AgClips
Recent AgClips
EPA rejects petition to revoke chlorpyrifos tolerances
Agri-Pulse | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Federal NewsThe Environmental Protection Agency has decided to continue allowing the use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos, stating that the science surrounding human health effects is too uncertain to justify its own proposed ban on food tolerances. The agency announced the decision late today, two days ahead of a court-ordered deadline.
Hardees rejects 'antibiotic free' chicken label for 'no antibiotics" label
Watt Ag Net | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Food NewsI’ve grown accustomed to paying close attention to the exact phrasing in press releases whenever a restaurant company announces a change regarding things such as antibiotic use, cages in egg production and slower-growing broiler chickens.
DFA reports record profits
Dairy Farmers pf America | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsDairy Farmers of America (DFA) officials reported net income of $131.8 million, compared to $94.1 million of net income for 2015. The increase was attributable to higher sales volumes, overall operating efficiencies and lower commodity input costs. The record earnings were also buoyed by the acquisition of the remaining 50 percent equity interest in DairiConcepts, a manufacturer of cheese, dairy ingredients and dairy flavor systems with eight facilities across the United States. DFA’s net sales totaled $13.5 billion for 2016, compared to $13.8 billion in 2015.
Why utilities don't think Trump will stop the clean energy transition
Utility Drive | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Energy NewsToday, President Trump is poised to release a long-anticipated executive order to roll back the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s signature climate initiative. The order is expected to be accompanied by directives to lift a moratorium on federal land coal leases and to cease the use of the social cost of carbon — all part of a broad campaign to dismantle environmental regulations on the power sector that Trump blames for the decline of the coal economy in the United States. But while rescinding the rules could help slow coal power’s decline in the short term, analysts say it is
Missouri legislature approves bill raising fines for herbicide drift damage
Southeast Missourian | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsMissouri lawmakers gave final approval to a bill increasing fines for illegal use of herbicides resulting in damage to other farmers’ crops. The Missouri House passed the bill Thursday in a vote of 139-18.The bill, HB 662, already had passed the Senate. It now goes to Gov. Eric Greitens, and if he signs it, will go into effect immediately.Chemical company Monsanto developed herbicides containing dicamba and dicamba-resistant seeds, the Southeast Missourian reported in January.
Birch tree bandits cut and run in Minnesota and Wisconsin
Star Tribune | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Rural NewsThieves are illegally cutting down thousands of birch trees in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin to make a quick buck off city dwellers who love the paper-white logs, limbs and twigs in their home decor. The thefts have caught county sheriffs and state natural resource officials by surprise over the past few months, sending them scrambling to determine how big the problem is and how to keep it from getting worse.
Ag groups, EPA settle CAFO lawsuit on personal data access
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Federal NewsA federal district court in Minnesota has approved the dismissal and settlement of a lawsuit that agricultural groups filed to limit the amount of data that the Environmental Protection Agency can release on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), according to court documents. The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) sued in 2013 after the EPA released extensive personal information on more than 100,000 CAFO operators in 29 states and was prepared to release the same on farmers in six other states.
What’s the Deal with Dicamba and 2,4D Drift in the News?
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsAll producers should be aware of the new “Flag the Technology” program. This is a field-marking program designed to prevent the misapplication of herbicides and to ensure applicators are aware of nearby sensitive crops. Essentially, producers should mark all fields with a colored flag. The different colors correspond with the specific trait technology planted in that field. Red flags, for example, signify conventional varieties with no herbicide technology traits and sensitive crops like grapes, vegetables, or organic fields.
Rural America enters 2017 with fewer jobs than in 2016
Daily Yonder | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in Rural NewsRural America lost jobs in 2016, according to a Daily Yonder analysis of federal jobs data, as the growth in employment continued to concentrate in the nation’s largest cities. Eight out of 10 jobs created in 2016 were in the 51 metropolitan areas of a million people or more. These giant urban areas gained 1.2 million jobs between January 2016 and January of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In rural counties, there are nearly 90,000 fewer jobs this January than in the same month a year ago. Blue counties are in metropolitan areas and gained jobs.
N.D. wind energy bill seeking compromises
Bismarck Tribune | Posted onApril 3, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe wind energy bill passed by the North Dakota House is an effective compromise, according to Rep. Mike Brandenburg, R-Edgeley. “It’s kind of a meeting in the middle,” he said, referring to. “If everybody agrees, and the township and county agree, it (a wind farm) can be built right.”Senate Bill 2313, as originally written and passed by the Senate, created a reclamation and restoration program for abandoned wind farm sites within the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and set minimum setbacks between planned wind turbines and properties that are not part of the wind farm project.