Agronomy
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USDA $300M Palantir Pact; Afresh Raises $34M
AgriFood Signals: a run-down of the latest U.S.-focused agtech funding, deals and policy moves. The bulletin highlights a major USDA agreement with Palantir, fresh venture capital for grocery AI and a corporate carbon-credit purchase tied to rice farming. Industry funding rounds, M&A and sustaina... -
Farmers Warn Losing Glyphosate Would Be Disastrous
A group of Midwestern row-crop growers told reporters they face tight finances and a looming generational squeeze if courts or regulators restrict access to glyphosate-based herbicides. On a media call hosted by the Modern Ag Alliance, three veteran farmers linked herbicide availability to conser... -
America Grows Act boosts USDA research funding
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) this month reintroduced the America Grows Act, a bipartisan bill that would require a 5% annual increase plus inflation each year for the next 10 years for research activities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Both sena... -
Higher fuel, fertilizer costs strain Kansas farms
Kansas State University economist Gregg Ibendahl warns that rising oil prices are already pushing key farm input costs higher, and could add significant expense for grain operations this year. Ibendahl estimated that a move to $90 per barrel of oil would add more than $1 per gallon at the pump an...