation management solutions provider

> Harvest technology: Oxbo develops new top-load harvester for berries
US company Oxbo has developed a high-capacity, top-load harvester for growers with high tonnages and large bushes.

> Drones: Hungarian drone technology gaining credibility in crop spraying
ABZ Innovation is based in Hungary and has developed a number of drones suitable for spraying vineyards and agricultural crops.

> Plant production: Ken Giller: ‘Beware of blinders when discussing agriculture’
Professor of Plant Production Systems Ken Giller will never argue solely for separating or combining nature and agriculture.

> Indoor farming: New possibilities for vertical farming with high-wire crops
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) patented vertical farming solution enables the production of high-wire crops in vertical farming.

> Autonomous vehicles: U.S. sugar beet farmers pioneer autonomous transport from field to factory
The cooperative collaborated with Florida-based military company Kratos Defense to implement the innovative slave-follower system in their existing fleet of trucks.

> Smart farming. Ken Giller: ‘Beware of blinders when discussing agriculture’
Professor of Plant Production Systems Ken Giller will never argue solely for separating or combining nature and agriculture.

> Autonomous tractors: Working with an unmanned autonomous tractor? Bulb grower is cautiously optimistic
Dutch bulb grower Sjaak Huetink is interested in automation and autonomy. He tested an autonomous Steyr Expert 4130 CVT for two days on his fields.

> Connectivity: Trimble introduces automatic stream switching for corrections
Trimble announced stream switching - a new feature allowing farmers to seamlessly stream Trimble CenterPoint® RTX, RangePoint® RTX and ViewPoint RTX®, over IP or satellite.

See futurefarming.com


Il piatto rotto, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

03 - 25/12/2023

04 - 25/12/2023

globalagtechinitiative.com

> 5 AgTech Trends to Watch in 2024
Agmatix CEO Ron Baruchi outlines the key trends anticipated in the agricultural industry over the coming year.

> How Gradient Crop Yield Solutions Is Using Data Analytics to Enhance Water Management for California Tomato Growers
Learn how satellite imagery provided by EOS Data Analytics has saved farmers a remarkable up to 15% in irrigation costs.

> Ag Tech Talk Podcast: Topcon Positioning Systems’ Mike Gomes Leads a New Global Sustainability Team
Topcon has long focused on precision ag and recently created a global team designed to take sustainability to the next level.

> Call for Speakers: Submit Your Proposal for 2024 Tech Hub LIVE
We are now accepting presentation proposals for the 2024 Tech Hub LIVE Conference & Expo taking place July 29-31 in Des Moines, IA.

> VISION Conference 2024: Shaping the Future of Ag Tech
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with leaders and innovators across the ag-tech ecosystem. Register today for the lowest rate.

> Call for Speakers: Submit Your Proposal for 2024 Tech Hub LIVE
We are now accepting presentation proposals for the 2024 Tech Hub LIVE Conference & Expo taking place July 29-31 in Des Moines, IA.

> How a Digital Platform Is Creating Transparency with Brazilian Harvest Data and Bringing Security to Investors
FarmGuide Soy is a pioneering Brazilian platform for collecting data on soy and deforestation areas, which is critical for global investors.

> The Digital Tools Ag Companies Must Have in Their Crop Input Toolbox
New digital tools have the ability help ag professionals better manage risks, from weather and soil health to sustainability and water scarcity.

> How NVIDIA Is Bringing AI to Agriculture?
Accelerated computing company NVIDIA identifies farming’s biggest issues and develops the right technologies to help solve them.

> From Robot Tractors to Tomato Imaging: What Are the Use Cases of ML and AI in Agriculture?
Contributor Arjun Chandar dives deep into some of the most important AI and ML applications in ag, and some future possibilities.

See globalagtechinitiative.com

The Efita newsletter is sponsored by:

05 - 25/12/2023

Les premiers pas d'un enfant, 1876, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

06 - 25/12/2023

'Green' ammonia is the key to meeting the twin challenges of the 21st century (Siemens)

By switching to renewable electricity to make ammonia we could save over 40 million tonnes of CO2 each year in Europe alone, or over 360 million tonnes worldwide. We can also covert back into hydrogen and burn ammonia to make electricity when the wind is not blowing.
See siemens-energy.com


Fuel Positive

The world has discovered the potential of Green Ammonia to significantly reduce carbon emissions and help reach our international greenhouse gas reduction commitments.
Only FuelPositive has the technology, the team, and the model to make it happen economically and efficiently, in the short term.
Our lead product, an onsite, containerized Green Ammonia production system, will revolutionize clean energy through a patent-pending, first-of-its-kind technology invented in Canada.
It takes air, water, and sustainable electricity to make Green Ammonia. Adoption will dramatically support global targets to reduce CO2 emissions. And the traditional ammonia industry will die out because the old-centralized model and supply chain will be too unreliable, inconvenient, expensive, and damaging to the environment.
See fuelpositive.com/


FuelPositive's Onsite, Containerized Green Ammonia Production System (System Specs)

- 300 kg/day (100 tonnes/year) of green anhydrous ammonia
- 476 kg/day of water
- Customer to supply sustainable grid source of electricity or an off-grid option (approximately 1-megawatt solar array, with supplementary storage, would power the system completely off-grid)
- Operating costs expected to be around $560/tonne as announced in November 2021, depending on electricity costs

See fuelpositive.com 25/12/2023

Une famille d'amis, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

07 - 25/12/2023

Invités non invités, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

08 - 25/12/2023

Why regenerative agriculture is only a part of the answer to sustainable food systems, by Theresa Lieb, November 30, 2023

No single solution can solve our food and climate challenges.

Regenerative agriculture has slowly but surely taken over the sustainability programs of America’s food corporations. PepsiCo, ADM, Cargill and General Mills are among the big companies encouraging their suppliers to adopt regenerative practices. Those practices are also supported by the U.S. government’s $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program.

This development has important benefits: Planting cover crops, reducing tillage and rotating crops, among other regenerative practices, offer a range of environmental advantages and can make farms more profitable. In the best case, they can even sequester carbon in soils. So, there’s nothing wrong with regenerative agriculture itself.

But the narrow focus has been crowding out work on more systemic food systems issues, such as food waste, dietary change and crop diversity, that need addressing. How did we get here, and how can we correct the course?

What’s behind its popularity?
Regenerative agriculture has been the right-sized sustainability pill for U.S. policymakers and companies to swallow. It’s big enough to elicit the appearance of meaningful change but small enough not to make too many people uncomfortable.

Three factors underlie its nearly universal support:

1. Minimal business disruption

Changing the practices of thousands of farmers isn’t simple, but it’s more convenient than revamping entire business models. Replacing conventional corn with regeneratively grown corn is easier than working with a different ingredient with superior environmental characteristics. Regenerative agriculture allows companies to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability while keeping their supply chains, products and profits intact.

2. Broad political support

While regenerative agriculture isn’t entirely uncontroversial — especially among farmers themselves — it’s far less polarizing than advocating for meat reduction or redistributing subsidies from commodity producers to vegetable farms. Politicians and businesses can demonstrate that they have finally woken up to agriculture’s climate impacts but don’t have to step on anyone’s toes to do something about it.

3. Attractive marketing opportunities

Regenerative agriculture allows its proponents to tell heartwarming stories that feed into America’s romanticized farming narrative. Companies and politicians can lift up farmers as climate heroes. Images of thriving cover crops and grazing cattle underscore hard work on the land for the benefit of all. That’s more attractive than showcasing a cultivated meat facility or campaigning for smaller portions to reduce wasted food.

>>> Expanding the toolbox

The best path forward is not a choice between regenerative agriculture and other sustainability approaches — because solving our climate, biodiversity and economic crises requires multiple approaches.

Let’s instead use the success of regenerative agriculture as an example for building momentum for additional improvements. With regenerative agriculture’s established support and rising global awareness of required food system reform, now is a good time for sustainability teams to recalibrate and onboard more tools.
.../...
See greenbiz.com


Foreign ownership of US farmland climbed nearly 9% in 2022, by Nathan Owens, Dec. 20, 2023

Despite the uptick, acreage owned by China declined as states moved to restrict adversarial countries from owning U.S. forest, crop and pasture land.

Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land is on the rise as investments in wind farms and other renewable energy projects grow, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The amount of farm and forest land held by investors outside the U.S. totaled 43.4 million acres, an 8.5% increase from 2021 to 2022. Foreign investors now make up 3.4% of privately-held agricultural land and nearly 2% of all U.S. land, the USDA said Tuesday.

Large land purchases in three states accounted for 45% of the difference. Alabama and Michigan saw an uptick in forest land activity, while Colorado’s increase was mostly cropland and pasture.
.../...
See agriculturedive.com


Bad Joke

See Reader Digest Jokes 25/12/2023

The Agricultural Research Service: A History of Innovation

This year marks the Agricultural Research Service's 70th anniversary, making it a particularly appropriate time to look back at the founding of this revolutionary agency and its scientific accomplishments. Learn more.
See tellus.ars.usda.gov

Extreme forest fires fuel emissions

The annual carbon dioxide emissions generated by forest fires are now higher than those from burning fossil fuels in Japan, the world’s sixth-largest CO2 emitter. In particular, emissions from boreal-forest blazes, such as those in Canada this year, “showed a rapidly growing trend”, says landscape ecologist and report co-author Xu Wenru. The report calls for countries to include forest fires in their climate plans — their emissions “cannot be ignored”, Xu says.
See nature.com


The Great Carbon Rush, by Rory Christie, Scottish Farmer, October 12, 2023

Carbon farming is the new gold rush—or at least it has the potential to become one with an amazing opportunity to disrupt and transform the stagnant debate over climate change and agriculture.

This is a remarkable prospect. As farmers, we must stake our claim.

Right now, too many of the combatants in climate-change debates look at farmers and see only problems. In their view, the people who raise animals, seed land, and harvest food by running tractors over fields are carbon criminals who spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Yet this overlooks a basic fact of biology: Plants remove carbon from the air, turning it into plant material or storing it in the soils. A fellow Global Farmer Network member and Brazilian farmer Andre Dobashi has called this process “carbon kidnapping” – using carbon-smart practices on their farm that makes the soil healthier by increasing organic matter and the soils productivity.

Farmers are in fact an important part of the solution to climate change. What is needed is to recognize and reward the good work they’re already doing and harness their determination and creativity to do even better.
.../...
See globalfarmernetwork.org


Le goût des armes, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

09 - 25/12/2023

All gone, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

10 - 25/12/2023

A Better Way to Get Oysters? Try Growing Them on Land (Source Bloomberg)

In Japan, a producer says cultivating the shellfish in tanks of seawater is the future.
See Bloomberg Archive


Will reducing beef save our planet? By Lucy M. Stitzer, December 15, 2023

At the recent COP28 Climate Summit, the UN stated that wealthy nations should reduce red meat and dairy to avert a global health crisis. But aren't ranchers and dairy farmers proactively reducing its effects already?
.../...
In fact, California has committed to a 40% reduction of dairy methane emissions by 2030 just by using digesters alone.
.../...
See dirt-to-dinner.com


Viewpoint: As the BBC spews organic farming propaganda, the world’s poor suffer, by Henry Miller, Kathleen Hefferon, September 28, 2023

How many people around the world are currently living in poverty? The World Bank reports that a little over 9%, or approximately 720 million people, are subsisting on less than US$2.15 a day.

In the US, where poverty is measured differently, a staggering 10% of the population, or almost 40 million people, are living below the poverty line.

How about the UK? Approximately 20%, or 14 million citizens, are in poverty. That’s a lot of food-insecure people in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But while many in the farming and scientific communities understand the relationships among agricultural practices, the cost of food, and food security, the staff of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) seem clueless about them.

The government broadcaster came under fire from the think-tank Science for a Sustainable Agriculture (SSA) for posting misleading, pro-organic statements on their online “Bitesize revision guides,” which are aimed specifically at students.

In the US, where poverty is measured differently, a staggering 10% of the population, or almost 40 million people, are living below the poverty line.

How about the UK? Approximately 20%, or 14 million citizens, are in poverty. That’s a lot of food-insecure people in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But while many in the farming and scientific communities understand the relationships among agricultural practices, the cost of food, and food security, the staff of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) seem clueless about them.

The government broadcaster came under fire from the think-tank Science for a Sustainable Agriculture (SSA) for posting misleading, pro-organic statements on their online “Bitesize revision guides,” which are aimed specifically at students.
.../...
See geneticliteracyproject.org


Amore fraterno

11 - 25/12/2023

Una catastrofe, 1887, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

12 - 25/12/2023

Lessons in lifesaving from Brazil, By Bill Gates| December 12, 2023

What the biggest country in South America can teach the world about healthcare.
.../...
Of course, despite all the progress that’s been made in recent decades, Brazil still faces challenges. Financial crises and austerity budgets have led to cuts in healthcare spending, for example, and there are still districts where poorer residents have no access to CHWs (CHW: community health worker).

But Brazil’s healthcare system doesn’t have to be perfect to serve as proof of what happens when a country invests strategically in care for its most vulnerable: The returns are often far-reaching and life-changing.

That is why Brazil is highlighted by the Exemplars in Global Health program, which I helped launch in 2020. The program's mission is to identify countries that have made remarkable progress on health problems, understand the keys to their success, and share those insights globally so others can make similar progress. By that standard, Brazil has a lot to teach.

That’s not to say any country can or should replicate Brazil’s approach exactly, since no two countries are alike. But with the right mix of investment and innovation, Brazil has made great strides in becoming a healthier place for its people. If the country continues on that path and keeps doing what it’s done well already, and if other countries follow—or simply forge their own paths with Brazil in mind—we’ll have a healthier world, too.

See gatesnotes.com 25/12/2023

See gatesnotes.com 25/12/2023

FDA Approves First Gene Therapies to Treat Patients with Sickle Cell Disease

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two milestone treatments, Casgevy and Lyfgenia, representing the first cell-based gene therapies for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) in patients 12 years and older. Additionally, one of these therapies, Casgevy, is the first FDA-approved treatment to utilize a type of novel genome editing technology, signaling an innovative advancement in the field of gene therapy.

Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders affecting approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. It is most common in African Americans and, while less prevalent, also affects Hispanic Americans. The primary problem in sickle cell disease is a mutation in hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to the body’s tissues. This mutation causes red blood cells to develop a crescent or “sickle” shape. These sickled red blood cells restrict the flow in blood vessels and limit oxygen delivery to the body’s tissues, leading to severe pain and organ damage called vaso-occlusive events (VOEs) or vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs). The recurrence of these events or crises can lead to life-threatening disabilities and/or early death.
.../...
See fda.gov


London hospital cuts waiting lists with innovative system, by Rachel Sylvester, December, 10 2023

Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital has slashed its elective backlog by running two operating theatres side by side.

Surgeons at one London hospital are performing an entire week’s operations in a single day as part of a ground-breaking initiative that could help tackle the record waiting lists in the NHS.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has already slashed its own elective backlog in certain specialities by running monthly HIT (High Intensity Theatre) lists at weekends.

Under the innovative model, two operating theatres run side by side and as soon as one procedure is finished the next patient is already under anaesthetic and ready to be wheeled in.

Nurses are on standby to sterilise the operating theatre and instead of taking 40 minutes between cases it takes less than two, the only delay is the 30 second it takes for the anti-bacterial cleaning fluid to work.
See thetimes.co.uk


Dispiacenze infantili, de Gaetano Chierici (IT, 1838-1920)

13 - 25/12/2023

Perspective: We make sacrifices in all conditions for our animals, by Kelsey Pagel, December 06, 2023

We recently had our first snow fall of the season here in Northeast Kansas. It was pretty significant, between 4 and 10 inches, depending on location. With it came all the social media posts about the love and beauty of the snow or the intense dislike of it. I don’t like snow. I keep telling Matt, my husband, my goal is to live somewhere I can leave my garden hose out year round and it never freezes. Yes, the moisture is nice since we’re in a multiple-year drought, but why can’t it come in the form of rain when the temperature is above 15 degrees!

I’ve come to realization there is a direct correlation between people who love snow and people that don’t have livestock. We grew up with livestock — pigs and cattle. We started calving in mid-March when it wasn’t quite warm yet. We checked all of them on four-wheelers. I was born March 12. Even though my mom had a C-section with me, the cows are her love on the farm, and while dad helped more than normal that first season, you can guarantee I was on the four-wheeler with her and my two older sisters checking calving cows.
.../...
See agdaily.com
See teampagel.com


Soviet jokes gathered by the US Embassy in Moscow

See qz.com 25/12/2023

Coquette: A Tiktok success

01 - 25/12/2023

Mortgage rates: Down and Up

02-25/12/2023

Abortion pills success

03-25/12/2023

Japan's currency variations

04-25/12/2023

AI killing jobs? Or helping workers?

05-25/12/2023

Useful banks

06-25/12/2023

Canada had to cope with extreme forest fires last summer. For Russia it is quite often the case…

07-25/12/2023

More real physical stocks

08-25/12/2023

Ozempic (and Wegov) against Diabetes and Obesity / Ozempic (et Wegov) comme le Médiator, contre le diabète et l'obésité

09-25/12/2023

Obesity, a bonanza

10-25/12/2023

Obesity is making Eli Lilly happy

11-25/12/2023

All pills at the sale price as Ozempic

12-25/12/2023

Medicaid Coverage of Obesity Medicines

13- 25/12/2023