AgClips
Recent AgClips
Study looks at impact of trade disruptions on Iowa economy
The Progressive Farmer | Posted onSeptember 25, 2018 in Agriculture NewsTrade disruptions in Iowa looking at soybeans, pork and corn combined will impact the Iowa economy somewhere in the range of $1.68 billion to $2.216 billion looking at direct effects and additional related losses in different sectors of the economy. Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development looked at historical trade patterns, income and changes to the futures market to peg the near-term impacts of tariffs and trade disruptions on the state.
Texas Beef Checkoff Facing Legal Challenge
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture NewsIn addition to an ongoing legal challenge in Montana, state beef checkoff programs in thirteen more states are now facing legal challenge. Ranchers-Cattleman Action Legal Fund (“R-CALF”) seeks to expand the injunction it obtained in Montana to also include checkoff programs in Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The current beef checkoff litigation began in Montana where R-Calf filed suit against the United States Department of Agriculture in 2016.
In the Carolinas, farmers face the painful task of livestock disposal
The New Food Economy | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture NewsBy Thursday afternoon, state estimates for the total number of North Carolina farm animal lives lost during Hurricane Florence and her aftermath had risen to 3.4 million birds and 5,500 pigs. The storm’s environmental impacts were beginning to come into focus, too: 57 hog waste lagoons had flooded, breached, or “overtopped,” and an additional 75 were in danger of overflowing. On Thursday morning, Duke Energy issued a high-level emergency alert as waters at a retired power plant flooded a lake adjacent to three coal-ash dumps.
Struggling farmers have a new worry: A resurgent Russia
Wall Street Journal | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture NewsVladimir Mishurov transformed the remnants of the “Lenin’s Path” collective farm in this village into a profitable business. He also helped make Russia the world’s largest wheat exporter for the first time since the last years of the czars. Over the past decade or so, Mr. Mishurov replaced his aging Russian equipment with a dozen high-tech machines from John Deere and other makers, and started using powerful new fertilizers and seeds.
Puppies are making people sick — and it’s people’s fault
STAT news | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Rural NewsAntibiotic-resistant bacteria that have infected more than 100 people and that have been linked to pet store puppies appear to have spread at least in part because healthy dogs were given antibiotics — a decision that all but surely fostered antibiotic resistance. “This is shocking,” said Lance Price, head of George Washington University’s Antibiotic Resistance Action Center.
Disaster Averted by North Carolina Pig Farmers
Pork Business | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture NewsA report from the North Carolina Pork Council (NCPC) on Saturday updated the public on how well pig farmers in the state planned and prepared for the predicted devastation from Hurricane Florence. Despite numerous reports to the contrary, the pork industry in the state made sure animals were safe from the storm and that environmental precautions minimized potential lagoon breaches.“Farmers have activated back-up power generation due to significant power outages,” he said. “On-farm reports indicate sporadic and minor wind damage to structures.
Can Technology Actually Change Our Food Systems
Saveur | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture NewsMany recent food innovations appeal purely to novelty, but these six show actual promise for the future of food. If you’re familiar with blockchain technology, you’re probably thinking, “but what does Bitcoin have to do with my dinner?” While most commonly associated with the enigmatic cryptocurrency Bitcoin, its first major application, blockchain is a much wider type of technology that be utilized in the medical industry, in elections, and in keeping tabs on our food.
Update on National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard
Delta Farm Press | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture, Federal NewsThe Office of Management and Budget has received USDA’s final rule for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, according to the National Law Review. The bill mandating establishment of the standard was passed by Congress in summer 2016.
Is Poverty Inevitable
Gates Foundation | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Rural NewsWe usually express our optimism by highlighting some of the recent mind-blowing improvements in the human condition—like the fact that advances in medicine have saved 50 million lives just since we started our foundation in 2000. We believe it’s worth repeating that until we’re blue in the face. Sometimes, though, optimism requires being candid about the hard problems that still need to be solved. That’s what this year’s Goalkeepers Data Report aims to do: confront a pressing yet neglected challenge, and identify some of the most promising strategies to meet it.
Measuring Repayment Capacity and Farm Growth Potential
Farm Doc Daily | Posted onSeptember 24, 2018 in Agriculture NewsRepayment capacity measures include the capital debt repayment capacity, capital debt repayment margin, replacement margin, term debt and capital lease coverage ratio, and replacement coverage ratio (Farm Financial Standards Council). Capital debt repayment capacity, capital debt repayment margin, and the term debt and capital lease coverage ratio address a farm’s ability to repay operating loans and to cover the current portion of principal and interest due on noncurrent loans such as a machinery, building, or land loan. The replacement margin and the replacement margin coverage ratio en