AgClips
Recent AgClips
Europe foresees record apple crop
Capital Press | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsEurope is projecting it’s largest apple crop which increases competition for Washington apples overseas in the coming year of sales.
FDA’s Gottlieb looking at organic label claims
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Food Newshe Food and Drug Administration is poised to weigh in on labeling claims in the organic market after a recent op-ed piece by a former FDA official accused the food industry of deceiving consumers. “I'm going to put out more detailed information on what different terms mean on food packaging, to help consumers best use claims like organic, antibiotic free, etc.,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote this week, beginning a series of Tweets on the subject.
Bring the Dairy Farm into Your Classroom
Discover Dairy | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture News“Adopt A Cow” Year-Long Learning Experience. Forget the guinea pig. How about adopting a 1,500-pound dairy cow your classroom mascot? Don’t worry about finding a pen big enough to hold her. The photos and stories we’ll send you about her life on the farm will make her “come alive” for your students! Here is an opportunity to use the “Discover Dairy” Lesson Series to create a year-long discovery for your students to explore where their food comes from.
How free-range access impacts poultry health, welfare
Watt Ag Net | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsWhile some of poultry efficiency can be attributed to genetics and improvements in nutrition, bringing birds inside also improved production. “We were able to control their environment, and we were able to protect the animal,” Pescatore said. However, with the separation between farming and the general public continuously growing, there is an increased interest from consumers to better understand where their food comes from — hence the increased interest in free-range poultry production, he explained.
Editorial: Lack of guestworker bill leaves farmers hanging
Capital Press | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsApparently, Congress can afford to put off revamping the H-2A guestworker program. But farmers can’t.Called the H-2A visa, it allows farmers to bring in guestworkers from outside the U.S. to do the work that Americans will not do. To qualify to bring H-2A workers to their farm to harvest fruits or vegetables, prune trees or do other work, farmers first have to advertise the jobs to Americans. Once they can’t get enough domestic workers, they can apply for foreign workers, but they have to pay to get the paperwork through the federal government.
Judge upholds permanent removal of Oregon wild horses
Capital Press | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsA federal judge refused to overturn the government’s decision to permanently remove about 150 wild horses from Eastern Oregon’s Three Fingers Management Area despite a legal error.
Company launches service to reduce fees from Syngenta lawsuit
Feedstuffs | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsLegal Expense Solutions (LES) has launched a service to advocate for farmers across the country to reduce fees paid to attorneys in the $1.51 billion Syngenta biotech corn settlement, some of which LES argues may be “excessive, unnecessary and unethical.” According to LES, tens of thousands of farmers have retained their own attorneys, with hundreds of thousands more being represented by a consortium of law firms in the class action.
Interior's wildlife chief resigns amid changes to endangered species rules
Washington Examiner | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsThe Interior Department's wildlife chief resigned as the agency is in the middle of a making a number of changes to how it enforces endangered species protections.Sheehan is leaving at a time when the Interior Department issued three major regulations changing how it enforces the Endangered Species Act, which critics say favor developers and energy companies.Sheehan had served on the Utah wildlife management service before coming to Washington.
The Arid West Moves East, With Big Implications For Agriculture
NPR | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe American West appears to be moving east. New research shows the line on the map that divides the North American continent into arid Western regions and humid Eastern regions is shifting, with profound implications for American agriculture. In western Oklahoma, farmers like Benji White and his wife, Lori, have become ranchers.The Whites run 550 head on about 5,000 acres at B&L Red Angus, the family's seedstock and commercial ranching outfit near the town of Putnam in western Oklahoma.
Trade War Strands Ship With $20 Million In U.S. Soybeans Off China
Huffington Post | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsA ship packed with $20 million in American soybeans has been chugging in circles off the coast of China after failing to beat the imposition of retaliatory tariffs in the nation’s trade war with the Trump administration. The Peak Pegasus, owned by JP Morgan Asset Management, raced to China hoping to clear customs before China slapped a 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans to strike back against Trump administration tariffs. It was scheduled to unload about 77,000 ton of U.S. soybeans in the northern Chinese port of Dalian on July 6.