AgClips
Recent AgClips
Some Beatty residents say burro herd is causing problems
Capital Press | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsSome residents of a southern Nevada town that has long embraced a local herd of burros want the federal government to do more to control the wild donkey population. Residents of Beatty are complaining that the burros are causing disruptions by knocking down fences, trampling sensitive habitat and damaging property, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported .The town has celebrated the animals as symbols of the community’s roots, growing from the early 20th-century mining camp.
Idaho wolves kill six cows in one week
Capital Press | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture Newsascade, Idaho, rancher Phil Davis said wolves killed three of his cows in early August. Separately, three other cows were killed nearby. “We lost three cows to wolves this last week, three days in a row,” said Davis, who for decades has studied Idaho wolf issues and has been outspoken about wolves’ impacts on livestock. The kills were Aug. 2-4 on Davis Cattle Co. property.USDA Wildlife Services confirmed the three cows were killed by wolves, as well as three other cattle on property close by, Public Affairs Specialist Tanya Espinosa said.
Russia Doesn’t Need to Change Votes — Just Sow Confusion
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsTwo states left nearly 200,000 people off voter rolls earlier this year, leading to confusion and anger when those people tried to cast a ballot in the primaries. Election security experts fear it could happen again in November.
Nebraska:Workers detained as feds target alleged conspiracy to exploit illegal labor
Omaha World Herald | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in NewsFederal immigration enforcement officers swept into this rural area, detaining dozens of workers from a local tomato greenhouse complex, a potato processing facility and a cattle feedlot. In Nebraska and elsewhere, the operation by Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials snared 133 workers suspected of being in the country illegally, as well as 17 people connected to an alleged conspiracy to exploit illegal labor for profit, fraud and money laundering.Federal search warrants were served as far away as Las Vegas and Minnesota in connection with the conspiracy.
Sempra Has to Turn to Cow Dung to Make Up for California Gas Leak
Bloomberg | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsReparations for the worst-ever U.S. natural gas leak will involve cow-dung duty. That’s the takeaway from Sempra Energy’s $119.5 million settlement with Los Angeles and California agencies over the leak almost three years ago at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility owned by the company’s Southern California Gas utility. Almost a quarter of the money will go to fund a program to capture methane from dairy farms that can be processed into something called renewable natural gas. This RNG can be substituted molecule for molecule for the fossil fuel version and injected into the vast U.S.
New $425M dairy processing facility expected to create 259 Michigan jobs
Click on Detroit | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsMichigan's dairy industry is getting a huge boost. Two investments totaling $510 million are expected to create nearly 300 jobs with the building of a new dairy processing facility in St. Johns, Michigan. Glanbia has partnered with Select Milk Producers Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America to form Spartan Michigan LLC, which will develop a new $425 million, 146-acre dairy processing facility in St. Johns, which is expected to create 259 new jobs. The facility will process more than 8-million pounds of milk per day.
Animal drug user fee legislation clears Congress
Feedstuffs | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsHouse and Senate lawmakers secured passage of the Animal Drug & Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018 (H.R. 5554/S.2434), which are vital to increasing veterinary access to drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The House passed the bill on July 16, and the Senate passed the bill on July 31. It now awaits the final signature by the President. The American Veterinary Medical Assn.
Senate minibus spending bill addresses ag needs
Feedstuffs | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Federal NewsThe Senate passed the minibus appropriations bill, which contains several important amendments addressing issues pertinent to agriculture. Besides funding for agriculture, the minibus also offers interior, financial and transportation funding. It also prohibits the closure of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices and provides funding to hire additional FSA loan officers.
In Florida, a fight over dog racing pits a waning generation of gamblers and trainers against animal rights advocates
SF Gate | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsFlorida, which hosts a dozen of the nation's 17 surviving tracks, is set to vote in November whether to ban greyhound racing. Those in favor of a ban see racing as animal cruelty akin to cockfighting, contending that dogs are caged for most of the day and risk life-threatening injuries for the sake of gambling.Groups including the Humane Society of the United States and celebrities such as Doris Day, a longtime animal rights activist, have raised $2.5 million to pass the ban. Greyhound racing supporters have raised a miserly $24,000 to defend it.
New Water Restrictions to Leave California Farmers High and Dry
Growing Produce | Posted onAugust 16, 2018 in Agriculture NewsFollowing nine years of research and extensive public outreach, the State Water Resources Control Board today released a final draft plan to increase water flows through the Lower San Joaquin River and its tributaries—the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers—to prevent an ecological crisis, including the total collapse of fisheries. By limiting water sent to cities and farms and keeping more for fish, the proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board's staff likely will ignite a round of lawsuits and political squabbles.