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Featured Blog Posts – February 2013 Archive (8)

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - Wednesday, February 27, 2013

AALP class 14 started off Day Eleven of our study tour later than usual with an 8:15 a.m. wake-up call. While many back home battle a winter wonderland the class enjoyed a sunny 28 degree Delhi winter.

We headed off to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) which is situated inside the city limits of Delhi. This Institute was started in 1905 in Bihar with a…

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Added by AALP on February 27, 2013 at 3:19pm — 1 Comment

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Expect the unexpected, organized chaos, frightening, bumpy, contrast and adventure. These are some of the ways that the AALP Class 14 members described their varied experiences today. We started the day by visiting the head office of Digital Green http://www.digitalgreen.org/…

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Added by AALP on February 27, 2013 at 3:15pm — No Comments

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - Monday, February 25, 2013

Today the AALP Class 14 members stepped outside their comfort zone and visited the Bawana colony (slum) in north west Delhi. We started the day by meeting with the Delhi division of Habitat for Humanity and learned that 40% of Delhi residents live at, or below, the poverty level. Habitat for Humanity has been present in India for the last 30 years and has helped 48,000…

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Added by AALP on February 25, 2013 at 2:30pm — 2 Comments

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - Sunday February 24, 2013 - Goodbai Mumbai!

AALP Class 14 was awake not quite as early this morning and was off to the Mumbai airport for a short flight to the nation’s capital Delhi. From the airport we boarded our bus and were off to see the major sights of New & Old Delhi. First up the oldest monument in India, Qutab Minar dating back to 1100 A.D., the largest tower (~73m) was erected by the many suggestive Islam rulers over the centuries from the stones of the Hindu temples they demolished. 

Many were then thankful for…

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Added by AALP on February 24, 2013 at 6:00am — 1 Comment

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - Saturday, February 23, 2013

AALP Class 14 had an early start to our day as we made our way to the city of Pune. Pune is a growing city of over 5 million people. (…

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Added by AALP on February 23, 2013 at 4:00pm — 6 Comments

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - Friday, February 22, 2013

After an early breakfast we left Mumbai for a 3.5 hour drive to tour Syngenta Foundation Villages located at Jawahar in the Thane District. The drive took us up into the arid hills through many small villages. Although the fields were bare now, this district is a traditional rice growing area in the monsoon season from June to September.  In the dry season villagers make…

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Added by AALP on February 22, 2013 at 2:42pm — 2 Comments

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour Mumbai, India - Thursday, February 21, 2013

Rested!  AALP Class 14 finally got to wake up from a full night’s sleep in beds that didn't flutter over land and sea, or wobble down a track.  Feeling refreshed we met with our first guide of the day, a wonderful woman who had worked with Mother Theresa, has a Masters in Social Work and who passionately loves showing visitors around her city of Mumbai. Our tour was a…

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Added by AALP on February 21, 2013 at 6:30am — 3 Comments

AALP Class 14 International Study Tour - February 17 to 20, 2013

Sunday, February 17 & Monday, February 18, 2013

AALP Class 14 arrived at Pearson International Airport on time for departure on our International Study Tour to India.  After a short delay everyone was eager to get started on our trip.  The first leg took us to Brussels where we were informed we were…

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Added by AALP on February 20, 2013 at 7:00am — 1 Comment

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Farmers with hydro towers lobbying for annual compensation

Believing the time has come for a change, Chatham-Kent farmers, along with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, are lobbying for annual compensation for those with utility towers on their property. Bob Kerr and Bill Parks, who are leading the effort, brought a resolution to the OFA on the matter, which was accepted by the organization at its recent annual general meeting. The resolution stated that while Hydro One pays adequate compensation during initial construction phases, this does not cover the decades after, as landowners “continue to farm around and maintain the towers” into the future. “The annual expense caused by the easement should be considered injurious affection and needs to be compensated annually, for the life of the easement,” it stated. Kerr, who has a farm in Raleigh on Fifth Line, just off of Bloomfield Road, has four new towers, which were completed in the summer. “We can’t grow a crop where a tower is sitting,” he said. “They impair our operations. Our equ

Alltech warns of toxins in silage

Alltech says its testing has revealed a high risk that silage may contain mycotoxins harmful to cattle. For Quebec, 90 per cent of corn silage samples tested positive for zearalenone (ZEA), with levels reaching as high as 1,369 parts per billion and deoxynivalenol (DON) was found in 68 per cent of samples. T-2 and HT-2 toxins were less prevalent, found in 25 per cent of samples, but still pose a concern for livestock producers, Alltech said in a news release. In Ontario, 63 per cent of wheat samples contained DON, while 45 per cent showed the presence of ZEA. Grain corn samples also showed DON contamination, with a maximum level surpassing four parts per million. That poses the greatest risk to swine and younger animals, Alltech said. “Canada has experienced a change in weather patterns from last year, particularly of note the greater rainfall across the Prairies,” said Alexandra Weaver, global technical support for Alltech, in the press release. “As a result, there appears to b

Will agricultural weeds claim the upper hand in a changing climate?

Several years ago, a group of weed scientists showed that soil-applied herbicides are less effective against agricultural weeds in the context of a changing climate. Now, the same research group, led by the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has shown the same is true of post-emergence herbicides. Mining a 30-year database from 16 extension weed science programs across the U.S. corn belt, the researchers found variable weather significantly reduces the effectiveness of three leading post-emergence herbicides against major weeds affecting corn and soybeans. Chris Landau, post-doctoral researcher for USDA-ARS, said weather doesn’t matter only in the hours after application, but that air temperature and precipitation are linked with herbicide effectiveness days before and after application for the products and weeds the team studied. The researchers analyzed thousands of data points, including a broad range of weather conditions over 30

Oat, barley production estimates Bumped Higher

The 2024 Canadian oat and barley crops ended up turning out better than expected. In its final crop production report for the 2024 season on Thursday, Statistics Canada pegged the national barley crop at 8.144 million tonnes, a substantial increase from the federal agency’s September report which put the crop at just 7.6 million. Meanwhile, oat output was reported at 3.358 million tonnes, compared to 3.017 million in September. But despite the increase from the fall, estimated barley production is still 8.6% below a year earlier and potentially the smallest barley crop since 2017 at 7.891 million tonnes, excluding the drought-slashed production year of 2021. For oats, estimated production is up 27% on the year but still well down from the 2022 crop of 5.226 million. StatsCan’s September crop production report, along with the one released in August, were based satellite imagery and agroclimatic data. Today’s report reflects a survey of Canadian farmers that was conducted betwee

Chicago Close: Soybeans Up on Smaller Canada Canola Crop

Soybean futures ended higher Thursday, boosted in part by a downgraded Canadian canola production estimate. Wheat and corn also ended with gains. Statistics Canada today pegged the 2024 Canadian canola crop at 17.84 million tonnes, down more than 1 million from the agency’s September model-based estimate and 7% below a year earlier. The smaller canola crop sparked fears of tightening global vegoil supplies, which helped to rally soybean oil futures, strength that spilled over to soybeans. The soy market was further supported by the announcement of a private export sale of 136,000 tonnes to China. The weekly USDA weekly export sales report this morning showed bookings of US soybeans for the week ended Nov. 28 at 2.3 million tonnes, near the high end of trade guesses. January beans gained a dime to $9.93 ¾, and new-crop November was up 6 ¼ cents to $10.07. Wheat rallied on a weaker American dollar and reports that Russia’s winter wheat crop went into the winter in unusually poor con

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