Agriculture News
Washington House OKs bill to move wolves
Capital Press | Posted on February 22, 2018The state House this week showed strong support for redistributing wolves in Washington, except from lawmakers whose districts could be candidates for taking in wolves. The House voted 85-13 on Tuesday to direct the Department of Fish and Wildlife to study moving wolves from Eastern Washington to Western Washington. The “no” votes, three Democrats and 10 Republicans, were cast by westside legislators whose districts include expansive tracts of wildlife habitat.
Bill would help grow chicken industry in Kansas: report
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on February 22, 2018egislation introduced in the Kansas Senate defining parameters for chicken houses would help expand the state’s currently modest chicken industry and is endorsed by Kansas State University faculty and county economic development groups. State officials and university ag experts testified this week that the poultry industry represents the one area of animal agriculture that is expanding, and said the bill would not weaken state environmental standards.
Maine: Plan for Scallop Fishing Lottery Passes Key Hurdle
US News and World Report | Posted on February 22, 2018A plan to create a fishing license lottery to get new people into the scallop fishery has passed a key hurdle in the Maine Legislature.The Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources unanimously approved the proposal on Feb. 14. It now moves to the full Legislature, which is likely to vote on it in the next couple of weeks.The average age of Maine scallop fishermen is higher than 50, and the fishery has been closed to new people since 2009. Some fishermen and fishing managers have expressed concern that the fishery could end up needing new people at a time when the shellfish are healthy.
No antibiotics ever not good for poultry welfare standards
Watt Ag Net | Posted on February 22, 2018Having a no-antibiotics-ever requirement in a program that is supposed to promote better bird welfare puts a marketing claim above bird welfare. One of the core standards for all Global Animal Partnership (GAP) animal agriculture welfare programs is that no antibiotics, animal byproducts in the feed or added hormones can ever be used. This means that if birds get sick and have to be treated with antibiotics, then they are no longer part of the GAP Program. Meat from broilers or the eggs from layers that have been treated have to be marketed elsewhere. This could put an egg producer in quite a difficult spot if their flock is treated early in the laying cycle.
2017 Fourth Quarter Farm Economy Conditions in the Midwest
Illinois Farm Policy News | Posted on February 22, 2018Farmland values in the Seventh Federal Reserve District had an annual increase of 1 percent for 2017, following three consecutive yearly declines. Values for ‘good’ agricultural land in the fourth quarter of 2017 were overall unchanged from the third quarter, according to 185 survey respondents representing agricultural banks across the District. Repayment rates on non-real-estate farm loans were lower in the October through December period of 2017 than in the same period of 2016, and rates of loan renewals and extensions were higher—which indicated greater stress in the credit environment. In real terms, there has been a 10 percent correction in the District’s farmland values from their peak in 2013 to the end of 2017. Even so, the index of inflation-adjusted farmland values for the District was 58 percent higher in 2017 than at its previous peak in 1979.
California pet rescue bill would legalize mouth-to-snout resuscitation
KCRA | Posted on February 22, 2018As is often seen when animals are rescued from burning homes or are suffering emergencies, first responders save their lives in what's known as mouth-to-snout resuscitation. However, under the current law, they can be held liable. A new bill introduced Friday in the California Senate would allow first responders to use emergency care on animals under duress without fear that they could be held legally liable for their actions.
Idaho bill clarifies who owns stock watering rights on federal land
Capital Press | Posted on February 22, 2018A bill that would further codify in state law a landmark Idaho Supreme Court decision on who owns stock watering rights on federally administered land has been sent to the House floor with a “do-pass” recommendation.
Kansas Projects Tackle Pesticide, Sediment in Cooperative Effort With Farmers
DTN | Posted on February 22, 2018Cities looking to address water-quality challenges in watersheds leading into their drinking water supply may want to see how Wichita, Kansas, works with upstream farmers to reduce pesticide and sediment in the Little Arkansas River watershed. Litigation over water quality, especially the federal case in Des Moines, Iowa, in recent years, has drawn a lot of attention. Meanwhile, some other more cooperative water-quality efforts have received less attention.Wichita, with the help of Kansas State University Extension, uses a couple of payment and trading programs to help reduce atrazine and sediment issues in the Little Arkansas River watershed. The Little Arkansas River, which flows into the main Arkansas River in Wichita, is an intensely farmed watershed just north of the city with roughly 75% to 80% of the ground typically farmed.
Pending transport regs could be bad for live animals
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on February 22, 2018Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) are promoted as the solution to keeping sleepy drivers off the road, even if the load is livestock. That sounds simple on the surface, but ELDs are being used as control tools for unrealistic regulations. Under Federal rules, after a maximum of 14 hours of time in the truck (11 hours of driving), truckers must take a whopping 10-hour sleep break! I don’t know how many out-of-touch bureaucrats it took to write this law, or what rationale the “sleep police” at the DOT used to come up with it, but almost nobody over the age of 16 can sleep for 10 straight hours. Maybe 4 to 6 hours of sleep after every 12 hours of driving would be realistic, but not an impossible 10! The cattlemen began explaining the dilemma this regulation causes: One rancher named Mike periodically sends 10 to 15 head of cattle to the sale barn. The truck that picks them up also has to pick up small herds at surrounding ranches to fill the load. It can take a full day to get the ranch pickups completed before the driver is ready to head for the sale barn or feedlot.
Nutria out of control in California
KTVU | Posted on February 22, 2018Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said wardens had found more than 20 "nutria" in wetlands, rivers and canals and in Merced, Fresno and Stanislaus counties. Wardens were trying to figure out how to eradicate the rodents, which are as big as small dogs and breed as fast as rabbits. If they take hold, wardens said, nutria could wreak a lot of havoc. "They burrow in dikes and levees and roadbeds so they weaken infrastructure. They're problematic for flood control systems," said Peter Tira, spokesman for the California Fish and Wildlife.Native to South America, nutria can reach up to 2.5 feet in body length and 20 pounds in weight.