AgClips
Recent AgClips
Behind a Push for New Solutions to the Complex Challenges Facing Rural America
Inside Philosphy | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Rural NewsIn places like Appalachia, the rural South, Texas, the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region, grantmakers have backed a wide variety of projects to revitalize economies, improve healthcare, and rebuild local pride of place. “Local” is the operative word, since most of those funders are based in or near the areas they serve. With over $10 billion in assets, the Lilly Endowment is a giant among them. Unlike its peers of similar size, Lilly’s prodigious giving remains focused (for the most part) on a single state, Indiana.
Trump’s Under-Radar Farm Chief Remakes Agency
Bloomberg | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Agriculture, Federal NewsPerdue is the U.S. secretary of agriculture, running an agency with a $140 billion budget and a low profile. He may be the most aggressive enforcer of President Donald Trump’s pro-business and deregulatory agenda that the fewest Americans have ever heard of.
Technology can help clean Pennsylvania's water
The Daily Item | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsNewtrient would like to commend the Pennsylvania Senate for its passage of Senate Bill 799, which will open the door for dynamic, new technologies to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, address Pennsylvania’s growing drinking water crisis and support Growing Greener initiatives. Many factors contribute to Pennsylvania’s water quality problem, including agricultural runoff from Pennsylvania’s long-standing livestock population. Livestock, however, provides viable solutions for the state’s complex water challenges.
Foster Farms responsible in Salmonella case
Meat + Poultry | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Food NewsAn Arizona federal court jury returned a verdict in the amount of $6.5 million in favor of a 5-and-a-half-year-old child who suffered a brain injury because of a Salmonella Heidelberg infection from chicken produced by Foster Poultry Farms. The jury concluded that Foster Farms was negligent in producing Salmonella Heidelberg-contaminated chicken and that, based on epidemiological and microbiological evidence alone, it caused the boy’s illness. The jury attributed 30 percent of the fault to Foster Farms and 70 percent to family members for their preparation of the chicken.
Cargill says certified sustainable beef model works
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsCargill said the first three months of its Canadian beef sustainability pilot project produced encouraging results, proving the model works and showing significant potential to scale the program to bring a greater volume of certified sustainable beef to Canadian consumers.
Trump hit with new round of immigration lawsuits
The Washington Times | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Federal NewsFrustrated with both President Trump and Congress, immigrant-rights activists increasingly are turning to the courts to try to alter the country’s immigration policies — with three new lawsuits filed on Thursday alone against the Department of Homeland Security.
Feral cats make Western Governor's list of invasive species
Fox News | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsWeeds, feral cats, insects and other pests are invading the U.S. West, and state governors released a list of the worst offenders in hopes of helping people recognize and eradicate the invaders before they spread. The Western Governors' Association cataloged the top 50 invasive species in their region, saying the pests have already caused billions of dollars in damage to agriculture and infrastructure. Some of the species on the governors' list have been in the headlines before, including water-gulping salt cedar trees and quagga mussels. Others may be surprises, such as feral cats.
NOAA Spring Flood Outlook: Moderate River flooding Likely
Weather Nation | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Agriculture NewsNOAA issued its three-month U.S. Spring Flood Outlook today, highlighting a moderate risk of flooding in the Ohio River Valley basin and lower Mississippi River where streamflows and soil moisture are well above normal after major flooding from recent heavy rainfall. Drought is forecast to persist or worsen in the southern and central Plains, Southwest and California, according to the NOAA forecast as warmer and drier-than-normal weather is likely to engulf the region this spring.
U.S. lawmakers seek overhaul of overseas food aid rules
Reuters | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Federal NewsU.S. lawmakers launched their latest effort to ease restrictions on international food assistance programs, which they say would free hundreds of millions of dollars a year and get aid to millions more hungry people around the world. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives introduced the “Food for Peace Modernization Act of 2018” which they want to include in the 2018 farm bill. Among other things, the bill would end a requirement that 100 percent of food aid commodities be produced in the United States, changing it to 25 percent.
As the organic movement fractures, farmers and food companies are redefining the standard they built
The New Food Economy | Posted onMarch 22, 2018 in Food NewsFrustrated by what they see as a continued watering down of the standards that define what foods may be labeled “organic,” Patagonia Provisions—the food business offshoot of the outdoor apparel company, organic body care and food products company Dr. Bronner’s, and the research-based Rodale Institute will begin offering a new organic certification program.