AgClips
Recent AgClips
Virginia primes itself for a tax experiment in rural areas
The Roanoke Times | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe General Assembly has passed — and sent to Gov. Ralph Northam for his signature — a bill by Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell (with help from state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County) that offers a seven-year tax break to companies that locate in certain economically-distressed localities and create a certain number of jobs (the number varies depending on the investment). The list of those eligible includes much of Southwest and Southside Virginia, along with many localities along the Chesapeake Bay. The General Assembly also passed a bill by state Sen.
Minnesota crop land prices were down in 2017, but may be starting to stabilize
Minnesota Star Tribune | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Agriculture NewsPrices for farmland declined across Minnesota in 2017, another sign of a weak farm economy that's been plagued by low crop prices and reduced incomes for the past four years.
To Stay on the Land, American Farmers Add Extra Jobs
Wall Street Journal | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Agriculture NewsCraig Myhre, a farmer in western Wisconsin, is trying to make a living off 600 acres of crops and a small herd of beef cattle. He also hires himself out to harvest other farmers’ fields, earning money to make payments on his combine. It’s still tough to make ends meet, despite putting in 12- to 16-hour days. In 2015, he added yet another job, as a mail carrier.
Animal welfare vs. animal rights: combating activist groups
Watt Ag Net | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Agriculture NewsActivist organizations continue to push for an end to animal agriculture, so awareness of this agenda and knowing how to promote the truthful message about how food is produced is key. Consumers crave information about how the animals they eat are raised and where their food comes from, but unfortunately they frequently turn to Google, getting answers from animal activist organizations rather than directly from the farmers and ranchers who care for these animals and the companies that produce the food.
Participating insurance companies annual rate of return on crop insurance
Daily Yonder | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Agriculture, Federal NewsA Minnesota farm group says that the federal crop insurance, the nation’s largest “safety net” program for farmers, is a profit bonanza for private insurance companies. Farmers, taxpayers and rural environmental quality are paying the price. “I appreciate crop insurance. It does make a risky business less risky,” said Randy Krzmarzick, a crop farmer from Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. “But crop insurance is not subject to any limits. The largest recipients have received over a million dollars in subsidies.
Food stamps cuts will hit rural America the hardest
Daily Yonder | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Food, Rural Newsn Owsley County, a 200-square-mile patch of eastern Kentucky, Trump’s victory was propelled by a full 80 percent of the vote—an unsurprising outcome, perhaps, for a county seated in a congressional district that has elected and re-elected Republican representative Hal Rogers by similar margins since 1980.
Opportunity Zones might unblock rural America's potential
Index Journal | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Rural NewsBuried more than 300 pages into the late December tax overhaul signed by President Donald Trump is what some officials think might be a route to economic prosperity for rural America. A community development program written into the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, these so-called “Opportunity Zones” are designed to encourage long-term private investments in low-income areas by providing federal tax incentives. South Carolina is among the first states in the country to submit a list of designees to the U.S.
FCC set to waste billions on the wrong rural broadband providers
Daily Yonder | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Rural NewsRural communities have already proven that cooperatives are the way to get good, fast Internet access to underserved areas. So why are AT&T and other big corporations in line to get $2.5 billion in government funding to reach customers – again. The Connect America Fund is the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) effort to connect the unconnected, mostly by throwing billions of dollars to the companies that have most resisted investing in rural areas.
Domestic Migration and Fewer Births Reshaping America
University of New Hampshire, Carsey School | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Rural NewsNew Census Bureau data released on March 22, 2018, demonstrate the continuing influence of domestic migration on U.S. demographic trends. Migration patterns are reverting to those common before the recession. Suburban counties of large metropolitan areas, smaller metropolitan areas, and rural counties proximate to metropolitan areas all gained more domestic migrants in the last year. In contrast, domestic migration losses grew in the core counties of metropolitan areas of 1 million or more and remained substantial in rural counties that are not adjacent to an urban area.
Food Producers of Idaho gives agriculture a combined voice
Capital Press | Posted onMarch 28, 2018 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsStarted in 1970 by a former farmer who went on to become governor, Food Producers of Idaho now represents more than 40 agriculture-related groups and enables them to speak to lawmakers with a combined voice. The organization — which is unlike any other in Idaho and possibly in the rest of the U.S. — represents more than 40 farm industry groups and provides them with an amplified voice in the state Capitol.