AgClips
Recent AgClips
Electronic logging device rule could hurt livestock industry
Ag Week | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Agriculture NewsTruckers hauling livestock have received a 90-day waiver from the Electronic Logging Device, or ELD, mandate, but the industry is hoping for a longer-term solution.The rule went into effect on Dec. 18 for most operators, but the U.S. Department of Transportation delayed the regulation for those transporting livestock until mid-March.The new regulations require certain drivers to install Electronic Logging Devices on their trucks. Also included are hours of service restrictions on truckers, limiting them to 11 hours of driving daily, after 10 hours off duty.
FDA releases guidance on FSMA 'enforcement discretion'
Meat + Poultry | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in NewsThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidance detailing four provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) the agency won’t enforce. In a statement, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb explained that the agency intends to exercise “enforcement discretion” in four FSMA rules while the agency addresses issues that have made implementation of the food safety law problematic for industry stakeholders.
Rural areas short on workers turn to overseas professionals
High Country News | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Rural NewsCherie Taylor, CEO at Northern Rockies Medical Center in Cut Bank, Montana, currently has four Filipino nurses on her staff. The rural health facility employs a total of 12 full-time registered nurses, which includes 10 floor nurses and two nursing administrative positions. “We have a national registered nurse shortage and all the U.S. nurses cannot fill the vacancies,” Taylor says.
Can rural towns stem the trend of population decline?
High Country News | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Rural News“I’m really into formulas,” says Choteau Area Port Authority board member Blair Patton. “People who are successful know the formula. You do not have a successful small community accidentally. There is a focused, purposeful action that leads into that.” The downward population trend and the loss of school-age children and jobs that support families are forcing Choteau and other rural Montana communities to think strategically about confronting and reversing these declines.The Choteau community has been proactive through the years.
How to turn a struggling small town around
High Country News | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Rural NewsThis story is the first installment of a three-part series focusing on the challenges and solutions for affordable housing in Boulder, Montana.rom that work came ten goals and strategies for implementing those goals.
The ‘scenery economy’ reinvigorates a Montana town
High Country News | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Rural NewsAs the holiday season gets its start on a clear morning in late November, Main Street here looks like something out of a Hallmark movie. A window washer cleans down storefronts along blocks of historic brick buildings — a candy store, a microbrewery, coffee shops, restaurants, antique stores. Wreaths hang off ornate light posts. The surrounding hills are scattered with snow. Banners hung from windows and balconies celebrate the high school football team, the Titans, which has won a state 8-man class championship the previous weekend. This was a much different scene a quarter century ago.
World Food Prize protesters get $50,000 payout after being shunted out of sight
Des Moines Register | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Food NewsIowa taxpayers will pay a $50,000 settlement to end a lawsuit filed by anti-GMO activists who claim state officials violated their First Amendment rights.
City’s synthetic pesticide ban not based on science
Portland Press Herald | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe synthetic pesticide ban recently approved by the Portland City Council may create an “organic” city, but it won’t create a green city or a beautiful city. The people of Portland may like ticks, mosquitoes and flies. They are excellent food for birds and fish. Rather than tidy green lawns and colorful gardens, yards can be paved or gravel. They won’t need synthetic pesticides, but you can’t paint them green because you’ll need synthetic paint!As a scientist, I find it disappointing that the City Council voted based upon emotion and scare tactics by activists rather than scientific data.
ow gene editing can revolutionize feeding the world
Agri-Pulse | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe outcomes possible with different types of precision breeding today might have seemed impossible just a few decades ago and these new opportunities have strong implications for both producers and consumers.
Dairy outlook not promising for 2018
edairynews | Posted onJanuary 17, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe short-term dairy outlook for 2018 appears grim as prices are expected to drop during the first quarter before rebounding in the second half of the year.Mark Stephenson, said “The (low) 2018 milk price is going to feel a whole lot like 2016 was,” he said. “It’s one of the longest price cycles we’ve ever had. It’s not brutal in its depth, but brutal in its length.” Stephenson described the situation as a “long scrape” as opposed to a deep cut.