A new technology that captures air pollution and uses sunlight to convert it into nitrate on the leaf surface of a crop has been developed by Lincoln-based Crop Intellect.

Called R-Leaf, it uses a process known as photocatalysis to break down nitrous oxide and turn it into an essential crop nutrient, offering the potential to reduce both farm emissions and the industry’s reliance on synthetic nitrogen.

Against a background of rollercoaster fertiliser markets and environmental concerns, the technology is being feted as a ground-breaking development that will allow farmers to make better use of nitrogen fertiliser and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its use.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau today announced how Canada will handle crop cultivars that contain gene-editing as part of the breeding process. Bibeau says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is officially moving ahead with Part V(5) of the Seed Regulations changes that have been under consultation since 2021. Last May, Health Canada released guidelines regarding the approval of plants with non-novel traits, prompting the organic sector to ask for more clarification on how gene-edited varieties would be kept separate from genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

The announcement means that varieties or cultivars developed with gene-editing will not be considered a GMO under Canadian rules. Bibeau says that gene-editing ushers in a new era for plant breeding techniques, replicating conventional methods more quickly, adding that the scientific consensus is that gene-edited crops are as safe for humans, animals, and the environment as those created through conventional breeding.

Health Canada has added Pairwise’s gene edited mustard greens to its list of “non-novel” foods. Through a voluntary process, Pairwise notified Health Canada about the mustard greens (Brassica juncea) that the company has bred using the tools of gene editing, or CRISPR, to reduce the natural pungency of the greens, thereby improving their flavor.

Pairwise provided the voluntary notification on March 7, 2023, and received a response from Health Canada the same day confirming the Agency would add our mustard greens to its list of non-novel foods developed through plant breeding and intended as food in Canada. According to Health Canada, these plants aren’t subject to pre-market assessment before their use in the Canadian food supply, as they are considered “non-novel.”

Researchers at Washington State University have created a gene-edited pig. The scientists used CRISPR, a gene-editing tool, to sterilize a group of five male pigs. Then, the pigs received stem cells from another male pig. That allowed them to “create sperm with that (other) male’s desired traits, to be passed on to the next generation,” WSU said in a news release.

However, the larger purpose of the research was to show that gene-edited pigs are safe to eat. The five pigs were slaughtered and processed at the WSU Meat Lab, then United States Department of Agriculture staff inspected the meat for safety. A meat scientist at the university made some of the pork into sausages, which will be sold to raise funds for students on the university’s meat-judging team.

“The original intent in making these animals was to try to improve the way that we feed people…. We can’t do that unless we can work with the (Food and Drug Administration) system to get these animals actually into the food chain,” said Jon Oatley, a professor in the WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Government needs to act ‘swiftly’ to extend parallel imports and permits for plant protection products until a proper regulatory process is in place, with the NFU warning the industry is running out of time.

Parallel trade permits have allowed plant protection products to be imported into the UK, sold and used, based on regulatory assessment work done in another EU country but sales of parallel products will end on June 30.

Losing the permits, will inevitably lead to price rises, less availability for growers and will directly impact crop resistance and could cost the sector £10 million, the NFU warned at its council meeting this week.

Reducing river pollution and lowering protein imports for livestock feed are two potential gains from new work at the University of Leeds research farm into using pig manure as a feedstock for the black soldier fly.

The university has partnered with insect technology company Entocycle to host a self-contained insect-raising unit on its campus, at the Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock’s National Pig Centre – the UK’s largest and most advanced pig research facility.

The project will evaluate manure and slurries as a feedstock for the black soldier fly and other insect species under high-density and environmentally controlled conditions. It is hoped that manure-fed black soldier fly larvae could one day be used as feed for livestock, to replace imported high-protein feeds such as soya bean and fish meal.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a report on food safety considerations for regulating foods derived from gene editing (also known as “genome editing”) to help national authorities develop and implement policies and regulatory criteria for food products derived from gene editing.

The report provides a review of food safety related issues in applying gene editing for food production, including the applicability of existing Codex Alimentarius principles and guidelines for relevant food safety assessments, and offers key considerations for food safety regulations.

FAO concludes that the possible effects of gene editing on food safety, quality and trade are not expected to be much different from such effects on foods derived from pre-existing breeding techniques. Therefore, the relevant guidelines developed by Codex remain applicable for addressing the safety and fair trade of foods derived from gene editing.

New research has reaffirmed scientific evidence of the crucial benefits of livestock systems and meat to society.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the scientific journal Animal Frontiers , provides evidence of livestock and meat’s benefits for health, sustainability, food security and socio-economic development.

The study’s authors are among nearly 1,000 scientists around the world who have warned that livestock systems are “too precious to become the victim of simplification, reductionism or zealotry.”

The prices of food rose at the fastest rate in more than 45 years in the 12 months to February 2023, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says.

The annual inflation rate in the food category was 18.2%, up from 16.8% in the year to January 2023. Indicative modelled by ONS suggests that the rate would have last been higher in August 1977, when it was estimated to be 21.9%.

The largest contributor to the rise in food inflation was vegetables, which rose by 18% in the year to February 2023 compared with 15.5% in January. There have been reports of shortages of salad produce and other vegetables due to the bad weather in southern Europe and Africa.

The U.S. government is testing four potential bird flu vaccines for poultry, officials said on Friday, after more than 58 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have died in the nation's worst outbreak ever.

The trials, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service, are the first step in a lengthy process toward the possible first use of vaccines to protect U.S. poultry from the lethal virus.

Bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), has killed hundreds of millions of birds around the world, raising interest in vaccines. The virus is largely spread by wild birds that transmit it to poultry.

Insect-borne livestock diseases that were once confined to the tropics are increasingly likely to threaten farms in the UK as climate change expands the number of countries where they can thrive.

A 2019 study, Bluetongue Risk Under Future Climates, which looked at how changing temperatures in northern Europe might affect outbreaks of bluetongue virus, suggested that an outbreak typically expected once every 20 years could become almost an annual occurrence by the 2070s in a worst-case climate change scenario.

One of the authors, Andrew Morse, says the UK is already vulnerable to vector-borne diseases but, as the temperature increases, the risks will be much higher. “We expect that risk forecasting and early, accurate disease detection, along with efficient strategies for disease control, will become increasingly vital in future, warmer climates.”

Disease outbreaks and the impact on production could be costing the UK pig herd more than £850m a year, according to a new study carried out for the AHDB by the universities of Liverpool and Bern in Switzerland.

It compared a hypothetical, perfect UK pig farm without any losses, against existing industry averages. The difference between perfection and average was £858m a year across the whole UK pig herd, or more than double the approximate value of the industry.

AHDB animal health and welfare scientist Miranda Bowden-Doyle said that although it was impossible to achieve perfection, the study underlined the potential costs of disease. Dr Bowden-Doyle explained that disease costs were not only financial but had serious knock-on effects for animal welfare and the environment.