Better Farming – September 2016

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Better Farming September 2016 Farm News First > 55
FARAFIELD
Land developers in Canada and the
United States are using farms to
entice potential homeowners into
residential developments.
Developers promote these com-
munities, designed to tempt residents
passionate about fresh and local food,
as agrihoods, short for agriculture
neighbourhoods.
The latest neighbourhood to be
built around a farm is The Cannery, a
547-home, 7.5-acre community in
Davis, California. The New Home
Company development opened
August 2015. Homes start at
US$400,000. Residents can sign up
for a weekly box of produce and
enjoy the agricultural scenery.
“They can see the pumpkins being
harvested or the tomatoes being
planted or the different seasons that
happen on a farm,” New Home
northern California president Kevin
Carson told The Associated Press on
May 17.
Similar neighbourhoods exist in
Virginia, Arizona, Illinois and in
Canada.
Frosst Creek Development
Company is building a 129-home
community called Creekside Mills at
Cultus Lake in Lindell Beach, British
Columbia.
The four-hectare community
features homes beginning in the mid
C$600,000s and a full-time farmer to
look after the
fruits, berries
and vegetables.
Jon Van
Geel, Frosst
Creek sales
director, told
The Globe
and Mail in
2015 that the
company wants
to create an area
where residents
can pick an apple
from a tree on their
property, and make pie from it. BF
A majority of polled American drivers
do not know about the addition of
ethanol (principally made from corn
and other field crops) to gasoline,
according to a summer survey by
Reuters/Ipsos. According to Laura
Sheehan, a public relations specialist
in the energy sector, this can be
explained by the fact that lobby
groups focus on the federal govern-
ment, rather than the consumer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 93 per
cent of consumers were concerned
about the price of gas. The location
of the gas station was another central
factor in purchasing decisions.
In accordance with the federal
renewable fuel standard program, over
95 per cent of motor vehicle gasoline
contains 10 per cent ethanol, accord-
ing to a May report from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration.
About 2,500 Americans responded
to the online survey. BF
Marine
Harvest
ASA , the
largest
Atlantic
salmon
produc-
er, wants
to farm
fish inside a cargo ship, reports
Bloomberg.
The July article says while salmon
prices are soaring, fish farms are
suffering outbreaks of sea lice, which
often kill fish.
Marine Harvest’s idea is one of
several applications to a Norwegian
government program that offers
farming licences at a reduced cost to
projects that solve the lice problem
and curb fish escapes.
The Bloomberg article quotes an
Oslo investment securities analyst
who estimates the Marine Harvest’s
farm prototype to cost US$28
million, or about half the amount of
a conventional farm. BF
In late June, according to an article in
, a farm in Chile
had signed an agreement to install 64
milking robots to increase milk
production and lower labor costs.
When the farm introduced its
current 16 milking robots in 2014,
farm owner, Agricola Ancali Limitada
Chilean dairy set to become world’s largest robotic milking farm
Fish farming in a cargo ship
Ethanol a mystery to U.S. drivers
It’s a beautiful day in the agrihood
(part of the Bethia Group), saw an av-
erage yield of 45.2 liters per 920 cows,
or a 10 percent increase in milk
production, the article says. After
installing the 64 milking robots, the
Chilean farm, which holds about
6,500 cows, will be the largest robotic
milking farm in the world. BF
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