AgClips
Recent AgClips
New Canada food guide calls for plant-based diet, pushes salt and saturated fat to the side
The Hamilton Spectator | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Food NewsA group of doctors across the country has been crusading against some of the expected guidelines since 2016, saying Canadians should be eating fewer carbohydrates while continuing to eat fat from sources such as steak and cheese. The meat and potatoes of Canada's Food Guide used to be quite literally meat and potatoes. No more.The latest iteration of Health Canada's advice on what to eat has taken those two former dietary staples almost entirely off our plates and replaced them mainly with leafier vegetables, alternative proteins, such as tofu and beans, and whole grains, such as quinoa.
Housing program helps workers find homes in rural Nebraska
Sioux City Journal | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsA couple in northeast Nebraska is the first to find housing through the state's rural housing program, which aims to help rural communities increase housing opportunities to better retain workers.The state's $7 million Rural Workforce Housing Fund gives nonprofit development organizations matching grants to construct or rehabilitate housing in rural parts of the state. The goal is to create housing options for middle-income workers who don't qualify for other housing assistance programs but don't have enough for a down payment.
North Dakota expands testing after bovine TB strain is confirmed
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsState veterinarians in North Dakota are continuing testing cattle after a total of seven beef cows in a herd from Sargent County tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB) in recent months. The TB strain – Mycobacterium bovis – has not previously been identified in U.S. cattle and is most similar to cases that have been identified in Mexican cattle, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture noted on its website. The agency also warned that the strain of TB can be transmitted from animals to humans and from humans to animals.
USDA updates wetland determination guidance to increase consistency, timeliness
Farm Forum | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Agriculture, Federal NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture is improving the process by which it makes wetland determinations, updating guidance to improve consistency and timeliness as well as to responding to feedback from farmers and other stakeholders. The updates do not change the definition of a wetland for USDA program participation purposes, but rather provide greater clarity and uniformity in how NRCS makes determinations nationwide.Updates to the conservation compliance provisions include:Identifying that determinations will rely on precipitation data from 1971-2000.
NC Attorney General approves sales of rural hopstials with added protections
Daily Yonder | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Rural NewsAdvocates pushed for provisions in the deal that would promise continued healthcare in smaller communities. They're heartened to see their efforts seem to have worked.
Smithfield's plans to cover hog lagoon to spur biogas industry
Daily Yonder | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Agriculture NewsSmithfield announced last year that it will use covered lagoons and digesters on 90 percent of its hog finishing farms within 10 years, a move that could reduce greenhouse gasses, create renewable energy and open opportunities in the biogas sector.
Climate change tipping point could be coming sooner than we think
Science Daily | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Energy NewsA new study confirms the urgency to tackle climate change. While it's known that extreme weather events can affect the year-to-year variability in carbon uptake, and some researchers have suggested that there may be longer-term effects, this study is the first to actually quantify the effects through the 21st century and demonstrates that wetter-than-normal years do not compensate for losses in carbon uptake during dryer-than-normal years, caused by events such as droughts or heatwaves.
Organic price premiums dip as demand grows, choices multiply
Honolulu Star Advisor | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Food NewsU.S. shoppers are still paying more for organic food, but the price premium is falling as organic options multiply. Last year, organic food and beverages cost an average of 24 cents more per unit than conventional food, or about 7.5 percent more, according to Nielsen. That was down from a 27 cent, or 9 percent, premium in 2014.
Abuse of agricultural trade aid costs U.S. taxpayers
Des Moines Register | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Federal NewsPayments from the Market Facilitation Program, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency, are also being misused. In 2018, President Trump pledged $12 billion through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation to provide direct aid to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean and wheat producers.
Nebraska meat label bill gets legislative switch-up
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted onJanuary 24, 2019 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsSen. Carol Blood withdrew her original proposal, Legislative Bill 14, earlier this week and introduced LB 594, which would add a clause to the state’s existing Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The clause would place in violation of the act anyone who "advertises, promotes, labels, represents, illustrates, displays, for sale, offers for sale, attempts to sell, or sells an insect-based, a plant-based, or a lab-grown food product as meat."