AgClips
Recent AgClips
Trump Administration Seeks To Limit Immigration Status Based On Use Of Public Aid
NPR | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Federal, Rural NewsThe Department of Homeland Security announced a proposal to sharply tighten immigration rules today. Some immigrants who use welfare programs that they are legally entitled to use, like food assistance and housing vouchers, could be denied green cards because they use those programs. It's already been a rule that, in order to get a green card, an applicant can't be what is known as a public charge.It's a phrase that goes all the way back into the 19th century in our immigration laws. Basically, it means an immigrant who relies primarily on the federal government.
Could intensive agriculture be better for the environment than organic eco-farming?
Eastern Daily Press | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Agriculture NewsA new study, led by scientists from the University of Cambridge, says focusing resources to generate higher yields from smaller areas might be the “least bad” option to meet rising demand for food – as long as it allows more natural habitats to be “spared the plough”.
The world's first floating dairy farm will house 40 cows and be hurricane-resistant
Business Insider | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe Dutch company Beladon is opening the world's first floating dairy farm in the Netherlands. Located in Rotterdam, the farm will house 40 cows in a high-tech facility on the water.Minke van Wingerden, one of the project's leaders, told Business Insider that the farm will produce an average of 211 gallons of milk each day.Most of the cows' food will come from city waste products, such as grains left over from local breweries and by-products from mills.Beladon is also interested in launching floating chicken farms and floating vertical farming greenhouse
Walmart, Sam's Club to put food products on blockchain
Reuters | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Agriculture, Food NewsWalmart and its unit Sam’s Club said on Monday leafy greens suppliers will be asked to implement real-time, farm-to-store tracking using blockchain technology by next September, as the retailer tackles food-safety incidents.
Wheat straw-Cellulosic biorefinery to break ground in North Dakota
Biomass Magazine | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Agriculture, Energy NewsA biorefinery that will produce 16 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol and 120,000 of lignin pellets is set to break ground in Spiritwood, North Dakota, in the spring of 2019. The facility, under development by New Energy Blue, will feature Inbicon technology. The proposed plant, known as New Energy Spirit Biomass Refinery LLC, will be located in Spiritwood Energy Park near Jamestown, North Dakota, adjacent to Dakota Spirit AgEnergy LLC, an existing 70 MMgy corn ethanol plant, and Spiritwood Station, a 99-megawatt coal-fired power plant that produces electricity and steam.
Wisconsin to Add Ag Enterprise Areas
Wisconsin Ag Connection | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThree more agricultural enterprise areas totaling 185,000 acres have been designated by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. The new AEAs will be in Trempealeau County's town of Arcadia; St. Croix County's town of Troy; and six townships in northwest Outagamie and northeast Waupaca counties. Wisconsin will have a total of 37 agricultural enterprise areas, or AEAs, in 26 counties, 108 towns and the Bad River Reservation, as of January 1, 2019.AEAs may be created or expanded when at least five landowners, in partnership with local governments, petition the DATCP for the designation.
Michigan's new food safety team assists food businesses
Michigan Department of Agriculture | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsA new team of food safety experts has been created to help speed up the licensing process for Minnesota food businesses. The goal of the Food Innovation Team (FIT), a subcommittee of Minnesota’s Food Safety and Defense Task Force, is to help state regulators accommodate new and innovative food business models while maintaining high food safety standards. “Obtaining a food license can be a daunting process,” said Jim Roettger, Licensing Liaison for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Mandatory scrap food recycling coming to Portland area restaurants
KGW | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsWhether they want to or not, many Portland-area restaurants will soon be turning food scraps into energy. A mandatory food scrap recycling program is set to start in less than two years.Beginning in 2020 Metro will require any business that generates more than 250 pounds of food waste a week to separate out those food scraps for recycling.Currently, area food waste makes up about one-fifth of the garbage that goes to the landfill.According to Metro, that's about 5,000 semi-trucks full of food scraps every year that end up in our landfills.
Should plastics be a source of energy?
Chemical and Engineering News | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Energy NewsThe plastic waste problem has grown into a crisis over the past year as more people have become aware of ocean plastic litter and China shut its doors to waste plastics imports from the rest of the world. In the U.S., little plastic is being recycled, and the prospects for boosting recycling significantly and in short order are slim. Some observers are arguing for burning plastic that can’t be recycled to extract its energy value. But that might be easier said than done. Burning more plastics in waste-to-energy facilities poses economic and societal challenges.
Entire working ranch, with 1,000 head of cattle, donated to Calgary's vet school
Calgary Herald | Posted onSeptember 26, 2018 in Agriculture NewsA father and daughter with a passion for the beef industry have donated an entire working ranch — land, buildings, a 1,000-head herd of cattle and all — to the University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.In terms of monetary value, W.A. Ranches — which is northeast of Cochrane and valued at $44 million — is the largest gift of a ranch that has ever been made to a North American university. And, in terms of size, at nearly 7,700 hectares, it represents the biggest gift of ranch property in Canadian university history.The donation was made by businessman and philanthropist J.C.