Agriculture News
The hydroponic robotic future of farming in greenhouses
WIRED | Posted on November 21, 2017Here in 2017, the automation revolution in agriculture is poised to take on a whole new life—thanks to robots. In a nondescript office park in Silicon Valley, a startup called Iron Ox is taking the first steps toward roboticizing greenhouse farming, which has so far stubbornly resisted automation. In the very near future, then, the salad on your table may come from the hand of a robot. Unlike a lot of indoor farming operations, Iron Ox isn’t joining the booming movement of LED-powered grow houses. It’s still very much interested in harnessing the energy of the sun (free energy!). So it’s invading the greenhouse instead. “The problem up until today is that greenhouse production costs around twice as much to grow a head of lettuce as the outdoor farm,” says Brandon Alexander, CEO of Iron Ox. “And one reason is there's no tractors or anything indoors.”
Utah agrees to pay $349K to settle lawsuit over 'ag-gag' law
Idaho Statesman | Posted on November 21, 2017Utah will pay $349,000 to settle a lawsuit that overturned a law banning secret filming at farm and livestock facilities. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the settlement will cover the costs of attorneys and others fees for animal-rights groups that challenged the 2012 law.State attorneys had argued the law protected property rights and made agricultural workers safer by barring unskilled undercover operatives from potentially hazardous places.
EPA can’t link cows to fouled shellfish
Capital Press | Posted on November 21, 2017The Environmental Protection Agency analyzed dozens of water samples collected in Whatcom County and couldn’t find evidence of cattle causing pollution. A study by the Environmental Protection Agency and Lummi Indian tribe failed to find evidence that cow manure is polluting tribal shellfish beds in Portage Bay in northwest Washington.The study suggests farmers are keeping manure out of the Nooksack River and it tributaries, which drain into the bay, said Fred Likkel, an environmental consultant and executive director of Whatcom Family Farmers.“It shows the farm community has been working very hard for the last number of years to make sure it’s not polluting the shellfish beds,” he said.
22 fishing boats pulled off water in federal crackdown on Codfather fraud racket
Mass Live | Posted on November 21, 2017Federal regulators effectively pulled 22 active commercial fishing boats off Northeastern waters Monday after determining many of the vessels -- a good deal owned by "Codfather" Carlos Rafael -- were failing to accurately record catches. The ruling, deemed "huge" and "unprecedented" by The Boston Globe, could hamstring many businesses in the Massachusetts fishing industry, in particular icehouses, fuel companies and others that supply boats. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's regional administrator John Bullard said that Northeast Fishery Sector Nine failed to accurately enforce fishing quotas on cod, haddock, flounder and other bottom-dwelling species.Federal authorities say Rafael falsely claimed his vessels caught haddock or pollock, when they had actually caught other species subject to stricter quotas, like cod. He then sold the fish for cash, some of which was smuggled overseas.Rafael, 65, who himself used to serve as president of Northeast Fishery Sector Nine, owns a groundfishing fleet to rival any in the nation. His alleged fraud may still result in additional NOAA penalties including the seizure of his vessels in relation to ongoing civil proceedings being pursued by the government.
Raw milk firm linked to Brucella illness in New Jersey
edairynews | Posted on November 21, 2017Udder Milk’s product has been linked to one illness. A North Jersey woman tested positive for Brucella RB51 infection but has recovered. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department’s Public Health and Food Protection Program, with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, are investigating to determine the suppliers.
Give Thanks for Our Nation's Farmers
Farm Policy Facts | Posted on November 21, 2017When you sit down at the family dinner table this Thanksgiving and count your many blessings, be sure to take a moment to acknowledge the contributions of our nation’s farmers. From the corn to the cranberries, and the sweet potatoes to the pumpkin pie, it is the hard work of farmers that make the meal possible.Just look at the production numbers for some of the more popular Thanksgiving staples:Sweet Corn: 7.4 billion pounds. Green Beans: 2 billion pounds. Cranberries: 1.3 billion pounds. Potatoes: 4.4 billion pounds. Pumpkin: 1.6 billion pounds. Sweet Potatoes: 3.2 billion pounds. Rice: 18 billion pounds. Impressive stats, for sure, but agriculture’s contribution hardly stops at the dinner table. It is also responsible for keeping our economy on the right track.
Trump proposes USDA farm research cuts to pay for storm aid
| Posted on November 21, 2017The Trump administration would pay for hurricane relief in part by cutting conservation and research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—an idea that's running into a roadblock from advocates for those programs. In its $44 billion request for supplemental appropriations to respond to this year's storms and wildfires, the administration proposed to eliminate all $212 million in funding for improvements to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) buildings and facilities, as well as $1.4 billion from various conservation programs.
In These States, Past Marijuana Crimes Can Go Away
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted on November 21, 2017When Californians voted to legalize marijuana last year, they also voted to let people petition courts to reduce or hide convictions for past marijuana crimes. State residents can now petition courts to change some felonies to misdemeanors, change some misdemeanors to infractions, and wipe away convictions for possessing or growing small amounts of the drug. “We call it reparative justice: repairing the harms caused by the war on drugs,” says Eunisses Hernandez of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped write the California ballot initiative.Colorado, Maryland, New Hampshire and Oregon also have made it easier for people convicted of some crimes of marijuana possession, cultivation or manufacture to get their records sealed or expunged, which generally means removing convictions from public databases. Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a criminal justice bill that would, among other changes, allow people to expunge any conviction that’s no longer a crime, such as marijuana possession.
Case Farms responds to report on bird handling violations
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on November 21, 2017Case Farms has acknowledged that some of the bird handling standards at its Morganton, N.C., plant were not met, but the company is insisting that it has “a committed responsibility to ensure the well-being and humane handling of all animals in our care.”
Idaho grants packer $1 million for hiring, training 700 workers
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on November 21, 2017CS Beef Packers will use a $1.1 million state grant announced Friday to hire and train 701 new workers for full-time positions at the company’s new beef plant in Kuna, Idaho. CS Beef Packers, a joint venture between Texas-based Caviness Beef Packers and Idaho-based agribusiness J.R. Simplot Co., began operations at the 400,000-square-foot facility on May 30.