AgClips
Recent AgClips
Prospective soybean planted acres a ‘stunner’
Agrinews | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe prospective plantings report released March 29 sent ripples across the commodity trading floors and turned screens green. The U.S. Department of Agriculture report, based on farmer surveys, projected U.S. soybean planted acres of 89 million and 88 million corn acres. The USDA initially projected 90 million planted acres of both corn and soybeans in its Feb. 23 agricultural outlook forum.
Human-centered design is key to forming partnerships for large-scale conservation succes
Science Daily | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsTo recruit more fishers to help with marine conservation, cast a wider net. New findings question previous assumptions in the field that the payments themselves are the most effective motivator of participation. "Similar to the way consumers make purchasing decisions, voluntary conservation programs are value propositions," said Josh Donlan, founder and director of Advanced Conservation Strategies and co-author on the study.
Judge: Jury won’t take smell tour of North Carolina hog farm
The Seattle Times | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Agriculture NewsA federal judge says he won’t send jurors for a see-and-sniff tour of a North Carolina hog-growing operation at the center of a lawsuit claiming industrial-scale pork production causes ugly conditions. Judge W. Earl Britt ruled Monday that jurors would not get a true feel for conditions with one quick visit to a Bladen County farm growing animals for Virginia’s Smithfield Foods. Britt’s decision came as jurors were being selected for a trial that could shake the profits and change production methods of pork producers after a generation of raising hogs in confined conditions.
Home-delivered meals might reduce ER visits, study suggests
The Washington Post | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Rural NewsDelivering meals to vulnerable sick people might be a simple way to cut back on emergency room visits and hospitalizations, reining in some of the costliest kinds of medical care, according to a new Health Affairs study. Low-income seniors or disabled younger people who received home-delivered meals — particularly meals designed by a dietitian for that person's specific medical needs — had fewer emergency visits and lower medical spending than a similar group of people who did not receive meal deliveries.
The USDA says Crispr-edited foods are just as safe as ones bred the old-fashioned way
Quartz | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Food Newsthe United States Department of Agriculture announced that it would no longer regulate crops that have been genetically edited. Gene editing, which includes Crispr techniques, enables researchers and now farmers, to genetically nip and tuck the DNA of living things and sell them to consumers. This could mean editing to make plants bigger, more weather-resistant, or juicier.The USDA’s decision only applies to crops that have had some genes taken out, or which have had genes that are endemic to the species added to them.
USDA Pressed on Livestock Rules
DTN | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Federal Newshe Organization for Competitive Markets has filed a legal challenge against USDA for withdrawing a set livestock marketing rules designed to level the playing field for producers while negotiating supply contracts with larger agribusinesses. On Friday, attorneys for OCM filed a 170-page brief asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis, Missouri, to vacate USDA's actions against the rules last October. The OCM filed an appeal in February.The rules originally were drafted by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, or GIPSA.
Foxconn in Choppy Waters Over Plan to Drain the Great Lakes
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe approval of a new factory just outside the Great Lakes Basin could mark the beginning of a manufacturing revitalization that relies on draining millions of gallons of water from the lakes. It’s what Wisconsin’s government hopes for — and environmentalists fear.If given the go-ahead by Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources, electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, which is based in Taiwan, would make liquid crystal displays, more commonly known as LCDs, in a factory just outside Racine, Wisconsin.Wisconsin courted Foxconn hard.
Census Report Found 'Unprecedented' Fears About Privacy Last Year
City Lab | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Federal NewsA research scientist at the Census Bureau produced a report based on unusual findings in the field. Across a number of projects and “pretests” (or training exercises) conducted between February and September 2017, bureau researchers discovered that survey respondents who were asked questions during focus groups or sample tests were behaving in unexpected ways: They were giving false names or incorrect birthdates, leaving family members out of questionnaires, or abandoning interviews before they were finished.
USDA Issues Final Decision on California Federal Milk Marketing Order
USDA | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in Federal NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture published in the Federal Register a final decision to establish a Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) for California. The proposed FMMO would incorporate the entire state of California. The final decision is based on the evidentiary record of a public hearing held in Clovis, Calif., from September to November 2015. A recommended decision regarding the proposed program was published Feb. 14, 2017. USDA will conduct a referendum among dairy producers to determine whether they support the proposed FMMO.
State Rep. Gipson Named Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner
US News and World Report | Posted onApril 4, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsRep. Andy Gipson will succeed fellow Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith once she moves to the U.S. Senate. He will serve the rest of the current commissioner's term, which ends in January 2020.Gipson, 41, is an attorney and Baptist pastor and has been in the state House since 2008.