Agriculture

Coffee yields from Columbia are declining and prices are rising, because of warmer, wetter weather. Many scientists think global warming is responsible.

"The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon, scientists working for the United Nations have revealed."

"As prices for agricultural land surge across America’s grain belt, regulators are warning that a new real estate bubble may be forming."

"Corn-based ethanol is the renewable fuel environmentalists love to hate. But as turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has sent oil prices soaring, U.S.-made ethanol is making a comeback."

"A fungus under control for 50 years is back and ravaging wheat crops in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Once it gets in a field, it corrodes the stalks, turning them shades of brown and red that gives the disease, wheat stem rust, its name. Farmers can do little but harvest what's left, sometimes losing 60% of their crop."

"Just over a month ago, the Department of Agriculture announced that it will allow American farmers to plant genetically engineered alfalfa, which is widely used as feed for dairy cows and horses. Organic food producers opposed the USDA's decision — some more fiercely than others. That split has provoked angry debates within the organics community, with some activists accusing organic businesses of 'surrendering' to the biotech company Monsanto. And it has reopened some old arguments about what's most important in the label 'organic.'"

"Restrictions on water pumping that helps supply Southern California, intended to protect California's delta smelt, will be relaxed through June."

Unacceptable death rates of laboratory animals have forced a New Zealand government research agency to end its experimental program on cloning of agricultural animals.

As federal and state agencies ponder a regulatory crackdown on raw milk, small dairy producers and natural food advocates worry about their rights.