Seed bank leaders win $500,000 World Food Prize
Geoffrey Hawtin and Cary Fowler, founders of the “doomsday” seed bank in Norway, are this year’s winners of the $500,000 World Food Prize “for their longstanding contributions to seed conservation and crop biodiversity,” said the foundation overseeing the prize on Thursday. The scientists have been active for decades in efforts to preserve plant genetic resources, including an international plant treaty in 2001.
CDC urges states to give PPE to farmworkers as bird flu safeguard
States should open their stockpiles of personal protective equipment for distribution to farmworkers, with top priority for dairy farms where cows are infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, said a Centers for Disease Control official. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department confirmed six additional cases of bird flu in cattle on Thursday, ending a 12-day pause in new cases.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Slower rise in land values: Midwestern farmland values were 4 percent higher in the first quarter of 2024 than they were in the same period last year, the smallest year-over-year gain since fall 2020, said ag bankers in a quarterly survey. (Chicago Federal Reserve Bank)
Lab meat ban: Alabama joined Florida in banning the manufacture, distribution, or sale of cultivated meat, punishable in Alabama by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine. (Wired)
Falling farm equipment sales: As farm income slows after a three-year boom and with interest rates staying high, farm equipment dealers are seeing fewer sales of new and used equipment. (Reuters)
California vintners face downturn: After years of steady growth, the California wine industry may be headed for a shakeout because of a sharp contraction in global wine consumption. (San Francisco Chronicle)
China okays GE wheat: The world’s largest producer and consumer of wheat has approved production of a gene-edited, disease-resistant wheat variety, a step that could lead to approval of other genetically engineered food crops. (StratNews Global)
