AgClips
Recent AgClips
Farm Runoff in U.S. Waters Has Hit Crisis Levels. Are Farmers Ready to Change?
Civil eats | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Agriculture NewsSome farmers and lawmakers across rural America are getting serious about preventing nitrogen and phosphorous pollution. Will it be enough to avert a catastrophe in our rivers and oceans?
Blue Wave has been a trickle outside largest cities
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Rural NewsThe only place Democrats rack up big wins is in the core counties of the nation’s largest cities. Everywhere else, it’s either a close race or a runaway victory for Republicans. The trend is pronounced and has been accelerating since 2010.
The Geography of Food Stamps
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Rural NewsWith the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the news because of proposed cuts, we took another look at the data. The bottom line: Rural areas cluster near the top of counties that are most reliant on SNAP.
Top 100 Counties, SNAP participants as percent of population
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in NewsThe counties that are most reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program tend to be rural. Here’s a list of the top 100 counties ranked by percent of population enrolled in SNAP. In the highest-ranked counties, more than half the population receives nutrition assistance. At the bottom of the list, about a third of a county’s population receives SNAP. Eighty-five of the top 100 counties are rural.
Telemedicine: DIfferent Types of care require different kinds of broadband
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Rural NewsCommunities should consider the needs of both long-term and acute medical care as they create networks for telemedicine. Whether it’s providing lifesaving stroke treatment or caring for chronic conditions like addiction or wound management, different treatments require different tools.
Tyson creates Bill of Rights for its poultry growers
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Agriculture NewsTyson Foods Inc. announced the launch of several initiatives -- including a Contract Poultry Farmers’ Bill of Rights -- aimed at enhancing communications and transparency with the thousands of independent farmers who grow its chickens. Tyson will also form an advisory council of poultry farmers and invest in technology for additional communications.
Crispr Critters: What meat can learn from Monsanto
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Agriculture NewsWhen they introduced genetic modifications, the marketing mavens at Monsanto first told farmers that Roundup Ready soybeans would dramatically increase their crop yields by making the soybean plants immune to the Monsanto herbicide, Roundup, while it effectively killed the weeds in the farmers’ fields. What they didn’t do was thoroughly explain how this would benefit consumers. As a result, there was a consumer backlash that helped spawn the anti-GMO movement and lent credence to the nascent organic effort.Now, with their purchase of the licensing rights to the technology of Crispr-Cas9 s
Kentucky milk processing plant to close, eliminating 52 jobs
The News & Observer | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in NewsA Kentucky milk processing plant is slated to close next month, resulting in the loss of 52 jobs. The general manager of the Prairie Farms Dairy plant, David Atchley, notified the Kentucky Division of Workforce and Employment Services on Tuesday. His letter indicated employees will receive severance pay and benefits after the plant closes June 30.
Rural Kansas is dying. I drove 1,800 miles to find out why
New Food Economy | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Rural NewsA native Kansan returns home to find that the broken promises of commodity agriculture have destroyed a way of life. Most Americans experience Kansas from inside their cars, eight hours of cruise-controlled tedium on their way to someplace else. Even residents of the state’s eastern power centers glimpse its vast rural spaces at 85 mph, if at all.But on recent trips back, I wanted to really see my home state—so I avoided I-70, the zippy east/west thoroughfare. The slower pace paid off in moments of heart-stopping beauty.
Dark chocolate consumption reduces stress and inflammation
Science Daily | Posted onMay 10, 2018 in Food NewsNew research shows there might be health benefits to eating certain types of dark chocolate. Findings from two studies being presented today at the Experimental Biology 2018 annual meeting in San Diego show that consuming dark chocolate that has a high concentration of cacao (minimally 70% cacao, 30% organic cane sugar) has positive effects on stress levels, inflammation, mood, memory and immunity.