AgClips
Recent AgClips
Maine towns look for ways to keep farmers on farms
Central Maine | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in NewsA new regional group hopes to help western Kennebec County municipalities help farmers in the face of development pressures and their own mortality. Members of Kennebec West, which so far includes residents from the towns of Manchester, Winthrop and Monmouth, plan to start their effort to help farmers by going directly to their subjects and talking to and surveying farmers, to learn their needs and what the group could do to help.
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against the State Fair of Texas
Big Tex | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsJudge Tonya Parker of the 116th District Court in Dallas has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the State Fair of Texas by the Austin law firm Riggs & Ray, P.C., which appeared to be acting to further the political agenda of a party that does not want the State Fair at Fair Park in Dallas. The lawsuit alleged that the State Fair is a “governmental body” subject to the Texas Public Information Act.
California conflagration prompts more calls for wildfire funding fix
Daily Yonder | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in Federal, Rural NewsIf Congress spent more money to prevent fires, it wouldn’t have to spend so much to fight them. Advocates and politicians from both parties agree. But that doesn’t appear to result in any action. We’ve grown accustomed to disagreement creating political impasse. But is political division so bad that there’s no progress even when folks agree on a solution? That’s the question Western conservation groups are asking as they push Congress to reform the way the government allocates funding to fight wildfires. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dylan Kruse of Sustainable Northwest.
Michigan bill would prevent public networks
Daily Yonder | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in Rural NewsHouse Bill 5099 would prohibit counties and cities from putting any public funds into a government-owned or -managed network. The tight restrictions would replace Michigan’s current municipal-network limitations.
What America Is Losing as Its Small Towns Struggle
The Atlantic | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in Rural NewsTo erode small-town culture is to erode the culture of the nation. Small towns have always risked losing young people for good, but especially after the Great Recession, the American economy has conspired against returners. Economic and agricultural concentration, declining industries, and lower wages aren’t giving younger people much reason to go home. Many small towns are becoming older, poorer, less educated. Small towns and rural areas send a disproportionate number of their children into the military. America’s food is grown around small towns.
Small Prairie Plantings Bring Big Rewards In Midwest Farm Fields
Wisconsin Public Radio | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in Agriculture NewsMuch of the Midwest is dominated by farming: rows and rows of soybeans and corn, with bare soil between the rows. But before farming took over, the dominant ecosystem was prairie.
U.S. ag organizations form coalition to support ag research funding
World-Grain | Posted onOctober 26, 2017 in Agriculture NewsA coalition of 66 ag-based organizations have joined together to focus on expanding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) research, education, and extension budget. In an effort to further the U.S. ag industry the coalition is working toward doubling the budget to $6 billion during the five-year life of the 2018 Farm Bill. The coalition submitted its request in a letter to U.S. House and U.S.
Survey shows farmers and ranchers struggling to hire employees
ABC News | Posted onOctober 25, 2017 in Agriculture NewsAccording to a survey done by the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF), farmers and ranchers are having an increasingly hard time finding, and hiring, people who are willing and qualified to work in the Ag industry. The survey conducted this summer showed that 55-percent of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages.
Labels can stigmatize conventionally produced foods: study
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onOctober 25, 2017 in Agriculture, Food NewsNew research from the University of Delaware concludes that food labels such as “organic” and “fair trade” can stigmatize foods produced with conventional processes even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm or that products are compositionally different. Such process claims often are not based on science and can cause consumers to misinterpret these labels and misalign their personal preferences and food purchases, the researchers said.
Supersized family farms are gobbling up American agriculture
Wall Street Journal | Posted onOctober 25, 2017 in Agriculture NewsLon Frahm may represent the future of farming. Inside a two-story office building overshadowed by 80-foot steel grain bins, he points to a map showing the patchwork of square and circular fields that make up his operation. It covers nearly 10% of the county’s cropland, and when he climbs into his Cessna Skylane to check crops from the air, he can fly 30 miles before reaching the end of his land. At 30,600 acres, his farm is among the country’s vastest, and it yields enough corn and wheat each year to fill 4,500 semitrailer trucks. Big operations like Mr.