Agriculture in the national news - August 27

27 August 2010

A DAILY look at how agriculture has caught the headlines across the country (Friday, August 27).

Genetic code of wheat mapped out

The genetic code of wheat, which is five times larger than the human genome, has been mapped out by scientists for the first time.

The genome sequence is expected to help scientists develop new wheat strains which are more resilient to harsh conditions and disease and deliver higher yields.

Scientists hope the breakthrough will ease pressure on the world’s food supply and help stabilise rising food prices.

Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/7966983/Genetic-code-of-wheat-mapped-out.html

Wheat genome may help tackle food shortages

UK scientists have released draft sequences of the wheat genome, which they think could make a vital contribution to securing global food supplies.

The researchers also say their efforts could help British farmers to develop new strains with greater yields.

BBC Online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11099378

Clone cow row farmer defends stance

A dairy farmer at the centre of a controversy over a cloned cow has told how he would like to sell milk from its descendants as a premium product.

Steven Innes also revealed he would be prepared to buy more calves from cloned cattle and would happily feed the meat to his own children.

UKPA
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5j9GAjlQkjde07Ko8x3xcLK6PplVw

Concerns that food safety training cutbacks could be a fatal mistake

WALES faces a food poisoning timebomb as businesses cut safety training to save money, a public health expert warned last night.

Julie Barratt, director of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Wales, said companies are failing to send food handlers on courses that would teach them the skills that could prevent outbreaks.

Wales Online
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/08/27/concerns-that-food-safety-training-cutbacks-could-be-a-fatal-mistake-91466-27146619/

Organic food comes of age at Bristol’s Organic Food Festival

Held at Bristol Harbourside and celebrating its 10th anniversary, Europe’s largest organic festival is a feast of food, drink and fabric that doesn’t cost the earth.

Ah, the Eighties. Shoulder pads, Spandau Ballet, Reaganomics and conspicuous consumption. It’s a wonder anything could flourish in such poor soil.

The Ecologisthttp://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/food_and_drink/574457/organic_food_comes_of_age_at_bristols_organic_food_festival.html

Egg recall heats up debate over caging chicken

A recall of a half-billion eggs from two mega-farms in Iowa is stoking a fierce controversy over whether factory farming is inherently unsafe - and a battle in California over a 2008 voter initiative banning the standard industry practice of packing hens so tightly in battery cages that they cannot spread their wings.

San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/26/MNHL1F3QPN.DTL#ixzz0xn1srXSF

Anaerobic digestion offers farmers food for thought

The UK’s emerging anaerobic digestion (AD) industry was thrust into the limelight this week after two major new projects that promise to demonstrate the viability of the waste-to-energy technology were unveiled.

First up, energy firm Farmgen broke ground on the first in a wave of anaerobic digestion plants, designed to provide farmers with an additional revenue stream from “energy farming”.

Business Green
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2268817/anaerobic-digestion-boom-fuels

Dead cow remains trapped in weir

A dead cow, trapped in a weir in Omagh for three days, has not yet been recovered due to water levels.

Omagh Council said it would remove it as soon as it was safe to do so.

The cow’s body was spotted in the weir on the Strule River on Tuesday and reported to the council.

BBC Online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11102729