AgClips
Recent AgClips
Why farmers only get 7.8 cents of every dollar Americans spend on food
The Washington Post | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in Agriculture NewsFor every dollar consumers spend on food, only 7.8 cents goes to farmers — a record low that reflects shifts in how Americans eat, according to the Department of Agriculture. Where once consumers cooked most of their meals at home, they’re now buying just as many at cafes and restaurants. And while shoppers were once content to husk their own corn and slice their own apples, they now buy those foods — and thousands of others — pre-husked, pre-sliced and otherwise processed.
Tyson Foods Makes Another Investment in Lab-Grown Meat
Bloomberg | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in Food NewsTyson Foods Inc., the largest meatpacker in the U.S., is co-leading a $2.2 million seed investment in an Israeli startup that aims to affordably produce meat from animal cells, without the need to raise or harvest livestock.
EU proposes to cut farm subsidies, France says unacceptable
Reuters | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe European Commission proposed to reduce farm subsidies and leave more latitude to member states under the bloc’s Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), drawing swift condemnation from France, which called the move “unthinkable”.
Trump proposes easing oil, gas leasing restrictions in West
KRQE | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in Energy NewsThe Trump administration wants to ease restrictions on oil and gas leasing and other activities across a huge swath of the American West that were put in place to protect an imperiled bird. The move involves conservation plans for greater sage grouse approved in 2015 under former President Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has vowed to increase U.S.
Plastic problem: What one tiny Iowa town did to combat it, and how yours ranks
Des Moines Register | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe message that plastic increasingly fills waste landfills and oceans peaked this spring, as Earth Month in April focused on plastic pollution. In recent years, some states have restricted the use of plastic bags. Other cities across the U.S. have banned plastic straws. It’s not the case in Iowa. Last year, it became Iowa law that cities and counties were barred from banning plastic bags.
Half of NY's farm labor is here illegally, official says
Syracuse.com | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in Agriculture NewsHalf of New York's farm labor force is in the U.S. without documentation, New York's Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball estimated. Ball said immigration raids on farms throughout the state are creating a labor crisis that could close hundreds of farms and keep food from making its way to grocery stores and kitchen tables. "It's a large number, which should point us toward the fact that we need to stop kicking the ball down the field and deal with it," Ball said in an interview with Syracuse.com/NYUP.com Tuesday.
Bayer clears path to clinch Monsanto acquisition by divesting more to BASF
C&EN | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in Agriculture NewsBayer has agreed to sell a second tranche of agrochemicals and seeds businesses to BASF for $2 billion. The move should enable Bayer to satisfy European Union competition rules and complete its $63.5 billion deal to acquire Monsanto—first announced in September 2016—by July.Bayer already agreed in October 2017 to sell significant parts of its seed and pesticides business to BASF for $7 billion in a bid to satisfy EU regulations.
How to Do Direct Farm Marketing Right
Growing Produce | Posted onMay 3, 2018 in News“The breakdown is 50% [of what we grow] is sold through the on-farm market, and 30% is at a local farmers market that we attend three nights a week, May through October. Only 20% is sold wholesale from our farm,” says Mike Janoski, third-generation family farmer. Janoski supervises some 30 able hands (10 of them family members, including sons, wives, nephews, and nieces) that help bring in annual gross revenues that hover around $3 million. Selling 80% of crops grown on 200 acres through only two outlets takes skill. The farm market isn’t huge.
In Rural Areas Hit Hard by Opioids, a New Source of Hope
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onMay 2, 2018 in Rural NewsLike many rural areas in the United States, central and southern Delaware had no place for people to get withdrawal management services before the Harrington clinic opened in 2015. It quickly saw there was high demand. When the center looked for money to expand, it found an unexpected partner: the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Using a $1 million low-interest loan from the agency, the center is adding space for counseling, family therapy and primary care.
Bill to Create Urban Agriculture Zones Passes Illinois House
WTTW | Posted onMay 2, 2018 in NewsA bill aimed at breaking up food deserts in Chicago and other cities by establishing “urban agriculture zones” moved forward last week in Springfield. The legislation, introduced last year by state Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, passed the Illinois House on Wednesday by a vote of 86-22, with affirmative votes from 65 Democrats and 21 Republicans. House Bill 3418 now moves on to the Illinois Senate, where it awaits a second reading. Harper said she introduced the bill in part because of her upbringing in West Englewood, where residents lack access to healthy, affordable food. Harper s