AgClips
Recent AgClips
Poultry Company to Pay for Well Drilling Amid Water Concerns
US News and World Report | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Agriculture NewsAn executive with the poultry processing company in Delaware that's been cited for spraying wastewater with excessive nitrate levels onto nearby fields says Mountaire Farms is willing to pay for drilling deep wells for concerned property owners.
Gene edited crops should be exempted from GM food laws, says EU lawyer
The Guardian | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Agriculture NewsGene editing technologies should be largely exempted from EU laws on GM food, although individual states can regulate them if they choose, the European court’s advocate general has said. The opinion may have far-reaching consequences for new breeding techniques that can remove specific parts of a plant’s genetic code and foster herbicide-resistant traits.Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in the technology, which could be subject to labelling, authorisation and safety checks, if the court decides it falls under the EU’s GM legislation later this year.
'Entire aisles are empty': Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages
Business Insider | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Food NewsWhole Foods employees say stores are suffering from food shortages because of a newly implemented inventory-management system called order-to-shelf, or OTS. Whole Foods says the system reduces unnecessary inventory, lowers costs, and frees up employees to focus on customer service.Employees acknowledge that less food is spoiling in storage rooms, but they describe OTS as a "militaristic" system that crushes morale and leads to many items being out of stock."Last week, we ran out of onions and potatoes twice," an employee of a Brooklyn Whole Foods store said.
EIA Expects Total U.S. Fossil Fuel Production to Reach Record Levels in 2018 and 2019
Oil Voice | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Energy NewsIn its January 2018 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that total fossil fuels production in the United States will average almost 73 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2018, the highest level of production on record. EIA expects total fossil fuel production to then set another record in 2019, with production forecast to rise to 75 quadrillion Btu.
CoBank sees mixed but improving outlook for rural America in 2018
Agri-Pulse | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Rural NewsA new report from CoBank has some good news and bad news for the farm economy in 2018. The co-op bank’s Knowledge Exchange Division projects an expanding global economy, strong U.S. consumer confidence and persistent economic recovery in many rural areas. However, it also forecasts another year of belt-tightening due to “lingering stress” from low commodity prices.“The rural economy is uniquely impacted by what happens in Washington, the broader U.S. economy and around the world,” says Dan Kowalski, vice president of CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division.
Grain elevators desperate for tax bill fix
Agri-Pulse | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Agriculture, Federal NewsKey senators are scrambling to rework a benefit for farmer cooperatives that was created by the new tax law, and the fix couldn’t come soon enough for owners of private elevators like Doug Bell. The co-op provision was meant to replace the cooperatives’ Section 199 deduction that the law repealed, but tax experts say that the new deduction is so lucrative that farmers will have a strong incentive to sell to a co-op rather than a privately owned or publicly held grain buyer.
Low temperatures spell trouble for winter wheat
KSN | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe extreme cold has been frustrating for many, but for some farmers, it’s a disaster. “It’s gotten so cold that the ground is actually freezing,” said Lakin farmer Kyler Millershaski.On his western Kansas fields, he’s seeing warning signs of winter kill.“The ground is actually shrinking, so you’ve got these cracks going down. The down side is that just causes the ground to dry out more.” Four months ago, September was a rainy month, and things looked great for Millershaski’s wheat.“It never rained since we planted it, so in the last three months, we haven’t gotten any measurable moisture.
More genes are active in high-performance corn
Phys.org | Posted onJanuary 20, 2018 in Agriculture NewsWhen two maize inbred lines are crossed with each other, an interesting effect occurs: The hybrid offspring have a significantly higher yield than either of the two parent plants. Scientists at the University of Bonn have now investigated a number of genetically distinct hybrids. They showed that the offspring had many more active genes than the original parents. These results may help in the cultivation of even higher-yielding maize varieties. They are published in the journal Current Biology.
California Dairy Farmers Seek Emergency Milk Price Increase
Ag Web | Posted onJanuary 20, 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.
MacAulay takes case for NAFTA to U.S. farmers
Manitoba Cooperator | Posted onJanuary 18, 2018 in Agriculture NewsLawrence MacAulay’s speech in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was well received by an estimated 5,000 people attending the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee Jan. 7. The bureau, the United States’ largest farm organization, also supports NAFTA.“My message to you this morning is the Government of Canada is committed to working with you to strengthen Canada-U.S.