02/10/13: Bike-powered mill; investment in US freight rail infastructure; invest in Indian grain storage - Rabobank

A bicycle-powered grain mill is helping to combat poverty in South Sudan.

Invented by Canadian PhD student, Chris Hergesheimer, the bike mill can produce 1 kg of flour in 7-9 minutes. This is a remarkable contrast to the1.5-3 hours it takes to grind a family's daily sorghum needs by hand.

Hergesheimer came up with the idea to give his arm muscles a break when milling small batches of flour for a farmers market in his native British Columbia.

The design is relatively simple, using a chain and sprocket to connect the mill to a bike frame equipped with a seat, pedals and handle bars.

The idea to export to invention to South Sudan came from one of Hergesheimer's friends who moved to Canada following the civil war in Sudan in the 1990s.

Now Hergesheimer his raising money to fund a trip to the country to build the mills with local people.
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US freight railroad company, BNSF, plans to invest USD$90 million in rail upgrades in New Mexcio, USA.

The company will make signal improvements to five main line tracks through the Belen Terminal and add a locomotive servicing pit to the yard at Belen. It will also continue its robust track improvement program in New Mexico, which will include 2,100 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work, the replacement of about 160 miles of rail and more than 170,000 railroad ties, as well as significant signal upgrades for federally mandated positive train control (PTC).

“BNSF's capital investments in New Mexico will help ensure our network is prepared for growing demand for freight rail,” said Matthew K Rose, chairman and chief executive officer.

“We are focused on investing to meet our customers' expectations and on expanding capacity where growth is occurring. Given the importance of a low cost supply chain to the U.S. economy, our privately funded rail infrastructure is well positioned to help New Mexico compete in global markets.”

The US rail network plays a vital role in the transportation of grains in and out and across the country so the improvements are sure to be welcomed by the industry.
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The time is right to invest in Indian grain storage, according to a report by Rabobank.

Demand for grain storage is expected to grow in the next five years with the drive coming from an envisaged grain-storage deficit, inadequate storage and the new Indian Food Security Bill.

Rabobank predicts that in the long run, strategic players who prefer a relatively lower degree of government control will be investing; however, in the short-term, silos will attract investment on the back of government schemes and captive usage by private millers and processors.
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English: A BNSF heads west past the Rochelle Train Park. www.rochelletrainpark.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

04/03/13: Milling in 1889; rice milling in Pakistan; UK and GM feed

We start the week with a blast from the past. 1889 in fact. These photos from Victoria in British Columbia, Canada show an rice mill in action. 

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The struggling rice milling industry in Sindh, Pakistan is to receive financial aid from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Sindh Enterprise Development Fund (SEDF). The State Bank of Pakistan has agreed to extend the credit finance to commercial banks for onward lending to rice millers at 6.25 percent in a bid to prop up the ailing industry.

SEDF will deposit 30 percent of the principal amount with the SBP as credit guarantee and will earn a profit, as well. Of this, SEDF will pick up 6.25 percent due to rice millers and payable to the SBP to support rice millers.
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Food prices will rise quicker unless Britain embraces GM food, says the British Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson. Speaking at the National Union of Farmers conference, Paterson told delegates that a delay on GM crops could push up food prices. However, 85 percent of meat consumed in Britain was fed of GM soy maize for cost reasons.
Read Paterson's speech in full...

English: Boiled Rice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Poultry farmers in Canada told to cease using bovine antibiotic

British Columbia poultry farmers and veterinarians are being urged to stop using bovine antibiotics by the Public Health Agency of Canada (CIPARS) on chickens. The agency believes the practice is behind a significant spike in a strain of Campylobacter in chicken that is resistant to an antibiotic commonly used to treat respiratory infections in human beings and cattle. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers.

Crop yield improved by removing manure solids

Manure has long been used as a crop fertiliser, but the challenge of finding an efficient use of the nutrients found in manure is ever present. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in manure is low in relation to the nutrient needs of most crops. Therefore, crops tend to be overloaded with manure to meet the nitrogen requirement of agricultural crops, but the excess phosphorus from the process can damage the environment.

In a study funded by agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, scientists at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Center in Agassiz, British Colombia, with collaborators in Quebec City, Quebec, and Brandon, Manitoba tested the effectiveness of removing solids from dairy manure to improve yield by increasing the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio and reducing the loss of nitrogen by hastening soil infiltration. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.