AgClips
Recent AgClips
New York to spend $2.2M to help farms reduce impact on climate
SYracuse.com | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsNew York state is investing money in nearly three dozen local farms to help them curb carbon emissions and prepare for climate change. The office of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the state will spend $2.2 million on the program, now in its fourth year.The money will go to 34 farms around the state. The program is intended to fund efforts to make farms more water and energy efficient, and to help them prepare for droughts or severe weather.Some farms will spend the money on cover crops to prevent erosion and suck up carbon.
Coal continues to decline in Wyoming
High Country News | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Energy NewsThe future of Wyoming coal looks bleak: In late March, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that demand will stay flat for several decades. Last year, companies withdrew applications for 901 million tons of coal in the Powder River Basin. In December, Contura Energy sold two Powder River Basin mines for just $21 million, the amount of taxes it owes the state. And this winter, power-plant owners in Colstrip, facing eventual plant closure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promised the coal-dependent town $13 million to help its economy transition beyond coal.
Trump made US dairy access to Canada a big issue, but NAFTA 2.0 may bring only 'marginal' concessions from Ottawa
CNBC | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Federal NewsWith a preliminary NAFTA deal reportedly near, attention is turning to how it could potentially affect U.S. agriculture. Canada's dairy market is protected by high tariffs and has been a key bone of contention, but experts expect only "marginal" concessions from Ottawa. There's also an anti-dumping provision aimed at Mexico that has been sought by Florida specialty crop producers but analysts say it could ignite trade retaliation.
EPA removes 'international priorities' page from site
The Hill | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Energy, Federal NewsThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) removed an "international priorities" page from its website in December, according to a report released this week by the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI).
Veterinarians want data, targets for antimicrobial use
AVMA | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Agriculture NewsVeterinarians in North America and Europe are under pressure to reduce antimicrobial administration on swine farms. Determining which uses are judicious and measuring outcomes are difficult, according to speakers at a March 3-6 meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians in San Diego. They described challenges related to collecting data that could be used to set policy and link changes in antimicrobial use with outcomes in prevalence of drug resistance, as well as those related to policymaking swayed more by opinion than research.Dr.
Dogs cannot get ‘autism’, British Veterinary Association warns after ‘anti-vaxx’ movement spread to pets
The Telegraph | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in NewsDogs cannot get ‘autism’, the British Veterinary Association has warned, after the ‘anti-vaccine’ movement spread to pets. 'Anti-vaxxers' believe that immunisations have harmful side effects and may be the cause of autism in children - beliefs widely debunked by the medical community.This theory is increasingly being applied to pets, particularly in the US, and there are fears it is spreading to the UK and could cause already low vaccination rates to fall.
Several States Move to Ban Sales of Pets in Stores
US News and World Report | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsHow much is that doggie in the window? That question may become just an old song title instead of a hopeful customer inquiry, if a trend continues against selling certain animals in pet stores.Maryland recently became the second state to ban retail pet stores from selling puppies and kittens, a move supporters of the legislation say will help discourage “puppy mills” that breed dogs in inhumane conditions and euthanize the animals when they are no longer able to breed.
Ohio Gov. Kasich charting new direction on Lake Erie, water quality
Farm and Dairy | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Kasich administration and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency are poised to take a stronger regulatory approach to cleaning up the state’s waters, including the open waters of Lake Erie. Three weeks after declaring the western portion of Lake Erie impaired, the Ohio EPA, on April 16, released a study showing “no clear trend” of a nutrient loading decrease in most of the state’s watersheds, citing agriculture and other nonpoint sources as the main contributor.
Rural Lands At Risk As Ranchers Prepare For Retirement
NPR | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Rural NewsOutside of Cheyenne, Wyoming is an 8,900-acre former ranch where cattle and horses once roamed. Now it's just open land with nothing but grass. When the owner passed away he didn't have a succession plan. With no obvious heirs, a family member sold it. It eventually became subdivided and a realty company now advertises it for redevelopment primarily as retirement or vacation properties.
Snap cuts will hurt rural dispropotionately
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 1, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe House Agriculture Committee’s version of the farm bill would strip billions in nutrition benefits from American families, rural residents are more likely than metropolitan ones to be participating in the program. Conventional Beltway wisdom is that farm bills pass Congress with relative ease from a rare bipartisan coalition of rural legislators delivering farm programs for their constituencies while urban legislators gain nutrition assistance and food aid in the cities.