AgClips
Recent AgClips
The changing politics of woods work
High Country News | Posted onNovember 2, 2017 in Rural NewsCash-strapped agencies use private contractors to the detriment of local communities. Hawkinson’s assertion that manual labor such as tree-planting, thinning timber and fuel-reduction logging is the kind of work that no modern Americans want to do comes up over and over again. There is, of course, a built-in conundrum in the question: As long as we have thousands of poor migrants, willing to plant our trees for $13.85 per hour or less, and as long as local Americans are actively discouraged from taking such jobs, we’ll never know the answer.
VT Lawmakers group to hold hearing at Statehouse for public feedback, new ideas on local economy
The Commons | Posted onNovember 2, 2017 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Vermont House Rural Development Caucus will hold a public hearing at the Statehouse, from 5-7 p.m., on Tuesday, Nov. 7, to hear from municipal, business, education, and nonprofit interests in rural Vermont about what issues are the most pressing. The Rural Development Caucus, also known as the Rural Economic Development Working Group, is a nonpartisan group of Vermont lawmakers that seeks to ensure that the needs of rural Vermont are considered when public policy is contemplated, debated, or enacted
KS:Sedgwick County officials woo Tyson on plant proposal
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onNovember 2, 2017 in Agriculture, Rural NewsEfforts to convince Tyson Foods Inc. to build a proposed $320 million chicken complex in Sedgwick County, Kan., include a letter signed by all five county commissioners, according to a published report. The letter said the panel is “ready to collaborate with (Tyson) regarding this venture and leverage many of our important partnerships." The letter touted the county’s “land mass, transportation system and agricultural framework to support the Tyson facilities,” the report said.
Ted Cruz is blocking Bill Northey's USDA appointment
Des Moines Register | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsIowa Secretary of Agriculture’s Bill Northey’s confirmation to a top post at the USDA – long thought to be a slam-dunk – is reportedly being held up over oil-versus-corn politics in the U.S. Senate. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is holding back Northey’s nomination as the Ag Department’s new undersecretary for farm production and conservation. The move comes despite wide support for Northey on the Senate Agriculture Committee. The reason? According to Politico’s unnamed sources, it’s a “reaction” to successful efforts by Iowa Sens.
Maine’s new food sovereignty law gets a last-minute overhaul
Civil eats | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Agriculture, Food, SARL Members and Alumni News“I think Maine is leading the way,” said State Senator Troy Jackson, the Maine Senate Democratic leader and original sponsor of the bill. “I think we’re really the first state to empower our local municipalities this way.” But in a special legislative session October 23 to address federal concerns about the new law, lawmakers added some clarification: When it comes to meat and poultry inspections, all farmers, regardless of where they conduct business in the state, must follow federal and state meat and poultry regulations.
Rural areas - already short on health resources - face enrollment hitches
North Carolina Health News | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Federal, Rural NewsWith enrollment assistance resources so strapped, it will be hard to reach out to rural consumers. “We had a booth at the PRIDE festival in Atlanta last Sunday, and someone said, ‘Why are y’all even here? Isn’t Obamacare dead?’” Ammons said. “And if they think that in Atlanta, you can only imagine what they think in south Georgia.”Health economist William Custer, who teaches at Georgia State University in Atlanta, echoed those fears about increases in the number of uninsured in rural Georgia.The effects of less insurance will be felt hard in those areas, he explained.
CAFOs get a break on emissions reporting under EPA guidance
Agri-Pulse | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsAnimal feeding operations (AFOs) are celebrating a big win with EPA’s announcement that they won’t be subject to certain emergency emissions reporting requirements. In guidance issued last week, the agency said that farms that use manure as part of their "routine agricultural operations" would not have to report emissions generated by that waste – such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide – to state and local authorities under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
Rehab programs sued for putting addicts to work for free at chicken plants
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Agriculture, Rural NewsA class-action lawsuit filed last week in Benton County, Ark., Circuit Court accuses two rehabilitation programs of violating Arkansas law prohibiting slavery by forcing drug addicts to work for free at chicken processing plants and a plastic manufacturing facility under threat of incarceration.
Argentina: For The First Time, Country Will Sell Wheat To Mexico
Market Insider | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsArgentina will sell wheat to Mexico for the first time in modern history, said the Minister of Agroindustry, Ricardo Buryaile. The first shipment, with a volume of 30,000 tons of wheat, will be dispatched during the first half of December, the Argentinean minister added."This sale is the result of the efforts of the public and private sectors of both countries that have succeeded in reaching a consensus on the phytosanitary conditions required to enable it. This export opens a new market for a crop with great productive growth in the last two years," Buryaile said.
Iowa refugee farming program gets federal funding boost
Des Moines Register | Posted onNovember 1, 2017 in Federal NewsA program that helps refugees in Iowa become farmers is growing, thanks in part to a federal funding boost. Organizers with Des Moines-based Lutheran Services in Iowa will use a $24,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to offer training to refugees about food safety, organic production and crop planning.The grant expands beyond previous USDA awards for the program. It solidifies a yearslong effort to expand the program from one that only offers community garden plots to one that also provides intense one-on-one training so some participants can start independent businesses.