Agricultural Digest
As we noted in the last edition of the Digest, American soybean farmers are struggling big-time, especially in light of the trade war with China (our largest export market for soybeans) and the increasing productivity of farmers in Argentina and Brazil. But, the Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign recently published a series of articles in Successful Farming that provide a possible alternative for the future: Africa.
Africa is becoming more like, well, us. As prosperity increases, and the world also shrinks, demand for imported food is growing. From 2010 to the present, food imports rose 32 percent relative to food production, and that trend looks likely to continue. When it comes to soybeans, in particular, the future looks bright. While the dominant imported oil of choice in Africa is still palm oil (and by a significant margin), these agro-economists …
Shark Attack!!!
Toothy leviathan explores its world, is maligned as a monster.
We project the foul darkness within us onto innocent ocean-dwellers.
The poodle and the dachshund are more prolific oral aggressors than these gentle, fast-healing giants.
The Great White shark is on the prowl. In the chilly northern California waters above its massive, streamlined head, near the surface of the Pacific by North Salmon Creek in Sonoma County, the toothy leviathan spots a gliding form. It seems to be that of a sea lion or seal, the Great White’s favored prey along this stretch of rocky coast. But the shark is uncertain about what it’s glimpsed. Great Whites are color blind, it’s thought, and the waters in which they choose to hunt are often murky, all the better to conceal their lurking presence. The shark’s only way to determine the identity of the tantalizing silhouette is to use its most trustworthy sense organ, its mouth.
And so, like a blind person tapping with a cane, the shark closes in on the moving mystery object and gently — in Great White shark terms — nips its side. The result is confusing. This doesn’t taste like seal flesh. It doesn’t …
America by the Numbers
6 — Gallons of orange juice consumed per American in 2005
2.9 — Gallons of orange juice consumed per American in 2025
600 — Number of liters of “blue water” (irrigation) required to produce 1 kg of beef
12,000 — Number of liters of “blue water” required to produce 1 kg of almonds
.004 — Average dollar amount artists get paid per stream by Spotify, before the labels, managers, etc. take their cut
.091 — Average dollar amount songwriters/publishers are paid per play on terrestrial radio
250-300 — Total calories in a quart (3 cups) of blueberries
6,280 — Total calories in the Little Ceasar’s large two-for-one Stuffed Crazy Crust pepperoni PizzaPizza deal
67,000 — Number of American manufacturing jobs lost …
