Chicken farmer Craig Watts holds a handful of Perdue antibiotic feed at C&A Farms in Fairmont, North Carolina June 10, 2014. REUTERS/Randall Hill ​

Taking Cues from Human Nutrition to Reduce Antibiotic Use in Livestock
The Iowa State University Beef Nutrition Farm is trying to find ways for farmers to reduce antibiotic use in animal feed. Some of the antibiotics used on farms are the same ones that doctors prescribe to humans fighting off infections. The more these antibiotics are used, the more likely it is that some squirrelly bacteria will develop resistance—and those pesky drug-resistant bacteria can infect humans.
 
UK Farmers to Test Hi-Tech Beans That Could Prevent Food Waste
BeanIoT is a new ‘smart bean’ that would be planted and harvested just the same as any other bean or seed in the field, but it would transmit data back to a farmer’s laptop indicating a whole range of field data such as, soil moisture, molding, or even nitrogen levels. The bean is expected to retail around $30 and is being beta-tested this season.
 
NASA Really Is Trying to Grow Potatoes on Mars
Researchers at the Lima-based International Potato Center and scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are studying which type of potato could be best suited for extraterrestrial farming to support a human settlement on Mars by testing potato growth in Peru’s Pampas de La Joya Desert. The soil conditions there are extremely like those on Mars.
 
Major Hotel Chain to Grow Vegetables at 1,000 Properties to Cut Food Waste
AccorHotels, one of the world’s biggest hotel chains, has announced it will plant vegetable gardens at many of its hotels as part of a plan to cut food waste by a third. Its restaurants will be required to weigh and record food that is thrown away in order to best determine how to cut waste. The group also intends to plant vegetable gardens in many of its 3,900 hotels.