AgClips
Recent AgClips
The Relationship Between Patronizing Direct-to-Consumer Outlets and a Household’s Demand for Fruits and Vegetables
USDA | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Food NewsThis study uses FoodAPS data to investigate whether patronizing farmers markets, roadside stands, and other direct-to-consumer (DTC) outlets increases a household’s spending for fruits and vegetables, including purchases at both DTC and nondirect food retailers. Among 4,826 FoodAPS households that reported their food acquisitions over a 1-week period, 231 bought food from a farmers market or other DTC outlet. Fruits and vegetables were the most frequently purchased type of food at such places. Among the 231 households that bought food at a DTC outlet, 170 bought fruits and vegetables.
Scientists express concern that CWD will jump the gap from deer to people
Smart Brief | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Rural NewsSixty percent of macaques that ate venison infected with the prion that causes chronic wasting disease developed CWD, prompting a warning from the Canadian government last year that eating meat from infected deer, elk or other cervids could cause the disease in people. The macaques consumed the human equivalent of one 7-ounce steak each month for three years, and Mark Zabel, associate director of Colorado State University's Prion Research Center, said that neither freezing nor cooking destroys the prion.
Japanese Vets Likely Transferred MRSA to Racehorses
The Horse | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Agriculture NewsWhen veterinarians diagnosed MRSA infection in hospitalized Thoroughbred racehorses at two veterinary hospitals in Japan not long ago, they wondered about the source of the infection. Such cases are tough to manage and lead to lost training days, all while posing a risk to human health.These finding show that no MRSA colonization exists within the healthy racehorses at JRA, but a high rate of colonization exists in the JRA veterinary community, said Kuroda. Therefore, MRSA is likely being transferred between the JRA veterinarians and horses.
As Trump attacks Federal Health Law. Some States Shore it Up
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Rural NewsNationwide, premiums for average-priced policies — according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis — offered on and off the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act rose by more than a third compared with 2017. The biggest statewide hikes were in Iowa (88 percent), Utah (78 percent), New Hampshire (78 percent), Wyoming (72 percent), and Virginia (66 percent).
Nevada marijuana biz rakes in $5.5 million in November
Las Vegas Sun | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in NewsTax proceeds from Nevada’s marijuana sales exceeded expectations in November, adding to already better-than-average figures from the four previous months of legal recreational pot sales, according to information released. The industry brought in more than $5.5 million in November, which includes a 15 percent wholesale tax for both medical and recreational pot, and a 10 percent excise tax on recreational weed sales, the Nevada Department of Taxation said.
OSU receives record-breaking $50 million commitment
Veterinary Practice News | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Agriculture NewsOregon State University (OSU) has received what it calls a “transformative” donation that will change its college of veterinary medicine’s ability to provide life-saving care, education for future veterinarians, and critical animal and human health research. The record $50 million gift is a record-breaker for OSU, and the university will name its college of veterinary medicine in recognition of the donor: Gary Carlson, MD, a 1974 alumnus who is a partner at Dermatology Associates of Westlake Village, Calif.
The DEA is trying to help rural Americans get better access to addiction treatment. Will its plan work?
Pacific Standard | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Rural NewsMore types of health-care providers—not just doctors—will now be able to apply to prescribe an effective but potentially addictive medicine for treating opioid addiction, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced Tuesday. The rule change was intended to help more Americans, particularly those living in rural areas that lack doctors, get treated for opioid use disorders. "This action provides more treatment options for addicts in rural parts of the country," the DEA said in a press release.
Debate centers on RFS as ethanol industry continues to fight
The Progressive Farmer | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in NewsNothing is set in stone with federal policy and the ethanol industry, and the same is true for 2018. The industry will continue to face annual political fights and legal battles to keep the Renewable Fuel Standard in place, the backbone of the industry. With commodity prices low and input costs high, changes to the RFS can affect the demand for ethanol and ultimately corn in the United States. About 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol is produced per year, which equates to about 5.4 billion bushels of corn demand.
NAFTA talks that were supposed to end last year might continue into 2019
The Washington Post | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Federal NewsTalks aimed at reaching a new trade agreement involving the United States, Canada and Mexico are expected to continue for months beyond a March 31 deadline and could even extend into 2019, according to industry executives and others close to the negotiations. The delay means that the contentious three-way bargaining — involving lucrative markets and issues of national sovereignty — may collide with elections later this year in both Mexico and the United States. For now, the American threat to abandon the talks appears to have receded.
Farmers 'sent death threats by vegan activists'
BBC | Posted onJanuary 30, 2018 in Agriculture NewsFarmers are receiving death threats from "militant" animal welfare activists, the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme has been told. Reporter Amber Haque has spent time with farmers and vegan group The Save Movement, which says it has a non-violent approach to campaigning.