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Agricultural technology and agribusiness in China and beyond (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-47326679-1', 'tumblr.com'); ga('send', 'pageview');

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Xu Beihong's Horses

Xu Beihong, Galloping Horse, 1948

In 2010, Galloping Horse sold for a whopping RMB 17m at a Christie's auction. Xu is known around the world for his calligraphic paintings of nature, but by far the most famous is his horse series.

[smartagriculture]

Colt Combat

Miao and Dong villagers in Guangxi province welcome the Year of the Horse with a round of traditional horse fights.

You don't see this every day, so go ahead and check out the whole series here. This year, 20 equine warriors entered the arena, drawing people from neighboring provinces to come and watch the spectacle. 

Note: this kind of event is not common in China. In fact, most of the commenters in the comments section below the linked picture series are condemning the celebration for encouraging animal cruelty.

[smartagriculture]

Yingluck Shinawatra

Thailand's first female Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra drives a tractor in farmer's clothes as she inspects a flooded rice paddy.

With that, our week of #worldleadersonfarmequipment comes to a close. Make sure to check in on Monday to see what next will bring, and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/qcfFf!

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Ronald Reagan

40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan goes for a cruise with his wife Nancy on a Montgomery Ward tractor. Farm equipment? We'll let this one pass.

[smartagriculture]

Barack Obama

President Obama sits atop a Ford tractor at a livestock show and rodeo in Houston during a stop in his 2008 campaign tour.

[smartagriculture]

1/27 SAAnews Weekly Editor's Note

Below is the editor's note from the 1/27 edition of SAAnews Weekly. For a selection of our English summaries and headlines of top stories from the week's domestic media coverage of China's agriculture industry, sign up for our free weekly newsletter. 

Shuanghui International was back in the headlines again this week when they announced a name change. The newly re-named "WH Group" went on to apply for a USD 6b IPO in Hong Kong and a USD 1m IPO in Harbin - Asia's largest IPO in years. The company's new logo reveals their eagerness to present a more international image: a company spokesman said that the four white waves represent the major oceans, and the remaining red pieces symbolize the world's continents. WH Group has been in the international spotlight since they acquired Smithfield Foods (USA) last September, making the company - then known as Shuanghui - the world's largest pork supplier.  Last week, we noted that China's No. 1 Document, an annual policy that has for the past decade served as China's de-facto farm bill, was released. Over the course of this week, we noted with interest the coverage of sustainable agriculture's historic first appearance in Chinese national policy with the inclusion of "eco-agriculture". The market has also taken note, with publicly listed green fertilizer companies benefitting most. Beyond sustainability, the Document signals significant shifts in China's agricultural commodities pricing system and increased investment in agriculture logistics (especially China's cold chain) to improve the safety of fresh food products. 

[smartagriculture]

Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping, then China's Vice President, chats with Iowa corn and soybean farmer Rick Kimberly in the cab of his John Deere tractor. This picture was taken during Xi's diplomatic tour of the U.S. in 2012, by which time his ascension to the presidency was considered by many to be already all but guaranteed.

[smartagriculture]

Vladimir Putin

President Putin learns to drive a combine harvester on a farm in western Russia.

[smartagriculture]

The Barn

The Barn, 2008

Ralph Hagen

The Barn is the story of Rory the sheep and Stan the bull and their respective daily struggles to avoid the shears and the butcher’s knife. Born in 1959, Hagen grew up always wanting to be a cartoonist, but none of his work was accepted by a syndicate until The Barn in 2008. Rory’s hyperactive naiveté makes a perfect foil for Stan’s lazy sarcasm, and (usually to Stan’s feigned dismay) the two routinely find themselves having to stick together to stay alive.

With that, our week of ag-themed comics comes to an end. Check back in on Monday to see what next week will bring, and don’t forget to sign up for SAA's free weekly newsletter at eepurl.com/qcfFf.

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Orson's Place

Orson’s Place, 1986

Jim Davis

It’d be a crime if we had a week full of ag-themed comics and didn’t include Orson the pig. Orson’s Place, also known as U.S. Acres, was created by Jim Davis in the 80s as a spinoff of Garfield. Davis grew up on a small farm with 25 cats, so it’s no mystery where his inspiration for Garfield and Orson came from. 

Anyone who grew up on a farm knows that hay bales are a versatile source of entertainment.

[smartagriculture]

The Far Side

The Far Side, 1983

Gary Larson

“Boneless Chicken Ranch”

Gary Larson’s comics are well known for their humorous and often bizarre takes on everyday life. Many of Larson’s panels contain anthropomorphized animals, often depicted with superhuman intelligence. One particularly tenacious recurring character in Larson’s animal lineup is the cow:

Although commonly seen as one of the world’s more mundane animals, cows in The Far Side are often shown plotting against their oblivious human overlords. One interesting fact: the ubiquity of animals in The Far Side is attributed by some to Larson’s background as a cruelty investigator for the Humane Society. Either way, his hilarious depictions of farm life have earned him a sure spot in our week of ag-themed comics.

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Closer than we think

Closer than we think, March 30, 1958

Arthur Radebaugh

“Much of Old MacDonald’s farm can be run by radio-controlled push buttons. A floating tower will oversee a swarm of robot implements and tractors operated by electronic command.”

With the benefit of hindsight, past visions of the future can often seem laughable. But Arthur Radebaugh’s work has transcended the kitsch to become iconic of mid-20th century American futurism. In fact, while the details in most of Radebaugh’s predictions didn’t quite hit the mark, many of the larger trends he predicted reveal an undeniable knack for precognition. In the above panel, first published in the Chicago Tribune on March 30, 1958, Radebaugh predicted a nearly completely automated farming system. Who would have thought some of the technologies we see today in mechanization and automation in agriculture were imagined 50 years ago by a newspaper comic artist?

Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for the boulder-sized tomatoes foreseen by Radebaugh in another panel:

Let’s look even further back. In 1922, Science and Invention magazine published this image of how they imagined electricity would revolutionize farming.

Except for the electric farm vehicles (which, arguably, are on their way in), it looks like a pretty accurate representation of an electrified farm system - all the more impressive considering that only 3% of American farms had electricity in 1922.