AgClips
Recent AgClips
Rural Mainstreet Index at Highest Level in Almost 5 Years
| Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Rural NewsFor a fourth straight month the overall index rose above growth neutral. On average, bankers expect farm loan defaultsto rise by only 3.0 percent over the next 12 months. • Over the past year, average annual cash rents on farmland declined by 3.0 percent to $239 per acre. More than one-third of bank CEOs identified rising regulatory costs as the top economic challenge to their banking operations over the next five years.
PG&E to record $2.5B charge for California wildfires — and warns it could get worse
Utility Dive | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Energy NewsPG&E Corp. and its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric, announced today in an 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will record a $2.5 billion pre-tax charge related to deadly wildfires in Northern California last year.
Investing in Rural America
Joint Economic Committee | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Rural NewsSenate and House Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday released a report, "Investing in Rural America," on the needs of rural America and promised to push congress to invest more in rural areas.In a call to reporters, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said, "Many rural communities are still recovering from the Great Recession, more than 10 years after it hit us. Millions of rural residents lack reliable access to broadband. The rural population is aging and shrinking, and wages have been stuck for too long.
What the U.S. Could Learn from Australia about Financing Infrastructure
University of Pennsylvania | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Rural NewsAs an Australian, I’ve have been resisting the temptation these past few months to react to the Trump Administration’s big infrastructure plans with “The U.S. could learn a lot from my country.” The international comparison gambit rarely works well in America, and I don’t want to appear too parochial. But I have learned a lot from the Australian example, and I think now is the time to share, as the Trump Administration pursues a plan of federal infrastructure investment intended to stimulate state, local and private investments.
Missouri officials approve feedlot expansion, legal fight expected
Meat + Poultry | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources recently issued a permit for Valley Oaks Steak Co. to increase the number of cattle it can maintain to 6,999 in its Missouri animal feedlot operation. Currently, the facility outside of Lone Jack, Missouri, has a limit of 999 head of cattle. Missouri DNR granted a Class IB NPDES permit to Valley Oaks Steak at the Lone Jack facility, which makes it subject to concentrated animal feeding operations regulations and permit requirements.
ICE arrests 146 at Fresh Mark plant
Meat + Poultry | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Federal NewsThe US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed search warrants at four Fresh Mark meat processing locations in Ohio and made 146 arrests at the company’s Salem, Ohio, location for immigration violations. The arrests are a culmination of a year-long investigation into evidence that Fresh Mark willfully and knowingly hired illegal aliens using identification that belonged to US citizens.
The USDA is right. Biofoods don't need labels.
Chicago Tribune | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Agriculture, Food NewsShould a federal agency issue a regulation that will impose up to $3.5 billion in costs next year, and billions more in the coming decade — while delivering essentially no benefits? That sounds crazy. But a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed to do exactly that. The proposal is the outgrowth of the long-standing national battle over whether to require labels for bioengineered (or genetically modified) foods.
Tariffs Hitting Agriculture - One Of America's Positive Trade Sectors
Utah Public Radio | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Agriculture NewsThe U.S. is imposing a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion in Chinese goods. The Trump administration claims theft of intellectual property and unfair trading practices is the reasoning behind the tariffs. China is responding to the U.S. by hitting Trump’s base in the agriculture and automobile industries.“Trade is complex. A good trade deal for one sector can pose risk for the other,” said Brandon Willis, a professor of applied economics at Utah State University and senior advisor to the former secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack.“If you take a step back," he said, "the U.S.
The FMD bank in farm bill
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onJune 21, 2018 in Agriculture, Federal NewsWhile the U.S. has a very vigorous inspection system and some of the best sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions in the world, we have seen over and over that it is impossible to keep insects, weeds, and diseases out. According to the National Beef Association, we currently do not have the resources to deal with a large outbreak of FMD. The current FMD vaccine bank in the United States is located at Plum Island, NY, and only contains enough vaccine to meet the need of a small, confined FMD outbreak.
USDA Launches Interactive Map of Opioid Epidemic Resources
USDA | Posted onJune 20, 2018 in Rural NewsAssistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today unveiled a new interactive feature on the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rural opioid misuse webpage. Now webpage visitors can use an interactive map to learn about, access or replicate actions rural leaders are taking in small towns across the country to address the opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment and recovery opportunities. The interactive map can be viewed at www.usda.gov/topics/opioids/resources-map.