AgClips
Recent AgClips
Urban poultry needs more regulation to protect human and animal health
WTOP | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsColorado has received a lot of attention recently as one of the first states to allow recreational marijuana, but it’s also legalizing other things. Denver, one of the nation’s hottest urban real estate markets, is surrounded by municipalities that allow backyard chicken flocks. This isn’t just happening in Colorado. Backyard chickens are cropping up everywhere. Nearly 1 percent of all U.S. households surveyed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported owning backyard fowl in 2013, and 4 percent more planned to start in the next five years.
Rural Georgia wins big as session ends
Union Recorder | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThis legislative session gave rural Georgia micro hospitals, a new health care-focused think tank and a sizable down payment on economic development initiatives tailored for the state’s beleaguered small towns.
Ex-governor: State’s appeal of culvert order incites ‘social unrest’
Capital Press | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsFormer Washington Gov. Dan Evans accused the state in a court document Monday of stirring up social unrest by appealing an order to replace fish-blocking culverts. Seattle lawyer Joe Mentor Jr. submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the 92-year-old Evans. The brief supports 21 Western Washington Indian tribes that sued to remove the culverts and restore salmon habitat.
USDA Prioritizes Investments to Address Opioid Crisis in Rural America
DRG News | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Federal, Rural NewsAssistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is giving funding priority in two key grant programs to address opioid misuse in rural communities. “The opioid epidemic is dramatically impacting prosperity in many small towns and rural places across the country,” Hazlett said.
Missouri Attorney General defends states’ sovereign, economic interests
Farm Futures | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsIn requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to accept its complaint in the California cage size case, Missouri’s Attorney General states, “Unless this Court acts, California will continue to impose new agricultural regulations on other states in violation of federal law and those States’ sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and economic interests…”.
Milk production increases in the West
Capital Press | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Agriculture NewsUniversity of Wisconsin economists say milk production seems to be trending westward while slowing in the Northeast and Midwest.
U.S. Census Is Not About Citizenship
Bloomberg | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Federal NewsAs former secretaries of Commerce, with direct oversight of the U.S. Census Bureau, we have grave concerns about the proposed addition of a citizenship question to the decennial census in 2020. If included, this question will put in jeopardy the accuracy of the data that the census collects, and increase costs. The census should not be a partisan issue. Mandated under the U.S. Constitution, the census requires the actual enumeration of all persons in the United States, not simply all citizens. In fact, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld this system of counting everyone in 2016.
Honolulu leads the nation in installed solar capacity per capita
Biz Journal | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Energy NewsHawaii's state capital has nearly three times as much solar PV per capita as the next leading city, San Diego, California.
First Floating U.S. Wind Farm May Be Built Off California Coast
Bloomberg | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Energy NewsAn agency that leads sustainable energy efforts for cities and counties along the state’s Redwood Coast chose a consortium of companies -- including Energias de Portugal SA’s EDPR Offshore North America LLC and Principle Power Inc. -- to build a floating wind farm that may generate as much as 150 megawatts of power.
Ohio farmers reminded of manure application regs
Farm and Dairy | Posted onApril 5, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsNew measures signed into law by Gov. John R. Kasich in 2015 clarified and enhanced the restrictions on manure application within the Western Lake Erie Basin.