Aldi introduces antibiotic-free poultry and pig meat line.

The new line of Never Any! chicken, turkey, ham and bacon products is being sold exclsively at Aldi stores. The products are from animals that have never been given antibiotics and were fed a vegetarian-only diet. Animals processed for Never Any! label were raised without antibiotics and fed a vegetarian diet. The grocery chain Aldi has launched its line of “Never Any!” products, which includes chicken, turkey, ham and bacon. All products under the label will be raised without antibiotics and will be fed an all-vegetarian diet, according to a press release from the company. The Never Any! brand will be sold exclusively at Aldi stores. “We believe every shopper should have access to food they feel good about serving their family,” said Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi. “That’s why we’re dedicated to providing high quality groceries at affordable prices – making healthy living simple for more than 32 million customers who shop our stores each month.” continue

Aquaponics and wealth creation.

Aquaponics farming involves raising fish and growing plants in the same space. This system if properly incorporated will ensure food security. The system maximize space and conserve water through recycling which reduces use of inorganic fertilizer thus saving money. Aquaponics system creates wealth by promoting fish farming and growing plants in same cubicle,thus creating job opportunities and food security. The system is a symbiotic one as the fish provides organic manure through the waste they pass out in the vats and the plants purifies water by removing the nutrients increasing oxygen concentration. The plants provide enough oxygen for the fish to thrive and the waste of fish gives nutrients to plants to grow and produce more oxygen,this unending cycle is the basis of the success of the aquaponics system. Learn how to set up

Fish farming in the desert brings millions to farmer.

A farmer has made millions from fish farming in the desert using sustainable farming technique,the aquaponic system. In the desert where water is scarce, some experts are pushing for a process called aquaponics, where the wastewater from the fish is used to fertilize crops. Rush,a farmer sees fish farming not just as a way to make money, but also to save money by reusing the fish water on the 500 acres of Bermuda grass crop he grows nearby. The fish put waste in the water, which eventually turns into nitrates, a big ingredient in fertilizer. Rush said he saves more than $100,000 a year on fertilizer by using this nutrient-rich water. And, he gets double the use from costs of pumping groundwater from his wells. More

Foothill abortion disease.

Ranchers in California and neighboring states have struggled with foothill abortion disease at least as far back as the 1940s. While the disease seemed to have little impact on the health of the pregnant cows grazing in the foothills, it resulted in their calves being aborted, stillborn or born so weak that they soon died. After more than 50 years of research, the tick-borne bacterium responsible for one of the most troubling and economically devastating cattle diseases in the Western United States has been named and genetically characterized by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Veterinary immunologist Jeffrey Stott and collegues physically examined the bacterium in tissue sections taken during postmortem exams of aborted calves. They then characterized it by partially sequencing three of its genes and named it "Pajaroellobacter abortibovis," recognizing the Pajaroello tick that carries the bacterium as well as its abortion-inducing impact on infected cows and their fetuses. The researchers have developed a preventive vaccine for foothill abortion disease, and the Vaccine trials to prevent the disease are now in the second year. In the 1980s, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine researchers found evidence that the infected cow fetuses were producing an immune response to an unidentified microbe. Between 2000 and 2010, Stott and colleagues identified the microbe as a member of the genus Myxococcus and developed techniques to grow the live bacteria in laboratory mice. Cells from such mice were eventually used to develop the vaccine. This bacterium is like no other animal pathogen ever described,as It replicates only once per day, which explains why it could not be cultivated using standard laboratory techniques. The bacterium also has a much smaller genome than the most closely related, characterized bacterium, indicating that Pajaroellobacter abortibovis has probably lost some of its genetic material as it evolved. The Pajaroello tick is as intriguing as the disease-causing bacteria it carries, Stott said. Unlike more common ticks that burrow their way into the skin of people and animals to feed, the Pajaroello is a soft-bodied tick and does not embed itself in its hosts. The Pajaroello lives in the decomposing plant litter at the base of trees, shrubs and rocks, and is attracted to cattle by the carbon dioxide the animals give off. Only once every few months, the tick makes the effort to pierce the cow's skin and feed on its blood for about 20 minutes. When the bacteria get into the cow's tissue, they travel to the cow's uterus,in cows and other ruminants, no antibodies are passed between the mother and the fetus, so the fetus is immunologically naive and very vulnerable. The fetal development accompanied by a developed immune system triggers an immunological response to the presence of the bacteria. The fetus destroys itself and usually dies about four months after the cow is infected.. The economic losses recorded in cases of foothill abortion disease is high, the disease which occurs in California's coastal mountains and the foothill regions of California, Southern Oregon and Northern Nevada, annually results in the death of an estimated 45,000 to 90,000 unborn calves.

Silicon valley dives into agriculture.

The future of agriculture is technology driven with data,machines,telecommunication and drones changing the way we practice agriculture. Agriculture merging with technology referred to as Agtech is a means to ensure food security by producing enough food for the ever growing population. Technology biased industry,investors,banks and agricultural experts are all looking at ways to produce more food with the constraints of scarce resources for farmers, land availability and old techniques in food production and old seed strains and animal breeds. Agriculture merged with technology has introduced not only machines but improved seed varieties,breeds and technology such as biotechnology to produce more disease resistance and rapidly growing seeds and animal breeds. The key to improved agricultural practices is the use of data alongside machines to provide high yield, within a short time and save cost.Silicon valley has seen the gap between communication and production in agriculture. The lack of reliable data coupled with advanced technological approach is responsible for losses in the field with great economic impact. Silicon valley firms have stepped into agriculture to provide data driven analytics which not only saves time, money and labor costs but also ensures the expected harvest reaches the market on record time. The technology driven agriculture has changed the terrain in countries that have warmed up to this new approach. Agtech involves remote sensors sending data to a digital dashboard that shows real-time analytics on soil temperature and moisture levels and sensors in collars of cattle can also notify health status. Drones in agriculture now fly overhead capturing high-resolution thermal and visual images that show yield variation row-by-row with Phone notifications telling the farmer the optimal time to apply fertilizer, where it’s most needed, and the estimated effect on the harvest. Everything that a farmer once was and once thought about his business has completely transformed in the last 10 years as most of the things done by labor are replaced by machines and easy predictions on harvest is a reality as much of the guesswork and instincts n farming are now replaced with data and diagrams. This trend help farmers become more efficient, productive, and profitable. Google Ventures recently announced investments in both Granular, a company that provides farm management software, and Farmers Business Network, an online service that allows farmers to compare the effectiveness of seeds and inputs. Silicon Valley firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers are also embracing AgTech start-ups and increasingly looking to agriculture.

China set to curb high pork consumption with the "Terminator."

Meat consumption in China has grown sixfold since 1978. Pork is a popular meat in China, as pig farming takes center stage in the country. The success of pig farming in China has seen more and more people venturing into the business and more and more people consuming pork.There are nutritionist who believe that cutting meat consumption prolong life and ensures healthy living. The vegan group canvasing for a life of veggies have also shown that life without meat is possible and beneficial. The Chinese Food Guide Pagoda, in which meat is not taking top priority also encourages more of Water, cereals, tubers and legumes as being very important in the diet. The guide also canvases for more vegetables and fruits and small amounts of roughly 40-75 g/day of meat to be acceptable. The government in line with the food guide have enlisted Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron and Chinese actress Li Bingbing in a new video aimed at the Chinese people, in an attempt to reduce the country’s meat consumption.The tagline of the video is Less meat, less heat, more life. They are to help promote the campaign which was set up by the Chinese government to curb meat consumption by 50% - of which pork is taking a large share. Schwarzenegger, who is very popular in China, is to leverage on this to win the Chinese people over said, “If they tell you to eat more meat to be strong – don’t buy it.” The action spearheaded by WildAid, an American-based environmental organisation.The video is part of a broader strategy which include billboards and a Web campaign, shows the actor walking through a damaged landscape which allegedly is destroyed partly by carbon emissions due to animal production.

Nanoparticles used to break up plaque and prevent cavities.

A new strategy published in the journal Biomaterials shows how University of Pennsylvania researchers have adopted a more sophisticated approach to fight plaque.An iron oxide nanoparticle applied to teeth prior to treatment with hydrogen peroxide effectively reduced the onset and severity of cavities .The bacteria that live in dental plaque and contribute to tooth decay often resist traditional antimicrobial treatment, as they "hide" within a sticky biofilm matrix, a glue-like polymer scaffold. The team did not apply an antibiotic to the teeth rather, they took advantage of the pH-sensitive and enzyme-like properties of iron-containing nanoparticles to catalyze the activity of hydrogen peroxide, a commonly used natural antiseptic. The activated hydrogen peroxide produced free radicals that were able to simultaneously degrade the biofilm matrix and kill the bacteria within, significantly reducing plaque and preventing the tooth decay, or cavities, in an animal model. The paper's lead author was Lizeng Gao, a postdoctoral researcher in Koo's lab. Coauthors were Yuan Liu, Dongyeop Kim, Yong Li and Geelsu Hwang, all of Koo's lab, as well as David Cormode, an assistant professor of radiology and bioengineering with appointments in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Pratap C. Naha, a postdoctoral fellow in Cormode's lab. A very low concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the process was incredibly effective at disrupting the biofilm but the adding nanoparticles increased the efficiency of bacterial killing more than 5,000-fold.