AgClips
Recent AgClips
Rhode Island to buy farms to help new farmers
Swiowa New Source | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsRhode Island is launching a program to buy farms and sell them to new farmers for dirt cheap. A farm bought for $500,000, for example, could then be sold for $100,000. It is an unconventional approach to ensure that farming remains viable. Under the program, the state will buy a farm at the full appraised value, which takes into account the land's worth if it was developed. The state will then resell the farm at the agricultural appraised value, which is its worth solely as a farm. That is typically 20 percent of the full value, Ayars said.
Webinar April 9th on Dairy Margin Protection Program Changes
Dairy Herd Management | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsSignificant changes to the Margin Protection Program for dairy producers were made in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The Farm Service Agency has recently announced new implementation rules to accommodate the changes. Mark Stephenson and Andrew Novakovic, dairy economists with the University of Wisconsin and Cornell University, respectively, will conduct a webinar Monday, April 9th, at 1 p.m. Eastern, to walk you through these changes and to assess impacts on producers who participate.
Wall Street hit by trade war fears
BBC | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture, Federal NewsChina said it would place 25% trade tariffs on 106 US goods, including soybeans, aircraft and orange juice.The tit-for-tat action comes hours after Washington detailed about 1,300 Chinese products it intended to hit with tariffs - also set at 25%.Wall Street opened sharply lower, but regained ground by mid-day.After starting down more than 400 points or 1.75%, the Dow was only down by about 0.6% by late morning.
Tree Defender proves to be a highly effective, profitable weapon against citrus greening
PR Newswire | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe Tree Defender was originally created by growers for growers to provide an immediate solution to citrus greening by preventing psyllids from infecting trees. Having been in the field now for over three years, Tree Defender can still confidently say that no psyllid has yet to be found on any tree being covered by their protective, breathable screen.The goal is to use Tree Defender to protect young trees from psyllids and greening during their first two years as they are in a vegetative and growing state.
EPA's Back-Door RFS Waiver?
DTN | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Federal NewsThe Environmental Protection Agency has opened its own "back-door waiver" to the Renewable Fuel Standard by granting retroactive exemptions to RFS obligations to more than a dozen small refiners, including some that are part of highly-profitable refining conglomerates. I smell a rat. I smell a rat," said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois who studies the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Pork Tariffs Sour Industry Outlook
Farm Doc Daily | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe 2018 outlook early this year was for modest profitability. Now, it has shifted to losses. The reasons are clear. Higher costs and lost exports as China has implemented a 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork that goes into effect today, April 2, 2018. Several forces are driving costs higher, but feed is the primary culprit. Since the start of the year, corn futures are about 27 cents per bushel higher and soybean meal futures are about $55 per ton higher. This means that feed cost are nearly $3 per live hundredweight higher.
Delaware County officials end fight against 10,000-hog farm
Daily Herald | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsOfficials in a central Indiana county are dropping their fight against a proposed 10,000-hog farm after threats of legal action since a state agency has approved the project. The Delaware County commissioner had put a hold on building permits for the farm in the northern part of the county. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management recently approved plans for the confined animal feeding operation. That's despite concerns from residents over possible well water pollution and the farm field application of manure produced in the site's four barns.
Livestock – More Dangerous Than Mountain Lions, Poisonous Snakes, or Stinging Insects
On Pasture | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Rural NewsCattle and horses account for 90% of all animal-related deaths in the United States, and that number hasn’t changed since the last time researchers collected this data in 2007. Jared Forrester, M.D., the lead investigator for the study covering fatalities from venomous and nonvenomous animals from 2008-2015 says that learning more about deaths due to animals in farm environments would help target practices that would prevent these deaths.
Yeast engineered to manufacture complex medicine
Science Daily | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsBioengineers have figured out a way to make noscapine, a non-narcotic cough suppressant that occurs naturally in opium poppies, in brewer's yeast.
Legalized medical cannabis lowers opioid use, study finds
Science Daily | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Rural NewsU.S. states that have approved medical cannabis laws saw a dramatic reduction in opioid use, according to a new study.