A lot of American agriculture operates in an environment where none of the usual rules apply where the important thing is not catering to the consumer, but tapping the Treasury. Print Article This is a printer friendly version of an article from www.washingtontimes.com To print this article open the file menu and choose Print. These days, you don't have to grow anything at all to harvest federal crop subsidies. You try to give customers something they want at a price low enough to keep...

Climate change More SYDNEY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australia, already the world's driest inhabited continent, is gripped by its worst drought in 100 years which has decimated crops and created a crisis among its farming community. Forecasts for the current wheat crop are 15 million tonnes or less, down from 26 million tonnes earlier this year before the drought hit. FACTBOX-Australian drought hits farmers hard FEATURE-Australian country life riven by drought, isolation FACTBOX-Skin cancer:...

While he enjoyed farming, he hadn't really thought it was a career option until the Howells offered him the opportunity to form a farming partnership. Warner and his wife, Amy, have made their living from the farm since 1988, and he is well aware that they are part of a very small minority in America that still has a connection to traditional agriculture. The couple grows primarily wheat and milo, with wheat typically planted on two-thirds to three-fourths of the farm. In addition to his...

The rise of the soybean is a postwar phenomenon, and global production has grown almost three times as quickly as wheat since the early 1960s. These versatile legumes, which can be used to make oil, flour, protein and animal feed, have become an essential element of the processed food industry. The industry has been plagued in the past by environmental concerns, as when farmed fish escaped pens and mated with fish in the wild, and when fish waste, viruses and bacteria ended up in oceans...

Barley and wheat prices have skyrocketed as more farmers plant corn to meet increasing demand for ethanol, while others plant feed crops to replace acres lost to corn. A decade-long oversupply of hops that had forced farmers to abandon the crop is finally gone and harvests were down this year. Small brewers from Australia to Oregon face the daunting prospect of tweaking their recipes or experimenting less with new brews thanks to a worldwide shortage of one key beer ingredient and rising...

Royal Nedalco wants to make alcohol for fuel out of plant cellulose, the cheap and plentiful stuff that makes up crop residue, as well as wheat straw, wood and grasses. Nedalco officials say they've found a key to fermenting the sugar found in cellulose cheaply and effectively by using a yeast taken from elephant dung. Europe lags behind the United States and Brazil in ethanol, but production of biodiesel has soared, reflecting Europeans' preference for fuel-efficient diesel cars. The...