AgClips
Recent AgClips
A tough row
Storm Lake News | Posted onApril 1, 2019 in Agriculture NewsSuicide rates are soaring among the last of the independent Wisconsin dairy farmers getting squeezed out by consolidation and a USDA program that isn’t helping. Net farm income has dropped in half in the Midwest over the decade. Iowa corn and soy farmers have lost money five years in a row. Loan delinquencies are at their highest levels since the Farm Debt Crisis of the mid-1980s.“Farmers and bankers are having difficult conversations,” said Aaron Heley Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, himself a crop and livestock farmer from central Iowa.
Massachusetts advances bill to offset loss of federal funding for family planning
AP News | Posted onApril 1, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Massachusetts House overwhelmingly approved $8 million Wednesday to offset the potential loss of federal funding to women’s reproductive health organizations under a new Trump administration rule. Twenty Republicans joined the vast majority of House Democrats in voting 140-14 to send the bill to the Senate, where approval is likely on Thursday. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has also voiced his support for providing state money to close any gap in funding in the family planning program known as Title X.
Maryland House OKs bill to create a prescription drug price board for government employees
Baltimore Sun | Posted onApril 1, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Maryland House of Delegates approved Wednesday a bill that would create a state board to set limits on how much state and local governments pay for medicines for their employees and retirees. The bill was approved largely along party lines on a 98-40 vote, moving the measure to the state Senate for consideration.
Emails show FDA worry after romaine outbreaks
AP News | Posted onApril 1, 2019 in Food NewsAfter repeated food poisoning outbreaks tied to romaine lettuce, a U.S. food safety official shared his concerns in an internal email, saying the produce industry’s water testing “failed in an epic and tragic way.” How the industry tests water to grow leafy greens is “unacceptable” and needs to change, James Gorny, a senior adviser for produce safety at the Food and Drug Administration, wrote to agency leaders.The message last November, obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, came days before the agency warned people to avoid romaine ahead of Thanksgiving.
Debate over what is considered milk and how to label it heats up
WAFB | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsIf you walk through the dairy aisle, there’s quite the variety: two percent, whole milk, almond, and soy milk. Those last two are now in question as the battle over what is considered “milk” is heating up.Louisiana State Senator Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, has introduced a bill that would remove the term “milk” from anything that is not dairy. For farmers like Mike Brian, it could help sagging profits.Sen.
A Surplus Of Meat And Dairy Puts A Strain On U.S. Markets And Storage
WILL | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Federal NewsMeat and dairy are piling up across the U.S. It has cold storage places packed to the rafters, and the federal government, which subsidizes the agriculture industry, looking for ways to alleviate the problem, at least in the short-term. A combination of factors have led to this: increased production, flat demand despite near-record consumption of milk and cheese and trade issues. And in the long run, it’s unclear whether market forces will get production in line with demand.
Warren Takes Aim at Farm Programs That Brought You ‘Got Milk?’
Bloomberg | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Agriculture NewsAs part of her presidential platform, Elizabeth Warren is not just taking on big agriculture corporations like Bayer AG and Tyson Foods Inc. She’s also going after checkoff programs, which do marketing campaigns for commodities.Slogans like “Got Milk?”, “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner,” and “Pork: The Other White Meat” are what’s at stake. By law, growers pay a portion of their sales into checkoffs, which then promote the commodities. But that process is rigged against family farmers, the Democratic presidential candidate wrote in a Medium posting Wednesday that detailed her plans for U.S.
Bluetick coonhound signed into law as Tennessee's official state dog
Knox News | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsIt's official. The bluetick coonhound is Tennessee's state dog — as if that was a debatable subject.Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law officially making the beloved University of Tennessee mascot a state symbol. The bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Rep. Bill Beck, D-Nashville, in early February, sailed through the House and Senate with unanimous votes.
EAT-Lancet report corrected, critics say errors remain
Watt Ag Net (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Food NewsAn international study suggesting low-meat diets will slow global warming has received several corrections in recent weeks, but critics of the report say the corrections don’t go far enough. The medical journal indicated that several citations and internal references have been corrected; a paragraph regarding vitamin B12 deficiency in plant-based diets was also corrected. However, some scientists who reported errors in the EAT-Lancet report say they do not believe their concerns have been addressed.
USDA emergency funds reallocated to address Virulent Newcastle Disease in Chickens
Watt Ag Net | Posted onMarch 28, 2019 in Agriculture NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Sonny Perdue are making available an additional $45 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and its partners to address the ongoing virulent Newcastle disease (vND) outbreak in southern California. This funding will allow APHIS and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to strengthen their joint efforts to stop the spread of this disease and prevent it from affecting additional commercial flocks. vND has been confirmed in more than 435 backyard flocks since May 2018.