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Recent AgClips

MN:Buffer strips ahead of deadline; Dayton opposes big changes to law

Park Rapids Enterprise | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni News

Landowners are making good progress toward complying with Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton's signature water-quality law, leaving the governor firmly opposed to any legislative attempts to delay or revoke the new standards. There are bills working their way through the Legislature that would delay or weaken the buffer law that passed in 2015 with bipartisan support. Dayton has promised to veto those bills if they reach his desk. Rep.


Wages rise on California farms. Americans still don’t want the job

Los Angeles Times | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Agriculture News

Before the day was through, Solorio would make the same pitch to dozens of men and women, approaching a taco truck, a restaurant and a homeless encampment. Time was short: He needed to find 100 workers to fill his ranks by April 1, when grapevines begin to grow and need constant attention. Solorio is one of a growing number of agricultural businessmen who say they face an urgent shortage of workers. The flow of labor began drying up when President Obama tightened the border. Now President Trump is promising to deport more people, raid more companies and build a wall on the southern border.


If migrant labor for U.S. agriculture is cut off, we’ll all be importing food instead

Idaho Statesman | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Food News

Eno came by the other day to visit. He leaned against his pickup in the driveway as he talked. He and his family had worked on our farm, starting in the 1990s and up until a few years ago. Both Eno and his wife studied and memorized all kinds of facts related to U.S. history, presidents and the Constitution in order to become citizens.


Judge tosses Iowa Water Works case

Agriculture.com | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni News

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) against three drainage districts in Northwest Iowa, prompting a huge sigh of relief from many in the agriculture sector. The claim, citing the federal Clean Water Act, was dismissed for lack of standing considering the drainage districts’ limited status under Iowa law. U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Strand for the Northern District of Iowa, held that the state legislature was the proper venue to address issue.


NAFTA showdown pits cars against cows

Toronto Sun | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Federal News

It’s cars versus cows.  The NAFTA showdown between Canada and the United States will pit the interests of the automotive industry and other exporters against protected sectors like dairy, telecommunications, airlines and banks, Carleton University Associate Professor Ian Lee said.“You can bet that those four industries will shamelessly invoke Canadian nationalism to protect their own greed, their own private interests,” Lee said.


More delay for Produce Safety Rule as industry balks over water testing

Food Safety News | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Federal News

Water testing standards that are a key part of the produce safety requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are undergoing a quiet review that could extend the compliance date for the Produce Safety Rule beyond January 2018.  Produce industry leaders learned  in mid-February during a meeting with U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials led by acting FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff that they’d be getting the review with the likely delay in compliance.


Agriculture has a Communications Issue

Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Agriculture News

The way farmers communicate with consumers is changing. For far too long, farmers have been apprehensive to talk about what they do, but Dr. Emily Buck, associate professor at The Ohio State University, says that approach is no longer working. “We are in an age today that consumers want to understand farming,” Buck stated. “And the way we are built we’ve just never really done that, so there’s a need for us to start telling those stories and sharing what we do on a daily basis because people don’t get a chance to see the things we see and why we do the things we do.”


Return of the grizzly?

High Country News | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Rural News

The draft plan, currently under public comment, offers four alternatives for recovery, with the aim of one day achieving a population of 200 grizzlies. They range from taking no action to augmenting the population with transplanted bears from northwestern Montana and/or south-central British Columbia. One would see the initial translocation of 10 closely monitored bears with the intention of reaching 200 within 60 to 100 years. Another would move in five to seven bears per year for up to a decade. And an expedited approach could lead to 200 bears in a mere 25 years.


Latest: Gray wolves delisted in Wyoming

High Country News | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Rural News

In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced endangered gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, and they soon spread throughout the Northern Rockies. After a series of lawsuits, in 2011 Congress delisted wolves in Montana, Idaho and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah. (“How the gray wolf lost its endangered status— and how enviros helped,” HCN, 6/6/11). In Wyoming, wolves remained listed until 2012, when they came under state management. Conservation groups sued, and federal protection was restored in 2014.


California wants to give dispirited federal workers a job

High Country News | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni News

A young lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency had a heavy feeling as he headed to work one morning last week. Like many EPA staffers, he’s been distraught over the steady stream of negative news about the Trump administration’s plans for his agency and what it all means for his future. That morning the White House had released its budget proposal, calling on Congress to cut 31 percent of the EPA’s budget, more than 50 programs and 3,200 of the agency’s 15,000 employees.


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