AgClips
Recent AgClips
USDA Awards Agricultural Trade Promotion Program Funding
USDA | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Agriculture, Federal NewsU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $200 million to 57 organizations through the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) to help U.S. farmers and ranchers identify and access new export markets. The ATP is one of three USDA programs created to mitigate the effects of unjustified trade retaliation against U.S. farmers and exporters. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) accepted ATP applications between September 4 and November 2 – totaling nearly $600 million – from U.S.
Federal court again blocks San Francisco warning on soda ads
USA Today | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in NewsA federal appeals court on Thursday blocked for a second time a San Francisco law requiring health warnings on advertisements for soda and other sugary drinks in a victory for beverage and retail groups that sued to block the ordinance. The law violates constitutionally protected commercial speech, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous ruling.The judges granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the ordinance from taking effect and kicked the case back to a lower court.
Virginia House sends $550M in Amazon incentives to governor
ABC News | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsAfter nine minutes of debate, the Virginia House sent a bill providing more than a half-billion dollars in incentives for Amazon to Gov. Ralph Northam for his signature. News outlets report that the House voted 83-16 on Monday in favor of the measure, which would create $550 million in "post-performance" incentives for the technology giant, based on job creation.Northam has said he will sign the bill, which would give Amazon cash grants of $22,000 per new full-time job for the first 25,000 jobs.
Barriers to Rural Practice
Bovine Vet Online | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Rural NewsOne of the biggest things keeping vets out of rural practices is that for many of them, the idea of living in a rural area is not something they have any interest in doing. There's no Target, you have to drive to have a nightlife, and nowhere delivers (unless you're lucky and have a nearby pizza place). That subset of grads will never join a rural practice, no matter what. Of the vets left who may move to a rural area, the biggest barriers are often a financial one and a work-life associated one.
Minnesota scientists aim to curb chronic wasting disease with 'moonshot' tool
Park Rapids Enterprise | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Agriculture NewsMinnesota scientists say they could have a tool to detect a fatal neurodegenerative disease in deer within two years. But it will come at a cost.As the state fights to protect wild and captive deer from catching chronic wasting disease, veterinary scientists at the University of Minnesota expect to have a breakthrough prototype tool to detect the disease in 2021. And they asked lawmakers last week for $1.8 million to make that a reality.
‘Nero’s Bill’ would allow emergency treatment for police dogs
The Enterprise | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsEmergency personnel would be able to treat and transport injured police dogs under a bill filed by a Cape Cod lawmaker. Sponsored by Centerville Republican Rep. Will Crocker, the legislation is dubbed “Nero’s Bill” in honor of Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon’s canine.Nero was injured in the April 2018 shooting that killed Gannon, but, under current state law, could not be treated or transported by the Emergency Medical Service providers who responded, according to Crocker’s office.
Why are researchers growing human protein in hens' eggs?
Medical News Today | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Agriculture NewsChicken eggs are already important in clinical research and production — specialists currently use them to make vaccines. New research is now taking the eggs' potential even further by suggesting a new use for them, as repositories in which to grow specialized human proteins.
Grants to Improve Massachusetts Farm Food Safety
Mass.gov | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Baker-Polito Administration today awarded $300,000 in grants to 21 Massachusetts farms to install practices that improve food safety within their operations. The Agricultural Food Safety Improvement Program (AFSIP) is a competitive grant program that allows agricultural operations to complete food safety upgrades on their farms, enabling the operations to meet buyer demands, increase consumption of local food and protect public health by reducing food safety risks.
Farm subsidies to leap on $9.8 billion in trade aid
Agri-Pulse | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Agriculture, Federal NewsGovernment payments to farmers are forecast to hit their highest level in more than a decade because of the trade assistance being provided to producers this year, and the total could go even higher if Congress, as expected, authorizes a new round of disaster aid. The Trump administration's temporary Market Facilitation Program, launched last fall to compensate farmers for lost exports of soybeans and other crops due to retaliatory tariffs, will pay out $9.8 billion in fiscal 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office's latest projection of farm program costs.
Timber risks outweigh opportunities, experts say
Capital Press | Posted onFebruary 4, 2019 in Rural NewsLog and lumber prices aren’t expected to be as volatile in 2019 as last year, but experts still aren’t bullish about the timber industry’s economic outlook. After hitting a record high of $564 last June, the price per thousand board feet of framing lumber dropped 40 percent by the end of the year, to $335, according to the Random Lengths market information service. The shift was brought on by tepid growth in housing starts, a strong supply of lumber and concerns about interest rates, among other factors that are likely to persist in 2019