AgClips
Recent AgClips
Consumers love meat, want to ban slaughterhouses
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Agriculture NewsWhile more than 90 percent of U.S. consumers eat meat at least occasionally, nearly half (47 percent) of respondents in a recent survey agreed with the statement, “I support a ban on slaughterhouses.”
WTO rules in favor of US in poultry dispute with China
Watt Ag Net | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled in favor of the United States, determining that China had failed to comply with an earlier ruling and faulting them for antidumping and countervailing duties imposed on U.S. chicken imports. With the latest ruling, China will be expected to lower its duties, unless it files an appeal within 20 days.The ruling is the latest development in the trade dispute that dates back to 2010 when China first implemented the antidumping duties of up to 105.4 percent, and anti-subsidy duties of up to 30.3 percent, according to a report from Reuters.
Are farmers successfully managing their farm debt?
High Plains Journal | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe nation’s farms are in a “new farm crisis” as Kansas State University experts put it during the Cover Your Acres Conference on Jan. 17 in Oberlin, Kansas. And, as Zerr and others in attendance would soon learn from the variety of speakers, it could be another crucial year as farmers battle to turn a profit—especially the ones struggling to make payments on their rising debt. Some financial woes are so deep that economists like Mark Wood questioned whether these farmers can stay in business.
California to sue Trump administration for repeal of fracking rules
Reuters | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Energy NewsCalifornia’s attorney general said the state plans to sue the Trump administration over its repeal of Obama-era rules meant to address public safety concerns in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on federal lands. The federal government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2015, under Democratic President Barack Obama, issued rules that would have required companies to provide data on chemicals used in fracking and to take steps to prevent leakage from oil and gas wells on federally-owned land.
Food leads the manufacturing pack in Southern Nevada
Las Vegas Review Journal | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Food, Rural NewsNevada’s manufacturing industry is heating up. But it’s not the type of manufacturing you might think. “It’s a multi-step process. Corn is cooked, washed and ground, then pressed out into tortilla chip shapes,” said Allan Perkins, director of manufacturing at Las Vegas tortilla chip manufacturer R.W. Garcia. “They are first baked at about 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Then they are lightly fried in corn or sunflower oil at about 330 degrees Fahrenheit.”Perkins said R.W.
Feds tell Maine: You can’t ban food stamp recipients from buying sugary drinks, candy
Portland Press Herald | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsFor the second time in less than two years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has denied a request by Gov. Paul LePage to ban food stamp recipientsfrom using their benefits to buy sugary drinks and candy. His spokeswoman, Julie Rabinowitz, said Friday that the administration would “revise our waiver request and resubmit it,” but she did not offer a timeline or specifics about what those revisions might be.In a Jan.
Maine’s supreme court says state cannot deny food stamps to eligible asylum seekers
Portland Press Herald | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Food NewsMaine’s top court has ruled that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services was wrong to deny food stamp benefits to asylum seekers who had been cleared to work but had yet to find a job. In a 13-page decision issued Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of Euphrem Manirakiza, a Burundian immigrant who sued the state after he applied for benefits in 2015 and was then denied.
Scientists find new cellulose for producing future renewable fuels, antibiotic drugs
Xinhuanet | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Energy NewsA group of scientists with U.S. Stanford University have discovered a new type of cellulose in bacteria that could be used as a source for renewable fuels and antibiotic drugs in the future. A study by the Stanford researchers, whose findings were carried in the latest version of the journal Science, said the new modified cellulose, called pEtN, was extracted from one of the best studied bacteria -- E.
California Dairy Farmers Seek Emergency Milk Price Increase
Ag Web | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Agriculture NewsWestern United Dairymen (WUD) and the California Dairy Campaign (CDC) have petitioned the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for an emergency hearing to increase over-base milk prices by about 35¢/cwt for the next 12 months. CDFA has 15 days in which to grant or deny the petition for hearing. “The significant negative margins witnessed every quarter since January 2015 have placed many producers in a dire financial situation,” says Annie AcMoody, WUD director of economic analysis.
Hog farm fight going to MN Supreme Court
Week.com | Posted onJanuary 25, 2018 in Agriculture, Rural NewsThe fight over a patch of farmland in Goodhue County near Zumbrota is going to the Minnesota Supreme court. Concerned residents are contesting an appeals court ruling that allows construction of a proposed hog farm to go through.Opponents argue the farm would violate county zoning ordinances.