Agriculture News
Anti-vax movement prompts Brooklynites to withhold inoculations from their pets, vets say
Brooklyn Paper | Posted on August 3, 2017Some Brooklynites are refusing to vaccinate their pets against virulent and potentially deadly illnesses — some of which could spread to humans — thanks to a growing movement against the life-saving inoculations, according to borough veterinarians. “We do see a higher number of clients who don’t want to vaccinate their animals,” said Dr. Amy Ford of the Veterinarian Wellness Center of Boerum Hill. “This may be stemming from the anti-vaccine movement, which people are applying to their pets.”
90% of NY Beehives Had Varroa Mites in 2016
Growing Produce | Posted on August 3, 2017Cornell University’s NYS Beekeeper Tech Team released a report showing that the state of the New York’s beekeepers are being overwhelmed by varroa mites in 2016. A full 90% of colonies sampled had the parasitic pests. The sample group is estimated to represent a third of statewide honey production, or 19,000 colonies, which produced 1.2 million pounds of honey, the researchers say.“Varroa mites are extremely common in NY and were not well controlled in fall 2016,” the report states. “Ninety percent of colonies sampled had mites, and 78% of operations had one or more colonies that exceeded the economic threshold for Varroa.”
Defense to Get Historically High Share of Research Budget
Roll Call | Posted on August 3, 2017The Pentagon and other security agencies’ outsize consumption of federal research money would grow further under Republican plans, while nondefense research spending would drop, sometimes dramatically, a new congressional report shows.
Massachusetts Farm Bureau Helps Towns Write Ag-friendlier Regulations
Massachusetts Farm Bureau | Posted on August 3, 2017The growth of small-scale farms, along with the expansion of many existing farms, in the past 15 years has led to a 30 percent increase in the number of farms across Massachusetts. In addition, interest in local agriculture has inspired many homeowners to keep backyard chickens, goats and other livestock in residential areas where neighbors are far more comfortable with dogs and cats.With suburban residents increasingly vocalizing their concerns about their neighbors’ flocks, however small, local boards of health, which have broad authority over backyard livestock operations, began implementing regulations that put unnecessary and often burdensome requirements on livestock owners—no surprise considering board of health officials’ lack of knowledge about livestock, according to Brad Mitchell, Massachusetts Farm Bureau’s deputy executive director.“In most towns, board of health officials are elected. They typically know much more about the food code in restaurants or septic systems than they do about animal husbandry—and that was clear in the regulations they were drafting,” Mitchell said.The regulations typically failed to distinguish between commercial and hobby farms, ignored laws protecting commercial agriculture and addressed issues—pesticide use, animal health and animal welfare—that were beyond the board’s authority.
Early Implications of the Veterinary Feed Directive
Precision Science | Posted on August 3, 2017The FDA implemented the VFD on January 1. What significant changes and impacts have been witnessed to date?Recently the animal health industry has taken significant steps to promote the judicious use of antibiotics. The process of administering “medically important” (aka those that treat human and animal disease) antibiotics in livestock has been found to contribute to antimicrobial resistance, a scenario in which bacteria can withstand and eliminate the effects of drugs and related chemicals. Previously, there was no real standard in place to supervise and police in-feed antimicrobials procedures.
Woodchip bioreactors may be able to filter nitrate, phosphorus from water
Science Daily | Posted on August 3, 2017In a recent study, Christianson and several colleagues looked at whether they could also remove phosphorus by adding a special "P-filter" designed to trap the fertilizer-derived pollutant. The team tested two types of industrial waste products in the P-filters: acid mine drainage treatment residual (MDR) and steel slag. Phosphorus binds to elements such as iron, calcium, and aluminum contained in these products, removing it from the water. Rather than mixing MDR or steel slag with woodchips in one big nitrate- and phosphorus-removing machine, the team placed a separate P-filter upstream or downstream of a lab-scale bioreactor. They ran wastewater from an aquaculture tank through the system and measured the amount of nitrate and phosphorus at various points along the way. Nitrate removal was consistent, regardless of P-filter type and whether the P-filter was upstream or downstream of the bioreactor. But MDR was far superior as a phosphorus filter. "It removed 80 to 90 percent of the phosphorus at our medium flow rate," Christianson says. "That was really, really good. Amazing."Steel slag, on the other hand, only removed about 25 percent of the phosphorus. "But steel slag is a lot easier to find in the Midwest. And according to the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, we're only trying to remove 45 percent of the phosphorus we send downstream. Since agriculture is only responsible for half of that, 25 percent would be pretty good," Christianson says.The system clearly shows potential, but several unknowns remain. Paired bioreactors and P-filters have yet to be tested in real-world conditions, although a handful have been installed in the United States. Perhaps more importantly, researchers don't have a good handle on how much phosphorus is running off agricultural fields in tile drainage.
The Bill Gates-backed veggie burger that 'bleeds' has raised another $75 million — see how it's made
Business Insider | Posted on August 3, 2017Silicon Valley is rallying around a startup that wants to disrupt the meat aisle. Impossible Foods sells burgers made from plants that sizzle on the grill and "bleed" juices like real beef. The company aims to make meat derived from animals the exception, not the rule.On August 1, the startup announced it had raised a $75 million investment from Singapore-based venture fund Temasek, Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures, and others. The new round brings the company's total funding to over $250 million and will likely serve its plans for expansion.
This Food Bank Invests In The Local Community
NPR | Posted on August 3, 2017Wayne County, New York, is the biggest producer of apples in the Empire State. Yet, in 2013 public school children in the county were being served apples from Washington on their lunch trays. At the end of the lunch period, the lovely, whole Washington apples ended up mostly uneaten in the garbage. Tom Ferraro, founder of the Rochester, NY, food bank Foodlink, set about solving the problem. Ferraro was familiar with a recent study showing that children were more likely to eat sliced fruit than whole. Since Foodlink had the facilities to wash, slice and package apples into portions, Ferraro decided topurchase apples from local farmers, process them, and sell them back to local schools. The program has been a success. Since July 2014, Foodlink has purchased 3.8 million pounds of local apples, investing $600,000 into the local agricultural economy. Children are eating the apple slices. And Foodlink uses revenue from apple sales in its own kitchen to prepare scratch-cooked meals for local school lunches, after-school and summer programs.
Low net farm income among issues for challenging farm bill
Delta Farm Press | Posted on August 3, 2017Don Koehler says the fact that net farm income has fallen to half of what it was four years ago will make writing the 2018 farm bill a “challenge.” That and the fact no new money is available for funding the legislation, according to leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission, was one of four state peanut association executives, who gave their assessment of the climate for writing the next farm bill at the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation annual meeting in Sandestin, Fla., in a panel discussion moderated by Bob Redding, the Washington representative for the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation and other national groups.
New Hampshire greenhouseproject gets $25 million federa loan
Berlin Daily Sun | Posted on August 3, 2017North Country Growers LLC has been awarded a $25 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agricultural Rural Development for its hydroponic greenhouse project and expects to finalize purchase of the property this week.The state’s Congressional delegation announced Tuesday that the loan had been approved for construction of two 10-acre high tech greenhouses that will produce eight million pounds of tomatoes and 15 million heads of lettuce annually. It is also expected to create 80 full-time jobs.Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier called the announcement great news for the city and region. He said the city and NCG will close this week on the 172-acre parcel off the East Milan Road the city is selling to the company for $680,000.“The sale is imminent. Everything is in place,” said Grenier.