Agriculture News
Animal welfare vs. animal rights: combating activist groups
Watt Ag Net | Posted on March 28, 2018Activist organizations continue to push for an end to animal agriculture, so awareness of this agenda and knowing how to promote the truthful message about how food is produced is key. Consumers crave information about how the animals they eat are raised and where their food comes from, but unfortunately they frequently turn to Google, getting answers from animal activist organizations rather than directly from the farmers and ranchers who care for these animals and the companies that produce the food.
Participating insurance companies annual rate of return on crop insurance
Daily Yonder | Posted on March 28, 2018A Minnesota farm group says that the federal crop insurance, the nation’s largest “safety net” program for farmers, is a profit bonanza for private insurance companies. Farmers, taxpayers and rural environmental quality are paying the price. “I appreciate crop insurance. It does make a risky business less risky,” said Randy Krzmarzick, a crop farmer from Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. “But crop insurance is not subject to any limits. The largest recipients have received over a million dollars in subsidies. This comes at a time when a lot of good programs are being slashed in Washington.” Their research, based on public data from the Government Accounting Office, documents that crop insurance company profits have risen to a 35 percent return-on-investment in the past few years. “Comparing those profits with the returns for farmers, which has been negative for a number of years now, that’s a big concern,” said Tom Nussmeier, a farmer from La Sueur, Minnesota.
Food Producers of Idaho gives agriculture a combined voice
Capital Press | Posted on March 28, 2018Started in 1970 by a former farmer who went on to become governor, Food Producers of Idaho now represents more than 40 agriculture-related groups and enables them to speak to lawmakers with a combined voice. The organization — which is unlike any other in Idaho and possibly in the rest of the U.S. — represents more than 40 farm industry groups and provides them with an amplified voice in the state Capitol. In addition to representing most of the state’s major crop and livestock groups, and many of its smaller ones, FPI counts among its membership agribusinesses, agricultural lenders, irrigation groups, soil conservation districts and weed control associations.FPI membership also includes the food processing industry and several dozen individual farmers and people representing state and federal agencies. When they are in Boise, members of Idaho’s congressional delegation often attend the group’s meetings.
Oregon dairy settles wastewater lawsuit
Capital Press | Posted on March 28, 2018The Oregon Department of Agriculture has settled its lawsuit against a controversial new dairy as long as the facility complies with wastewater management conditions. Lost Valley Farm, a dairy near Boardman with the capacity to milk 30,000 cows, has agreed to limit wastewater production to 65,000 gallons a day and ensure its manure lagoons have enough capacity to handle water from storms.The dairy will be inspected weekly by ODA, which can ask the judge to hold the facility in contempt of court for breaching the stipulated judgment or reporting any permit violations, said Wym Matthews, manager of the agency’s CAFO program.
Direct evidence of exposure of pregnant women to Glyphosphate
Science Daily | Posted on March 28, 2018The first birth cohort study of its kind has found more than 90 percent of a group of pregnant women in Central Indiana had detectable levels of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, the most heavily used herbicide worldwide. Researchers from Indiana University and University of California San Francisco reported that the glyphosate levels correlated significantly with shortened pregnancy lengths.
China Proposes 15% Tariff on Fresh Fruit, Wine
Growing Produce | Posted on March 28, 2018The Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued the threat in an online statement. American goods including nuts, wine, and fresh fruit would be subject to 15% tariffs.
Cloned pork is considered Kosher
Newsweek | Posted on March 26, 2018Prominent Israeli Rabbi Yuval Cherlow says meat from a cloned pig would be considered kosher under Jewish dietary laws. Cherlow, who is a leading scholar on modern interpretations of Kashrut, is advocating for rabbinic approval of cloned meats in order to reduce animal suffering, decrease meat industry pollution and stamp out starvation. Rabbi Cherlow makes the case that transgenic or cloned meat would not be subject to the same Kashrut dietary laws that guide what is kosher, or “fit,” for consumption by Jews. Cherlow argues that under the halachic system, “when a pig's cell is used and food is produced from the genetic material, the cell actually loses its original identity, and therefore it can not be defined as a prohibited food, nor can it be eaten as milk.” Cherlow says that because meat grown from cells in a lab would have lost its "identity," observant Jews would also be able to eat it alongside dairy products. Non-cloned, traditional pigs are forbidden under Jewish dietary laws because they fail to meet the requirements for an animal to be kosher, or "fit to eat" for Jews. According to certain verses in Deuteronomy, animals must chew their cud and have split hooves. While pigs do have split hooves, they do not chew their cud, so pigs and their derivative meats are forbidden.
Bayer launches Care4Cattle grant program
Meat + Poultry | Posted on March 26, 2018Bayer AG announced a new initiative called Care4Cattle, a grant program intended to help livestock professionals advance the well-being of dairy and beef cattle. Farmers, veterinarians, researchers and graduate students in veterinary medicine or animal science are invited to submit their ideas to the Care4Cattle program. Bayer said projects should demonstrate innovative, practice-oriented ways to improve cattle well-being on the farm level. Projects will be judged based on innovative approach; impact on cattle welfare; added value to farming operations; relevance and feasibility; and economic viability.
State officials let mega-dairy use loophole to tap endangered Oregon aquifer
Idaho Statesman Journal | Posted on March 26, 2018A year after it opened, Oregon’s second-largest dairy has not secured rights to the nearly 1 million gallons of water per day it needs for its thousands of cows and to process milk. Instead, Lost Valley Farm near Boardman moved ahead without the necessary permits, using a loophole in Oregon law to pull water out of an underground aquifer that’s been off limits to new wells for 42 years, alarming neighboring farmers who say their water supplies are now at risk.Documents obtained by the Statesman Journal show Gov. Kate Brown, her staff and the directors of three state agencies knew the dairy would fall back on the loophole if a proposed water trade was challenged.But with dairy owner Greg te Velde rushing to meet a deadline to receive bank financing and move his 8,000 cows — and with the promise of 150 jobs for rural Morrow County — state officials allowed the dairy to open anyway. In 2016, the dairy drilled three wells into the already-dwindling aquifer without telling the state, as required by law, and refused to register them for months after state officials found out.
Congressional spending bill includes language for milk labeling standards
KTIC Radio | Posted on March 26, 2018The congressional spending bill approved Thursday in the House and awaiting final vote in the Senate directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action against mislabeled imitation dairy foods, representing a major victory for farmers and consumers alike, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). The massive omnibus spending bill to fund the government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018 includes report language instructing FDA to enforce labeling standards affecting dairy imitators. NMPF said the omnibus language builds on the DAIRY PRIDE Act (DPA), a bipartisan bill introduced last year in both chambers of Congress to compel FDA to act against misbranded imitations. The omnibus provision expresses Congress’ concern that certain plant-based beverages are not properly labeled. Given the existing definition of milk as a product of a dairy animal, NMPF said that Congress’ instructions to FDA should restrict the ability of beverages made from plant foods from using the term “milk” on their labels. This will also affect products misusing other dairy food names such as “cheese” and “yogurt” that are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations and cited in the congressional bill.