A South American drought keeps global grain reserves tight, but it could mean good things for North American corn producers.

Breaking Laws of Supply and Demand: Record U.S. Corn Crop Not Likely to Lower Food Prices

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Favorable weather and prices, driven up by growing global demand and a series of droughts, have combined to push U.S. corn production to a new high — but retail food costs are not expected to drop.

Photo Slideshow: Coal Mining and Wine Making in Australia

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An overview of Australia's Hunter Valley, traditionally known for its vineyards but more recently as a hydrocarbon center.
Groundwater Rescues New Mexico Farmers

In These Dry Times, Groundwater Rescues New Mexico Farmers

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Surface water allocations last year were 10 percent of normal,…

Photo Slideshow: Australia’s Agriculture and Energy

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The scale and rapid development of the nation's coal seam gas industry is changing the social fabric of the country’s small towns and farming regions, which have become protest centers.
Australia Liverpool Plains Mullaley New South Wales farm farmers irrigation food production drought energy coal seam gas water supply

Australia’s Agriculture and Energy Sectors Clash Over Water

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Rural culture and the industrial economy are at odds. Photo…

Draft Plan for Australia’s Murray-Darling Reignites Old Flames

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After the 20-week public consultations ended last week, three key basin states have rejected the proposed plan, and more than 60 Australian academics have slammed the document for neglecting to include climate change projections and for its lack of transparency.
The opening of the Morganza spillway resulted almost immediately in the flooding of farmland located within the floodway. Flooding of farmland caked in fertilizer is a threat to the Gulf of Mexico because it could increase the size of the dead-zone.

Agriculture and Sewage Dead Zone: Taking on Nutrient Pollution in the Mississippi River Watershed

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As the impact of agriculture on water quality intensifies around the globe, two lawsuits in the United States aim to reduce the size of the Gulf of Mexico's ‘dead zone’ by setting limits on nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River Basin.
A South American drought keeps global grain reserves tight, but it could mean good things for North American corn producers.

Global Perspectives: How Dry Weather in Argentina Could Affect Chicken Prices in Chicago

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A South American drought keeps global grain reserves tight, but it could mean good things for North American corn producers.
Suns River Solar Still

Resurrecting an Old Desalination Technology to Test Desert Agriculture

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At a U.S. desalination research facility this month, a 2,500-year-old…

Food vs. Water: High Commodity Prices Complicate Aquifer Protection in Colorado’s San Luis Valley

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Decades of groundwater pumping have left one of the San Luis Valley aquifers in a perilous state. To restore its health — and the foundation of the local economy — valley leaders are developing a plan to pay farmers to fallow up to 16,000 hectares. But with commodity prices soaring, will anyone go for it, or will the state have to step in?

From Coal Seam to Fracking, Unconventional Gas Industry Faces Opposition in Australia and South Africa

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As an energy boom, propelled by natural gas, continues to gather steam, mining and drilling companies square off with landowners around the globe over who has the right to resources that are located deep below ground.

Supreme Court Ruling Tests Boundaries of Water Supply and Energy Production Along Montana-Wyoming Border

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Montana and Wyoming have taken their transboundary water dispute to the Supreme Court. Wyoming won the first round. But others await in a case that will help decide how much water is really available to generate energy and to produce food in one of the nation’s driest regions, as well as who has access to that water.