All the farmers who sold their produce during the official purchasing season, which runs from June 1 to September 30, had been paid. He also said the Government was working on ensuring that farmers were paid for their previous produce although it had not been able to pay every one because of the bumper harvest that the country recorded. He said the Government would immediately start distributing the additional inputs in all the 72 districts saying each would get according to the local...

Last month, we bought five gallons of fresh apple cider from an orchard, then started it fermenting with some sugar, adding yeast and yeast nutrients to help the process along. A word about alcohol content It's the sugar in cider, both natural and added, that is converted into alcohol during the fermentation process. During this process, my cider has undergone a transformation from the dark, murky brown color of freshly pressed sweet cider to a lighter caramel shade. That's because it...

The facility will turn animal and vegetable oils into biodiesel, a product that can be blended with diesel fuel for a cleaner-burning fuel that reduces petroleum consumption. According to information at www.conagrafoods.com, Nova has signed an agreement with ConAgra to purchase vegetable oil and animal-based fats for a biodiesel plant to be built in Oklahoma. The plant here will have a capacity of producing 60 million gallons per year, Robinson said. ConAgra also has agreed to buy the...

Ultimately - with farmer pay-in through crop insurance - if a disaster was called in a particular county, the Agriculture Secretary would have a pot of money ready to distribute to qualifying farmers. Peterson's plan would require that farmers have crop insurance at some to-be-specified buy-up level - he said that the current thought process would have farmers buy 60 percent or higher coverage to qualify. In the interest of full disclosure, this is going to cost the farmer some money and...

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Peterson said his priorities would include a permanent disaster program in the next farm bill, funded in part by crop insurance payments by farmers; more research into renewable energy; and maintaining the U. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Peterson said his priorities would include a permanent disaster program in the next farm bill, funded in part by crop insurance payments by farmers; more research into renewable energy;...

The global network of agricultural research centres warns that famines lie ahead unless new crop strains adapted to a warmer future are developed. Conversely, rising temperatures will open up areas of the world which are currently too cold for crop cultivation, in regions such as Siberia and northern North America. The vast Indo-Gangetic plain produces about 15% of the world's wheat - but the area suitable for growing is forecast to shrink by about half over the next 50 years, even as the...

Those herbicides, while vital to farmers, have caused concern among environmentalists and groups monitoring the safety and purity of the state's drinking water supply. A new variety of flood-tolerant rice soon could make its way from the lab to the field, offering California rice farmers and environmental advocates a potential weapon against both crop-ravaging weeds and water pollution. Rice farmers are required to keep the water in their fields contained for about 30 days after applying...

Fresh pork volume was down seven percent from last year, reflecting lower processing levels resulting from a plant rationalization, a weak fresh meat environment, as well as somewhat reduced livestock availability in the company's east coast pork processing operations. Fresh pork volume was down seven percent from last year, reflecting lower processing levels resulting from a plant rationalization, a weak fresh meat environment, as well as somewhat reduced livestock availability in the...

Meanwhile it's getting more expensive for companies like Tyson to feed their livestock, as grain prices rise amid the frenzy for alternative fuels such as ethanol. In an effort turn things around, the company is taking steps such as cutting its costs by $200 million, raising its prices on retail food products, and consolidating beef processing plants. Standard & Poor's equity analyst Joseph Agnese thinks the company's 2007 guidance is conservative, since pricing should benefit from...