Nibbles: Perennial rice, Mutations
Not seen my copy yet, but the Land Institute is moving into perennial rice. More mutations, for faster breeding, now.
Diversity really does benefit farms and farmers
Anastasia and Jacob commented on the post about eating insects, to the effect that converting insects into chickens might, despite the inefficiencies involved, be a better way of using insects than converting them directly into people. I loved watching the film Jacob pointed to, not least because I used to work with chickens, love chickens, …
Continue reading “Diversity really does benefit farms and farmers”
High Plains Drifting
Wheat being nudged and prodded into perenniality, and local perennials the other way ; cows managed like bison, and bison managed like cows (including by media moguls turned restauranteurs); reenactments of Custer’s Last Stand, and Indian retirees going home to the reservation; farmers paid to retire some of their acres so grasslands can make a …
Perennial wheat a little bit closer
Almost a year ago I blogged about a trial of perennial wheat being planted at Texas A&M University by Dr Charlie Rush. Well, the results are in now, and they’re encouraging. According to a press release, the grazing (they do that with wheat in Texas) was as good as annual wheat, and the seed yield …
Perennial wheat on trial
Researchers in Texas have planted a trial of so-called perennial wheat, which lasts about five years. Normal wheat flowers and dies in less than a year. The wheat, they say, is being evaluated particularly in the context of dual purpose grain and grazing use. Many farmers in the US west sow wheat and allow cattle …