AgClips
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‘Solar for All’: Can Illinois energy bill live up to ambitious promises?
Midwest Energy News | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Energy, SARL Members and Alumni NewsAfter months of negotiations and surviving a contentious budget battle in the state legislature, the hard work of enacting Illinois’ comprehensive energy bill is underway.The Future Energy Jobs Act calls for the installation of about 2,700 MW of solar in Illinois by 2030, a dramatic increase from the state’s current 75 MW. “It’s going to be crazy, and it’s going to be really exciting,”said Lesley McCain, executive director of the Illinois Solar Energy Association.
New European study links antibiotic use to antibiotic resistance
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Food NewsThe link between the use of antibiotics in humans and food-producing animals and subsequent antibiotic resistance has been confirmed, according to a new study by three European food and medical agencies.The European Food Safety Authority, the European Medicines Agency and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said the results of the study reflect improved surveillance across Europe when it comes to antibiotics consumption.The study indicates that overall antibiotic use is higher in food-producing animals than in humans, but the situation varies across countries and accordin
New Hampshire greenhouseproject gets $25 million federa loan
Berlin Daily Sun | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsNorth Country Growers LLC has been awarded a $25 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agricultural Rural Development for its hydroponic greenhouse project and expects to finalize purchase of the property this week.The state’s Congressional delegation announced Tuesday that the loan had been approved for construction of two 10-acre high tech greenhouses that will produce eight million pounds of tomatoes and 15 million heads of lettuce annually. It is also expected to create 80 full-time jobs.Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier called the announcement great news for the city and region.
Infrastructure: Aging River Locks in the Corn Belt Prove Costly
Farm Policy News | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsShane Shifflett reported that, “For American producers who rely on the nation’s waterways to export and distribute billions of tons of grains, coal and chemicals each year, aging locks systems on rivers and the frequent delays they cause cost more than just time.“‘If we have a barge stopped on the Upper Mississippi…commodities sit there until the problem is fixed,’ says Rick Calhoun, president of Cargill Carriers, the Minnetonka, Minn.-based barge operator for the largest U.S. agricultural company by sales.
NAFTA ‘benefits both sides,’ says MacAulay
The Guardian | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsFarmers and producers in the western states see the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as providing benefits to both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, says Canada’s minister of agriculture and agri-food. Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay was in Portland and Oregon recently to promote the importance of the bilateral trade relationship between the Canadian and the U.S. agriculture sectors.
Potato Chip-Fed Beef is Taking Off in Philadelphia
Food and Wine | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Food NewsWho are these special cows, you ask? They're snack company Herr's cattle. And you can taste them—as steaks, burgers, and more—at a few restaurants in the Philadelphia area. Herr has long had cattle on more than 1,000 acres of farmland near their eastern Pennsylvania headquarters. The cows graze on grass watered by the company's otherwise unusable gray-hued wash—turned that unpleasant color after scrubbing potatoes—and they're fed a diet made up of the company's unsellable snacks. Don't worry: nutritionists helped develop their odd diet, which even includes cheese curds.
White House commission on drug abuse recommends increasing Medicaid spending
Think Progress | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Federal NewsThe President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, established by President Donald Trump in March in response to a nationwide epidemic, publicly released their interim recommendations. The commission, which is chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), said the best way to “rapidly increase treatment capacity” is to expand the availability of treatment under Medicaid with more federal funds.
In California's poultry plants, refugees fill the vacuum left after President Bush's immigration raid
The Los Angeles Times | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsAl Souki does not complain. He fled war-torn Syria and worked backbreaking 12-hour shifts in his home country and Jordan before making his way to the United States. He is grateful for the $10.50 an hour he collects at the poultry plant. “I like work. I need work,” he said in the smattering of English he has picked up. “Without work, not a man.” Al Souki needs the work—and employers in the meatpacking industry say they need workers like him. Refugees have increasingly become vital workers in an industry with high turnover.
Who really owns American farmland?
New Food Economy | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThink of it this way: If you wanted to buy Iowa farmland in 1970, the average going price was $419 per acre, according to the Iowa State University Farmland Value Survey.By 2016, the price per acre was $7,183—a drop from the 2013 peak of $8,716, but still a colossal increase of 1,600 percent. For comparison, in the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than half as fast, from $2,633 to $21,476. Farmland, the Economist announced in 2014, had outperformed most asset classes for the previous 20 years, delivering average U.S. returns of 12 percent a year with low volatility.
The Great Corn Clash Is Coming as U.S., Brazil Farmers Face Off
Bloomberg | Posted onAugust 2, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsBrazilian farmers are in the midst of collecting their biggest corn harvest ever and American supplies are also plentiful -- setting the stage for a stiff battle to win world buyers in the second half of the year. It’s a turnaround from just a year ago when U.S. exporters were seeing sales boom as a drought plagued Brazil’s fields. This year, the South American growers enjoyed much better weather and crop supplies have gotten so big that farmers are already short on storage after collecting a massive soybean harvest just a few months earlier.