Agriculture News
Minnesota sweetens the pot to shift cropland into Conservation
Mankato Free Press | Posted on July 12, 2018New program pays up to 90 percent of land value.Under the program, landowners enroll land in the federal Conservation Reserve Program for 15 years. But they also sign up for the Reinvest in Minnesota program, and agree to a permanent easement, a legal document stipulating the land must always be managed for conservation.The federal program protects land for 10 or 15 years, opening the door for the land to be plowed under again. Minnesota could lose 500,000 acres of grassland in the next five years.It's critical to preserve land permanently to maximize water quality protection, said Aaron Larsen, a program manager for the West Otter Tail Soil and Water Conservation District. The Westbys get annual CRP payments for 15 years for taking this farmland out of production. They also get a one-time payment from the state.The payments are determined through a complex formula, but the combination of federal and state dollars will equal 90 percent of the average per acre land value.The goal of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is to restore and preserve 60,000 acres, or roughly 90 square miles of land across 54 counties in western and southern Minnesota.
Beef group estimates China trade tariff losses of $70 mln this year
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on July 11, 2018The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) joined a chorus of protein producer associations seeking an end to retaliatory trade tariffs that could cost these industries million of dollars — and jobs — in 2018 alone.
Cross-species gene transfer is a major driver of evolution, study claims
UPI | Posted on July 11, 2018New research suggests horizontal gene transfer between different species is a major driver of evolution. Scientists at the University of Adelaide traced the origins of two different jumping genes, self-replicating DNA sequences, across 759 species of plants, animals and fungi. The results of the survey, published this week in the journal Genome Biology, suggest the genomes of most modern plants and animals have been shaped by interspecies gene transfer.Researchers determined L1, one of the two studied transposable DNA fragments, began life in the mammalian genome as foreign DNA."Jumping genes, properly called retrotransposons, copy and paste themselves around genomes, and in genomes of other species," lead researcher David Adelson, director of Adelaide's Bioinformatics Hub, said
China's chickens need to lay a billion eggs a day. Here's how they're going to do it
Reuters | Posted on July 11, 2018Behind a row of sealed red incubator doors in a new facility in northern China, about 400,000 chicks are hatched every day, part of the rapidly modernizing supply chain in China’s $37 billion egg industry, the world’s biggest. As China overhauls production of everything from pork to milk and vegetables, farmers raising hens for eggs are also shifting from backyards to factory farms, where modern standardized processes are expected to raise quality and safety.That’s an important step in a country where melamine-tainted eggs and eggs with high antibiotic residues have featured in a series of food safety scandals in recent years. It is also spurring demand for higher priced branded eggs over those sold loose in fresh produce markets.
Too Much Pork, Tariffs Mean Too Few Buyers
Farm Doc Daily | Posted on July 11, 2018The pork industry appears to be headed for a period of large losses in which excess pork supplies force prices below costs of production. In addition, demand will likely be weakened by reduced exports with tariffs in place on U.S. pork exports to China and Mexico. On a positive note, Chinese tariffs on U.S. grains and soybeans are helping to erode feed prices along with favorable growing season weather. The industry has expanded the breeding herd by three percent according to a recent producer survey by USDA. This is the highest rate of breeding herd expansion since this expansion phase began in 2015. A breeding herd of this magnitude is likely to be a primary contributor to excess supplies in 2018 and 2019.The market herd was up three percent and farrowing intentions for this summer and fall were up two percent. With the breeding herd up three percent, there is concern that actual farrowings this summer and fall could be higher than the two percent increase recorded by survey respondents.Pork supplies will be large. First-half supplies this year have been up four percent and are expected to rise to five percent higher in the third quarter this summer and four percent higher in the final quarter of 2018. Current expected supplies for the first-half of 2019 are up four percent and three percent in the last-half of 2019.The second driver of the large losses facing the pork industry revolve around the current trade war the U.S. has entered.
Federal court orders remedial action by Minnesota’s Meech Dairy
Food Safety News | Posted on July 11, 2018The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has enjoined Todd & Patty Meech Dairy Farm and its co-owners from introducing adulterated meat into interstate commerce pending required remedial action. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the federal court entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against the Meech Dairy Farm, located in Sebeka, MN. The consent decree settles a complaint filed by the DOJ alleging violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and it requires the defendants to implement specific steps to ensure consumer safety before they can resume introducing animals and their edible tissue into interstate commerce.In particular, the decree requires defendants to establish and implement a quarantine or segregation system to ensure the sharp distinction between medicated and unmedicated animals and that prevents defendants from selling or delivering for food slaughter any animals with illegal new animal drug residues in their edible tissues.
Driven By Developing Countries, World Milk Production Expected To Grow 22% By 2027
Cheese Reporter | Posted on July 11, 2018World milk production is projected to increase by 22 percent by 2027, with the majority of that production increase (80 percent) expected to come from developing countries according to an annual report by the Organization for Ecoomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Pakistan and India are expected to jointly account for 32 percent of total milk production by 2027, compared to 26 percent in the base period of 2015-17, said the report, OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027.
On a milk solids basis, developed countries will increase milk production by 9 percent over the projection period, with 37 percent of that increase going into cheese production, around 23 percent to skim milk powder (SMP), 20 percent to butter, 10.5 percent to whole milk powder and 8.5 percent to fresh dairy products.
Riparian buffers can make a difference in water quality
Farm and Dairy | Posted on July 9, 2018Riparian zones are a very important part of our everyday life. They serve many purposes along streams and rivers to support a biodiversity ecosystem. A riparian zone is an area of land on or adjacent to a river or stream, normally dominated by herbaceous cover that acts as a buffer from the upland. These areas are tolerant to flooding or saturated soils normally in the floodplain.
NM Land Commissioner Sues NM State Engineer Over Water Permits
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted on July 9, 2018The Land Commissioner is charged with jurisdiction over state trust lands to generate support for public schools and other state institutions. In the Complaint, filed in the First Judicial District Court, the Commissioner asserts that he has “an interest in the appropriation of water on and off of state trust lands because the use of water in connection with activities on state trust lands often is essential to the lands’ highest and best use.” The State Engineer is vested with authority to manage the state’s water resources, including issuing permits for groundwater wells. The Commissioner is concerned with the State Engineer’s issuance of groundwater pumping permits. Specifically, the concern revolves around permits issued pursuant to NMSA Section 72-12-1.3. Section 72-12-1.3 provides that if a person seeks to use groundwater in an amount of less than three acre-feet for a period of time less than one year for prospecting, mining, or construction of public works, highways, and roads or drilling operations designed to discover or develop the natural mineral resources in the state, a temporary permit may be issued by the State Engineer. A separate application must be filed for each proposed use. If the request will not permanently impair any existing water rights of others, the permit must be granted. If it will permanently impair such rights, a hearing must be held.
Current Indicators of Farm Sector Financial Health
USDA | Posted on July 9, 2018Following a steep decline in agricultural commodity prices, the past several years have seen a weaker market for farmland and an uptick in interest rates. At the same time, farm sector income has declined and farm interest expenses have increased. How vulnerable might the farm sector be to a further decline in commodity prices or a rise in interest rates? Inflation-adjusted net cash farm income for the sector is forecast in 2018 to be 38 percent lower than its peak in 2012 and 7 percent below its 1970-2016 average. The farm sector’s debt-to-asset ratio, a key indicator of financial solvency, reached a historic low in 2012 and has remained low since then by historic standards. If farm income remains near current levels, projected interest expense-to-farm earnings ratios suggest that the farm sector is unlikely to face extensive debt repayment challenges by 2019.