Good news reported on BIRDCHAT:

The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge today announced the highest numbers of endangered whooping cranes are wintering in Texas in approximately the last 100 years. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Whooping Crane Coordinator Tom Stehn completed a census flight on December 10th and tallied 189 whooping cranes.

posted: 5:02:34 PM  

The Economist reports that some Vietnamese coffee farmers are switching from the cheaper, lower-quality robusta to the higher-margin arabica. Good news for Vietnam, but probably bad news for Central American growers, as an increase in the arabica supply means downward pressure on the prices they receive. From the article:

At the moment, arabica accounts for less than 5% of the coffee bushes in the country. But production has doubled since 2000, according to VICOFA, the Vietnamese growers' association. Doan Trieu Nhan, VICOFA's chairman, explains that cheap labour and high productivity make Vietnam one of the world's lowest-cost producers of coffee of all varieties.

posted: 4:53:49 PM