AgClips
Recent AgClips
Canadian beef producers applaud signature of CPTPP Agreement
Beef Producer | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in Agriculture NewsInternational Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne gathered with his counterparts from 10 other countries March 8, 2018 in Santiago, Chile to sign the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also referred to as TPP11. Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) Vice President David Haywood-Farmer, a beef farmer from Savona, British Columbia, was present to witness the signing.
Georgia legislation Proposes Steps to Improve Rural Health Care, Omits Major Coverage Solution
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsState lawmakers introduced several bills this year aiming to improve access to health care in rural Georgia. Six rural Georgia hospitals closed since 2013 and the state’s high rate of uninsured means many people in rural communities lack health coverage. The House Rural Development Council, created in 2017 to study the problem, traveled across the state last year find out how rural communities are coping with insufficient broadband connectivity, economic development, health care and other deficiencies.
Court finds Foster Farms liable for $2 million of $6.5 million salmonella verdict
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in Agriculture NewsIn a precedent-setting food safety case, an Arizona federal court jury on March 1 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 in 2013 as a result of a Salmonella Heidelberg infection from what was believed to be chicken produced by Foster Poultry Farms.
FDA report on antibiotics sold for use in “food-producing animals”
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe report has been out for a couple of months, but I am just not seeing the press that it should have generated. Is that because the never-ever, organic, cage free and anti-CAFO groups have nothing to crow about? For the very first time since FDA started tracking sales in 2009, there was a drop; and not a small one either. The sales of medically important antibiotics, those used in both human and animal health, dropped 14 percent!Shouldn't there be a headline or two about this change? And this was for the year 2016, not 2017 when Guidance 213 went into effect.
Bayer wins EU approval for $62.5 billion Monsanto buy
Reuters | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in Agriculture NewsGerman conglomerate Bayer won EU antitrust approval for its $62.5 billion buy of U.S. peer Monsanto, the latest in a trio of mega mergers that will reshape the agrochemicals industry.
Zinke brought security team to vacation in Turkey and Greece, records show
Politico | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in Federal NewsInterior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his wife took a security detail on their vacation to Greece and Turkey last year, official documents show, in what one watchdog group said could be a "questionable" use of taxpayer resources. Zinke has faced questions for months over his travel expenses and use of official resources, as have other members of President Donald Trump's administration such as EPA leader Scott Pruitt, who was revealed to have spent $30,000 on security for an official trip to Italy last year.
Congress strikes deal to add 'grain glitch' fix to omnibus
Politico | Posted onMarch 21, 2018 in Federal NewsThe $1.3 trillion government spending bill expected to be released Wednesday includes a remedy for the so-called grain glitch in the Republican tax law that gives farmers lucrative incentives to sell their products to agricultural cooperatives over other types of businesses, two House GOP aides familiar with the negotiations said.
Emmer bill would tackle farmer suicide, mental health
| Posted onMarch 19, 2018 in NewsFarming is stressful. Folks who grow food in the U.S. don't have control over the weather or the markets, and they may be isolated, said U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer. The District 6 Republican is drawing attention to farmers' mental health and a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found people in agriculture have the highest suicide rates compared to other professional groups. Emmer has sponsored a bill to support local mental health services to farmers and ranchers in the U.S.
Wendy's faces farm workers strike over sexual abuse
Newsweek | Posted onMarch 19, 2018 in Food NewsA coalition of farmworkers is locked in a battle with Wendy’s, claiming the fast food chain cut its long-term ties to Florida farms in favor of Mexican labor to avoid strict worker protections against sexual misconduct. Dozens of workers are staging a five-day hunger strike this week to call on the company to meet what they say are new industry standards at a time when the #MeToo movement is drawing new attention to sexual harassment and abuse.
Lack of broadband limits telemedicine in rural areas
Next Avenue | Posted onMarch 19, 2018 in NewsWith a computer tablet from the Center for Telehealth at the University of Mississippi, health care providers regularly monitored a rural diabetes patient’s condition. But when the patient needed to transmit data to the doctors at the center, things got complicated. “He had to get in his car and drive to the top of the hill so he could make sure he had clear communication,” said Michael Adcock, the center’s executive director. “That’s not something he should have to do. He was passionate about the program and wanted to improve his health.