South African city set to seize land in national ‘test case’
EKURHULENI, South Africa (AP) – As South Africa’s passionate debate over land redistribution grows, one city outside Johannesburg is preparing what the mayor calls a “test case” for the nation – the seizure of hundreds of acres of land from private owners, without paying for it, to build low-cost housing.
Like other South African cities, Ekurhuleni faces a dire housing crunch, with some 600,000 of its nearly 4 million people living in “information settlements” and a shortage of land to build homes. Read More
Economics prove cover crops pay
Every penny matters in today’s commodity price cycle. So for farmers on the fence on whether to make the plunge for cover crops, take comfort: economics are now on your side.
Nevada, Iowa, farmer Scott Henry is one of a growing number of farmers who have the data to back up the notion that cover crops do indeed pencil out. Read More
How the United States can remain a world leader in agriculture
Agriculture in the United States has changed immensely in just a short amount of time. When my grandmother was a child, nearly half of the country was involved in agriculture. Farming today would be unrecognizable to her. Today, less than 2 percent of the population is producing vastly more food.
Agriculture, food, and related industries contribute nearly $1 trillion dollars to the economy, and farm exports have totaled almost $140 billion in 2017. Read More
Trump tariffs lead to bleak 2019 farm forecasts
Trade disputes — namely the escalating feud with China — have weighed on commodity prices and the president has threatened to ratchet up tariffs rather than ease tensions come Jan. 1. To boot, ordinary business costs like fertilizer and fuel appear to be on the rise, further squeezing bottom lines. Read More
Thousands of Southerners Planted Trees for Retirement. It Didn’t Work.
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Over the past hundred years, the George family’s farm has been sharecropped, grazed by cattle and planted with cotton. By the late 1980s, Clayton George was growing soybeans and struggling to make ends meet.
A new federal program offered farmers money to reforest depleted land. Pine trees appealed to Mr. George. He bought loblolly seedlings and pulled his pickup into a parking lot where hands-for-hire congregated. Read More
Shortage of Industrial Land in Sydney Pushes Up Values to Nearly Fourth Time that in Melbourne
Industrial land in Sydney is worth almost four times what it is in Melbourne, with soaring prices in the harbour city driven primarily by land shortage.
Buyers would need to fork out an average of $1018 for a square metre of industrial land in Sydney, compared with $259 in Melbourne and $373 in Perth, according to the latest Colliers International research.
Sydney, which has the highest industrial land values of all capital cities, shot up by 14 per cent in the 12 months to September 2018, while the prices in Melbourne surged even more, at 29 per cent. Read More
Iowa’s Harvest and Cover Crop Planting Behind
With billions of dollars’ worth of corn and soybeans still in the fields, Iowa farmers are using sunny, dry days to catch up.
Nights too.
But Monday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly update says the soybean harvest, which is now just over a third complete, is the smallest percentage harvested at this stage of the season since 1985. Although farmers are reporting deteriorating quality, the USDA rates 65 percent of Iowa’s soybean crop in good to excellent condition. Read More
7 Experts Weigh In on Land Values Across The U.S.
Seven accredited farm managers from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers give their latest insights in their trade area’s trends. Read More
