The Back 40

As technology continues to play an increasing role in agricultural operations, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) launched the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff (WQIag), which helps producers calculate how much impact their agricultural and conservation practices are having on water quality. Producers input information about a given field, such as slope and soil characteristics. They [...]

A private-public partnership is working to bring biofuels to the airline industry. Called “Farm to Fly,” the 2-year-old initiative is based on a partnership between the USDA and Boeing. If all goes well, the partners believe that the development of aviation biofuel in the United States has a huge upside that could increase domestic energy security, establish [...]

Many people think that billboard advertising ruins beautiful landscapes, but, surely, this is one billboard that anyone would support. A Chilean advertising agency, Mayo draftCFB teamed up with the University of Engineering and Technology to design a billboard, located in Lima, Peru, that captures humidity, filters it, and turns it into potable water, which can [...]

Renewable energy experienced a surge in use last year due to a 20 percent jump in windpower capacity worldwide. China and the United States added the most wind turbines in 2012, followed by Germany, India, and England. The increase in the U.S. is largely attributed to the anticipation of a tax credit coming to an [...]

As the debate rages on over the use of genetically engineered (GE) crops, Greg Jaffe, a writer for “The Atlantic,” addresses some common myths about this phenomenon. His bottom line is that genetically modified foods have the potential to reduce hunger and improve the environment but several factors need to be taken into consideration before [...]

In a great example of making lemonade out of lemons, Japan is building 143 wind turbines off of the coast of Fukushima, which once housed the nuclear reactor that was damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. This is a major step in Japan’s attempt to to increase the use of renewable energy after the nation’s nuclear reactors [...]