When some of the biggest heartland acts take the stage on Randalls Island today for a benefit concert for America's family farmers, they won't be performing in a town known for its country music fans. But with farmers' markets and organic food in the metro area increasingly popular, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews - who are all scheduled to perform today - decided to take their 20th Farm Aid concert to the world's media and restaurant capital. But with farmers'...

So the new strategy, unveiled in a July plan issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and re-iterated this week by Chen Deming, a vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission in Beijing, is for most of the biofuel to come from non-grain sources, such as sweet sorghum, sugarcane and cassava. So the new strategy, unveiled in a July plan issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and re-iterated this week by Chen Deming, a vice chairman of the National Development and Reform...

A ConAgra spokeswoman says the company decided to remove the butter flavoring from its popcorn because of the risk the chemical presents to workers who handle large quantities. The decision by ConAgra Foods comes after it was revealed that a leading lung research hospital had written federal regulators to warn that consumers may also be in danger from fumes from the buttery flavoring. Last week, Weaver Popcorn said it would replace the butter flavoring ingredient because of consumer...

Armour-Eckrich packaged meats brands from ConAgra Foods inc. was almost entirely responsible for a 28 percent jump in pounds sold of packaged pork products, the company said. The Smithfield-based company is the world's largest pork processor and producer, with $12 billion in annual sales. Smithfield's recent acquisition of Premium Standard Farms alone accounted for a 27 percent rise in hog production, the company reported. For its international operations, the company reported a nearly $15...

These findings, from a recent survey of grower attitudes to genetically modified crops, throw the current reviews of the State government moratoria on production of GM canola into stark relief. It is believed Australian canola production may increase if herbicide tolerant GM varieties replace the conventionally-bred triazine tolerant (TT) varieties that are popular in Australia but have lower yield potential. Australia August 31, 2007 More than 80 per cent of Australian canola growers and...