AgClips
Recent AgClips
FDA Report on Antibiotics Validates Work by U.S. Pig Farmers
Ag Web | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture NewsAmerica’s 60,000 pig farmers continue to do what’s right on the farm for people, pigs and the planet when it comes to demonstrating their commitment to antibiotic stewardship. That’s why last week’s findings in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2016 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals came as no surprise, but as a validation of the hard work U.S. pig farmers have put in to reduce the overall need for antibiotics while still protecting the health and welfare of the pigs under their care.
Feral hog poison field tests in Texas, Alabama in 2018
ABC News | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture NewsFeral swine do more than $1.5 billion a year in damage around the country, and scientists are taking what could be a big step toward controlling them. They are field-testing poison baits made from a preservative that's used to cure bacon and sausage.The tests will cover two major habitats where feral hogs are common during seasons when they're most likely to go for bait, said Kurt VerCauteren, feral swine project leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. Tests will start early in 2018 in dry west Texas and continue in humid central Alabama around midsummer.
Cargill turns to workforce to push back against Trump trade policies
The Cedar Rapids Gazette | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsOn Cargill’s new FedByTrade website, the Houfek family tells how selling meat to foreign countries has supported two generations working at the company’s packing plant in Schuyler, Neb. Four hundred miles north, in Hopkins, Brian Donovan, an operations manager in Cargill’s salt division, stands ready to explain how providing de-icing and water conditioning products to Canadians keeps dozens of U.S.
BP Plunges Back Into Solar Energy
Triple Pundit | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Energy NewsIn an attempt to stay relevant in the low carbon economy of the future, some leading oil and gas stakeholders have been ramping up their investments in renewable energy. BP is among that group, and the company just sank $200 million into a major solar energy deal with the company Lightsource. The new investment is especially noteworthy for the sharp contrast it makes with BP’s previous attempts to move “beyond petroleum.”
Vaden denies politics played role in USDA reassignments
Agri-Pulse | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Federal NewsDemocrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee have written to Stephen Vaden, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be USDA’s top lawyer, seeking more information about the reassignments of at least a dozen department employees, all members of the Senior Executive Service. Among the questions posed by the senators: “Were any of the reassignments …. made because of the political affiliation of the individual reassigned or because the individual had worked closely with Obama administration leadership officials at USDA?
FAA: Farm equipment radio interference threatens air traffic
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsRadio interference from a farm's massive metal crop-watering structure is causing havoc for air traffic in the sky over Georgia, federal authorities said in a lawsuit filed this week. The irrigation structure is on a south Georgia farm where the Federal Aviation Administration has a radio transmitter to relay signals that keep aircraft on course, according to the federal lawsuit.Interference caused by the 1,200-foot-long (370-meter-long) structure forced the FAA to shut down its transmitter in February, affecting operations of nine airports.
Canada's Linamar to buy agriculture equipment maker MacDon for C$1.2 billion
Reuters | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture NewsCanadian auto parts maker Linamar Corp said on Thursday it agreed to buy privately held MacDon Group of Cos for C$1.2 billion ($937 million), to strengthen its presence in the agricultural equipment market.
Pennsylvania hunters donated almost 3,000 deer to food banks in 2016-17
Trib Live | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsGov. Tom Wolf's office and the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced that almost 3,000 deer harvested by hunters in 2016-17 were donated to a nonprofit that distributes the venison to food banks. The donation sets a record for the nonprofit, Hunters Sharing the Harvest, now in its 26th season. The nonprofit coordinates the hunters' deer harvests with meat processors and distribution to food banks.
The contribution of glyphosate to agriculture and potential impact of restrictions on use at the global level
Taylor Francis Online | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThis study assesses the potential economic and environmental impacts that would arise if restrictions on glyphosate use resulted in the world no longer planting genetically modified herbicide tolerant (GM HT) crops. ‘First round’ impacts are the loss of farm level and aggregate impacts associated with the widespread use of GM HT crops (tolerant to glyphosate). There would be an annual loss of global farm income gains of $6.76 billion and lower levels of global soybean, corn and canola production equal to 18.6 million tonnes, 3.1 million tonnes and 1.44 million tonnes respectively.
Gene Editing With CRISPR-Cas9: The Next Step In Human Evolution Will Be Worth $25 Billion By 2030
Forbes | Posted onDecember 28, 2017 in Agriculture NewsCRISPR-Cas9 tools have recently created a buzz in the global healthcare industry, with the development of numerous applications-focused solutions—and intensifying patenting disputes. The invention of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tools is one of the greatest scientific revolutions of this generation. Despite major controversies around patenting rights and ethical challenges, CRISPR-Cas9 tools have gained popularity with the scientific community and life science companies, primarily due to their ability to accurately cut the DNA sequence.