AgClips
Recent AgClips
The Panama Canal Expands
Wall Street Journal | Posted onJune 23, 2016 in Federal NewsThe giant Panama Canal expansion opens June 26 amid much fanfare and one of the worst shipping industry slumps ever. While it won’t do anything to help the dire state of the industry near-term, the changes are critical to Western trade in the long run. The canal, which handles about a third of Asia-to-Americas trade, had no choice but to expand.
New Insights on the Impacts of Public Agricultural Research and Extension
Choices magazine | Posted onJune 23, 2016 in Agriculture NewsIn order to feed the growing population of the world, expected to reach 9.6 billion people by 2050—a 29% increase over 2013—without causing immense environmental damage and human hunger, society must increase agricultural productivity. Two ways of achieving this are to invest in public agricultural research and to invest in public extension delivery. The importance of the need for increased investment is widely recognized. Developed countries like the United States have been leaders in science-based agricultural productivity increases for most of the 20st century.
Canada publishes new chicken handling code
meatingplace.com | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe revised “Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens, and Turkeys” are nationally developed guidelines to ensure sound management and welfare practices that promote animal health and well-being. The guidelines are used as educational tools, reference materials for regulations, and the foundation for industry animal care assessment programs, the groups said.
Major Cannabis Company Raided in Sonoma Today
SF Weekly | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Federal NewsLocal law enforcement and Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Santa Rosa raided the production labs of prominent cannabis company Care By Design, possibly after receiving a complaint from a disgruntled former employee, according to reports. Several people were arrested and police seized equipment as well as payroll and product paperwork. Several people were arrested, the newspaper reported, on suspicion of running afoul of drug laws. Authorities said the operation was not licensed, but it appears police were looking to bust a hash oil lab.
NC-Senate committee approves new restrictions on NC wind farms
Charlotte Observer | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Energy NewsA state Senate committee approved new restrictions on North Carolina wind farms near military bases and low-level flight corridors. The measure, which needs approval by the full Senate and House, would allow the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to recommend whether permits for wind farms should be allowed or denied, based on the farms’ expected impact on military bases.
Judge clears way for Amazon Wind Farm along NC coast
The News & Observer | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Energy NewsA Raleigh judge dismissed a legal challenge Wednesday to the Amazon Wind Farm, clearing the way for the largest wind farm in the Southeast to continue with construction along the North Carolina coast. The 104-turbine wind farm is a private energy project commissioned by Amazon to power the online retailing giant’s data centers in Virginia. The $400-million wind farm spans an area of 34 square miles and is being built by Spanish developer Iberdrola Renewables.
Mock derailment helps first responders stay on track
Daily Yonder | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Rural NewsFreight train derailments have been making national news in recent days, including in Washington D.C., in which 16 cars went off the tracks, some of them leaking sodium hydroxide or ethanol. Closer to home along the Upper Mississippi River, freight trains carrying ethanol have jumped their tracks on both the east and west sides of the river, leaking fuel into the river or its tributaries. The geography here is unglaciated bluff country, with thick timber leading to mostly undeveloped waterfront.
Oil Bust Leaves States With Massive Well Cleanup
AP | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Energy NewsThe worst oil bust since the 1980s is putting Texas and other oil producing states on the hook for thousands of newly abandoned drilling sites at a time when they have little money to plug wells and seal off environmental hazards. As U.S. rig counts plunge to historic lows, and with at least 60 oil producers declaring bankruptcy since 2014, energy-producing states are confronting both holes in their budgets and potentially leaking ones in the ground.
GMOs at issue north of the border
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsA bill that would require the labeling of all genetically modified foods in Canada has been introduced in that country’s Parliament. Bill C-291, proposed by MP Pierre-Luc Dusseault, is not the first to be put forth for consideration. All previous attempts have fallen short.
The Salmonella conundrum for egg producers continues
Watt Ag Net | Posted onJune 22, 2016 in Food NewsFDA director says the percentage of in-house environmental samples that are positive for SE has declined, but the rate of human illnesses attributed to eggs hasn’t improved. Out of 1,355 FDA inspections of U.S. registered egg farms, only 10 farms received warning letters from the agency. Unfortunately, just as the reduced percentage of Salmonella-positive broiler carcasses after chilling hasn’t seemed to reduce human cases of Salmonellosis, neither has the reduction in SE contamination on layer farms.