AgClips
Recent AgClips
Announces 1.6 Million for Support Projects in Rural Communities
My Panhandle | Posted onJuly 15, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsGovernor Scott announced that more than $1.6 million has been awarded to support projects in rural communities across the state. This grant funding was provided through the Rural Infrastructure Fund to help with the planning, preparation and financing of infrastructure projects in rural communities. These projects will result in job creation, capital investment and the strengthening and diversification of Florida’s rural economies. During Gov. Scott’s time in office, every county has had a decrease in unemployment and every region in Florida has experienced job growth.
How Rare Earths (What?) Could Be Crucial in a U.S.-China Trade War
The New York Times | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Federal NewsAmanda Lacaze grabbed her iPhone and rattled off the names of the special minerals needed to make it. The screen was polished with lanthanum and cerium. The inside has a magnet made with neodymium and praseodymium.Those minerals almost certainly came from China. Ms. Lacaze’s job is to give the world an alternative source, in case a global trade war spirals out of control and China cuts off supply.Right now, she can’t. Her company, Lynas Corporation, can provide only a fraction of the minerals — known as rare earths — that China produces.
How solar energy helps Mennonites with their mission of global relief
U.S. Energy News | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Energy NewsThe Gift & Thrift in Harrisonburg is one of more than one hundred thrift shops run by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Canada and the United States. Since 1972 they have raised more than $200 million to support domestic and international aid programs by the MCC. In addition to the thrift shop, the Harrisonburg complex of buildings hosts an artisan gift shop, a bookstore, a café, and a community center.To bring solar to the Gift & Thrift, the store and the MCC teamed up with local solar installer Secure Futures to create the “Thrifty Solar Barn Raising” team.
Solar Plan Collides With Farm Tradition in Pacific Northwest
The New York Times | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Energy NewsWhen a company from Seattle came calling, wanting to lease some land on Jeff and Jackie Brunson’s 1,000-acre hay and oat farm for a solar energy project, they jumped at the idea, and the prospect of receiving regular rent checks. They did not anticipate the blowback — snarky texts, phone calls from neighbors, and county meetings where support for solar was scant.Critics said the project would remove too much land from agricultural production in central Washington.
Virginia regulators accuse Mountain Valley Pipeline of erosion violations
The Roanoke Times | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Energy, SARL Members and Alumni NewsVirginia regulators have accused the builder of the Mountain Valley Pipeline of environmental violations punishable by fines and repair mandates, saying the company’s failure to install and maintain erosion-control devices has fouled 8,800 feet of streams in six locations.The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality gave Robert Cooper, project manager for EQT Corp. in Pittsburgh, a nine-page notice of violations on Monday.
North Dakota sues Dakota Access over farmland ownership
MPR news | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Agriculture, Energy, SARL Members and Alumni NewsNorth Dakota's attorney general is suing the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline over agricultural land the company owns in violation of a state law banning large corporations from owning farmland. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem filed a civil complaint in state district court against Dakota Access LLC, a company formed by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners to build the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. The pipeline began operating a year ago.
Black farmers were sold 'fake' seeds by Iowa company, Memphis-based group says
Des Moines Register | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Agriculture NewsBlack farmers, whose numbers already have dwindled precipitously over the past century, face new hardships after suffering poor yields last year because they were sold "fake" soybean seeds marketed at a Memphis trade show, members of a group representing African-American growers said. Leaders of the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association have filed a class-action lawsuit against Stine Seed Co., the nation's largest independent seed-producer, accusing the Adel, Iowa, firm of targeting African-Americans for sales of defective seeds.
Research Compares Rural and Urban Student Drug Use
Rural Pennsylvania | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in NewsResearch to determine if there are differences between urban and rural Pennsylvania youth in substance use, such as alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, and violent behavior found little overall differences between urban and rural students. The only meaningful differences were in alcohol and illicit drug use among rural and urban 12th graders, where urban students showed higher use rates than rural students. Also, for tobacco use, rural students showed higher lifetime use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products than urban students. The research, conducted by Dr.
Wisconsin Loses Another 54 Dairy Farms in June
Dairy Herd Management | Posted onJuly 14, 2018 in Energy NewsThe Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection reports that 54 Wisconsin dairy farms sold out in June. That’s on top of the 78 that left the business in May. Year-to-date, 338 dairy farms stopped milking cows. Still, USDA estimates that cow numbers are down just 1,000 head from January to May (the latest report available). The year-to-day farm exits are running about 30% higher than the same January through June farm exits in 2017. Note: The June 2018 exit number of 54 farms is six fewer in June 2017.
Canada announces tariffs on US beef
Brownfield Ag News | Posted onJuly 13, 2018 in Agriculture NewsCanada has implemented a 10 percent retaliatory duty on imports of prepared and cooked US beef in response to US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.