AgClips
Recent AgClips
The real question on NAFTA and agriculture
The Hill | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe disruption of NAFTA withdrawal could affect family farmers on both sides of the border. Under WTO rules, Mexico has the right to raise tariffs substantially on many farm goods. The U.S. has mostly committed to lower tariff ceilings, but there are some exceptions, such as imports of red meat, for which the U.S. currently applies a 18 percent tariff on imports from non-NAFTA countries. However, both countries could decide to apply tariff rates (which would apply to all trading partners) that are much lower than the ceilings they have committed to under the global trade rules.
Low food prices are hurting farm state economies
Wall Street Journal | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture NewsSouth Dakota and Iowa are the only two states in the country where gross domestic product fell in the second quarter. Ultra-low crop and livestock prices stemming from a global oversupply have squeezed farm incomes, pulling down Iowa’s GDP 0.7% and South Dakota’s 0.3% from the prior quarter.Elsewhere, low farm prices dented growth in 23 other states but not enough to tip them into decline, the Commerce Department said in a recent report. Overall, U.S. GDP advanced 2.8% nationwide during the same period.
California extends vote on dairy quota program
Capital Press | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe department has sent out 1,054 ballots, and only 400 had been returned before the deadline was extended from Dec. 4 to Dec. 22. At least 51 percent of eligible producers must vote to advance a stand-alone quota program if California joins the federal milk marketing order system.
Some Idaho milk producers lose contracts
Capital Press | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIncreasing milk production and buyers’ inability to continue to move excess milk out of state is expected to reduce Idaho’s dairy herd by 10,000 cows in the next few months.he cause is an increase in milk supply and the inability of buyers to continue to move any oversupply to surrounding states because of high costs.
EPA: Farms to spend $14.9 million to report manure emissions
Capital Press | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Federal NewsU.S. farms will spend an estimated $14.9 million a year to report their livestock are giving off gas, a new federal requirement won by environmentalists.
13 states launch new legal challenge to California egg law
Capital Press | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture NewsMore than a dozen states banded together Monday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block a California law requiring any eggs sold there to come from hens that have space to stretch out in their cages. In a lawsuit filed directly to the high court, the states allege that California’s law has cost consumers nationwide up to $350 million annually because of higher egg prices since it took effect in 2015. The lawsuit argues that California’s requirements violate the U.S. Constitution’s interstate commerce clause and are pre-empted by federal law.
Everything you need to know about CRISPR gene editing
WIRED | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture NewsBiology has undergone a seismic shift as researchers around the globe have embraced a revolutionary technology called gene editing. It involves the precise cutting and pasting of DNA by specialized proteins—inspired by nature, engineered by researchers. But it’s Crispr, with its elegant design and simple cell delivery, that’s most captured the imagination of scientists.
Are the anti-GMO and anti-vaccine movements merging?
Cornell | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture NewsVisit the March Against Monsanto website and you'll see a strange ad peppering the pages, among the usual dubious stories about the evils of Monsanto, GMOs, pesticides and so on. It's an advert for a "docu-series" called Vaccines Revealed, claiming that it is "Exposing the biggest public health experiment... ever!".
FDA Releases Annual Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed in 2016 for Use in Food-Producing Animals
FDA | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal, Food NewsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration today published its annual report summarizing sales and distribution data for all antimicrobial drugs approved for use in food-producing animals. The 2016 report shows that antimicrobial sales decreased from 2015 to 2016, with domestic sales and distribution of all antimicrobials decreasing by 10 percent and domestic sales and distribution of medically important antimicrobials decreasing by 14 percent. In previous years (between 2009 and 2015), overall sales volumes increased annually.
Coping with fire loss, looking for solutions
Capital Press | Posted onDecember 7, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe owner of one small ranch in Washington state is trying to educate firefighters on the value of rangeland and change policy that allows them to disregard it.Like many ranchers throughout the West, Molly Linville is trying to recover from a horrific fire season, but she’s also is trying to change how firefighters view rangeland and a state wildfire policy that allows them to let it burn.“Firefighters look out here and they don’t see anything. It’s wasteland in their minds. I thought they didn’t care. I said I lost everything and I got blank looks.