AgClips
Recent AgClips
President's budget recommends deep cuts to rural
Daily Yonder | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Federal NewsUSDA's Rural Development, which helps provide water, power, broadband, housing, and small business loans in rural America, gets identified for deep cuts in the president's budget proposal. The proposal, which is just the first salvo in the budget battle, also recommends eliminating agencies like the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Delta Regional Authority. The proposal says Agriculture’s Rural Development programs would be cut so deeply there would be less need for staff in USDA’s Service Center offices.
Once nearly buried by medical bills, a farmer braces for insurance drought
Daily Yonder | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Federal NewsDarvin Bentlage’s health insurance plan used to be the same as all the other cattle farmers in Barton County, Mo., he said: to stay healthy until he turned 65, then get on Medicare. But when he turned 50, things did not go according to plan. “Well, I had a couple of issues,” he said.That’s putting it mildly.Over two years, he dealt with hepatitis C and diverticulitis. That was on top of his persistent kidney stones, diabetes and other health problems.“I had to go back and refinance the farm,” he said.
Blue Apron buys Niman’s BN Ranch
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Food NewsMeal kit maker Blue Apron has bought Bill Niman’s BN Ranch, a provider of sustainable, responsibly raised beef, lamb, and poultry in the United States, the company said in a news release. Niman will join the Blue April executive team as president and founder of BN Ranch.
Genetic Engineering Can Help Us Save Animals’ Lives
Futurism | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Rural NewsFrom tackling cancer to eradicating single-gene mutations, the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool is often portrayed as the eighth wonder of the world by many. We look to CRISPR regarding how it affects us as a species, but the implications of the CRISPR Cas-9 system extend far beyond just humanity.
Researchers Call Trump’s Proposed NIH Cuts ‘Shocking’
Kaiser Health News | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Federal NewsAn estimated $5.8 billion in cuts to the National Institutes of Health in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget has universities and medical institutions sounding the alarm. Trump’s spending plan — running into opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike — would cut about 20 percent of the roughly $30 billion budget of the nation’s medical research agency that supports research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Zika and other conditions.
Clearing the way to refuse prescriptions
The Kansas City Star | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe ease of relapsing into opioid addiction has led a growing number of states to help residents make it clear to medical professionals they do not want to be prescribed the powerful painkillers. Connecticut and Alaska are two of the latest considering legislation this year that would create a "non-opioid directive" patients can put in their medical files, formally notifying health care professionals they do not want to be prescribed or administered opioid medications.Legislators in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania last year voted to create similar voluntary directives.
A Staten Island Urban Farmer
The New York Times | Posted onMarch 23, 2017 in Agriculture NewsZaro Bates operates and lives on a 5,000-square-foot farm on Staten Island, which may make her the city’s only commercial farmer-in-residence. But instead of a shingled farmhouse surrounded by acres of fields, Ms. Bates lives in a second-floor studio in a midrise apartment complex built on the site of a former naval base overlooking New York Bay. The farm itself sits in a courtyard between two buildings at Urby, a development with 571 rental apartments that opened in Stapleton last year. Ms.
LaPorte County creates morgue for cats, dogs
North West Indiana Times | Posted onMarch 22, 2017 in Rural NewsOwners of pets killed on the road will get a chance to provide them with a proper burial under a new program in LaPorte County.LaPorte County Animal Control officer Jane Bernard said the effort is about providing closure and peace of mind for owners wondering about the fate of their missing dog or cat."We just thought that as a good community we want to take care of people's pets," she said.For years, the LaPorte County Highway Department has taken deceased cats and dogs found along roadsides directly to a composting pile containing wild animals that suffered a similar death at its main loc
Upgrades Coming for South Dakota's Animal Research Lab
US News and World Report | Posted onMarch 22, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsSouth Dakota's animal disease research lab is in line for much-needed upgrades after Gov. Dennis Daugaard approved creative funding to provide it with $50.1 million.Daugaard signed legislation Friday to upgrade and expand the Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at South Dakota State University in Brookings.The lab performs daily food safety tests and also tests for disease in pigs, cattle and other livestock. It's used by many farmers and veterinarians in the state and was a key player in the bird flu outbreak of two years ago.
Shrimp farming in MN? Lawmaker wants to make it happen
Valley News Live | Posted onMarch 22, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsA state lawmaker is working to help Minnesota farmers grow a popular protein: shrimp. A bill written by Rep. Chris Swedzinski (R-Ghent) would provide short-term tax incentives for entrepreneurs who want to jump into the shrimp farming business.“We’re looking to build a whole new industry of agriculture in Minnesota, one that uses local commodities and creates very good jobs,” the southwest Minnesota lawmaker said.His bill was positively received Wednesday by the House Agriculture Policy Committee, his office said, adding that it’ll continue to be in the legislative mix this session.