AgClips
Recent AgClips
Arizona Joins Colorado River Drought Plan, a Move That Could Help Protect California Drinking Water
KTLA | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsArizona will join a drought plan for the Colorado River, narrowly meeting a federal deadline that threatened to blow up a compromise years in the making for the seven states that draw water from the constrained river. The Arizona House and Senate overwhelmingly supported the legislation and Gov. Doug Ducey promptly signed it, delivering the final puzzle piece needed to avoid potentially more severe cutbacks imposed by the federal government.
Welcome to the new Wisconsin Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast
Manure Advisory System | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Agriculture NewsBeginning Feb. 1, farmers can turn to a new version of Wisconsin's Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast that gives them a much more localized look at the threat of runoff before they plan to spread manure.
‘Big crops, low prices,’ for a long time ahead, says CBO
Food & Environment Reporting Network | Posted onFebruary 5, 2019 in Agriculture NewsFarm-gate prices for corn and soybeans, the two most widely grown crops in the United States, are stuck in a rut for years to come, said the CBO on Monday in its long-term budget outlook. Farmers will grow near-record corn crops to generate revenue while slowly working down a soybean stockpile that is expected to approach a billion bushels this summer, the largest inventory ever. Farm income plummeted with the collapse of a seven-year commodity boom in 2013.
Farmers can heal the environment and prosper with the ‘Green New Deal’
The Kansas City Star | Posted onFebruary 5, 2019 in Agriculture NewsIt’s been a tough year for farmers here in Iowa and across much of America. After several years of low commodity prices, President Donald Trump’s tariffs and government shutdown have rocked the markets. Only the largest of operations are making any money. Land prices are down, farm real estate listings are up, younger farmers are looking bankruptcy in the face and older farmers are saying they’ve had enough, and retiring.
Policymakers in ‘denial’ about depth of farm recession
The Topeka Capital-Journal | Posted onFebruary 5, 2019 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsFarmers driving $250,000 combines across wheat fields and the niche growers of fruits and vegetables, he said, to some extent have been grappling for five years with economics of rising input costs, weak commodity prices and a political system unwilling or incapable of a balanced response to recession. He said farmers paid a price for international trade conflict given traction by President Donald Trump. “It put many farmers on the edge or over the edge,” Teske said. “This is probably the kicker year, because of the added tariff stress. But mostly because this has been accumulating.
Administration proposes stricter enforcement of SNAP time limit
Food & Environment Reporting Network | Posted onFebruary 5, 2019 in Federal NewsDelayed for weeks by the partial federal shutdown, the Trump administration published its proposal to restrict states from allowing able-bodied adults to collect SNAP benefits for more than 90 days if they are not working at least 20 hours a week. The Federal Register notice ignited a campaign to block the proposal, which opponents said is contrary to the 2018 food and farm law.
Bud Light picks fight with corn syrup in Super Bowl ad
The New York Times | Posted onFebruary 5, 2019 in Agriculture NewsBud Light made an enemy of the corn industry on Sunday by boasting in a Super Bowl ad that, unlike its fiercest competitors, it does not brew its beer with corn syrup. While corn lobbyists responded in anger, and competing brands fought back, some viewers were left to wonder: Does it matter if corn syrup is used during fermentation?“The bottom line is that the claims regarding corn syrup in brewing are more marketing than science,” said David Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Beer is made by fermenting sugar.
What Soybean Politics Tell Us About Argentina and China
The New York Times | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Agriculture NewsThe vast majority of Argentina’s soy products are exported, mostly to China. Rising Asian demand — for soy sauce, tofu, animal feed — has fueled the explosion of the soybean industry across Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The pattern is a familiar one for Argentina. A century ago, it became one of the world’s wealthiest countries on a per-capita basis by shipping the pampa’s abundant yields of grain and beef to Europe. Today, however, it is the price of soybean futures that dominates the electronic tickers on the wall.
Surge in wind power set to surpass hydroelectric power in U.S.
Digital Journal | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Energy NewsThe U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its Short term energy outlook for 2019 this month - and it's good news for the U.S. electrical grid. even as coal-fired power plants decline. In 2019, a surge in wind power is set to surpass the nation's longstanding renewable mainstay, hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power generation - a renewable energy source, has been around for at least 100 years, but it is also seeing slow growth due to permitting restrictions and protections of wildlife.
Texas Department of Agriculture asks to create credit card skimmer fraud unit
| Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in NewsThe Texas Department of Agriculture wants to create a skimmer fraud unit and asked the state legislature for the power to dedicate money to the idea. The department will have to overcome opposition from gas station representatives before the budget is set at the end of May, however.Skimming crime can take less than a minute, placing a small device in a gas pump. The victim filling up their tank might not know they've been robbed until they see their bank statement.