AgClips
Recent AgClips
Dairy Cow Carcasses Pile Up Following California Heat Wave
NBC | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Agriculture NewsCentral California's largest rendering plant is overwhelmed by the number of cows that died during a June heat wave, so officials are allowing dairy farmers to bury or compost hundreds of carcasses. The unusual run of heat last month — including nine straight days of triple-digit temperatures — and a mechanical malfunction at Baker Commodities have contributed to the overload at the plant
Foreign investment in U.S. farmland on the rise
Des Moines Register | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIn 2013, the Chinese firm Shuanghui received wide public attention when it purchased U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods for a record $4.7 billion.In an overlooked part of the deal, Shuanghui also acquired more than 146,000 acres of farmland across the United States, worth more than $500 million, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. The deal made Shuanghui, now the WH Group Limited, into one of the biggest foreign owners of U.S.
EPA to Curb Sue-and-Settle; Lawmakers Want Briefing on New Policy
DTN | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in NewsFor many years, environmental and other interest groups have filed lawsuits to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct rulemakings on a variety of issues. During President Barack Obama's administration, his EPA faced sharp criticism for a seeming willingness to readily settle with those groups on such lawsuits, resulting in new rules being drafted. Now, the EPA reportedly is moving in a different direction. The chairmen of five different Congressional committees that conduct oversight of EPA last week asked new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and U.S.
Rural hospitals more likely to be unrated
Daily Yonder | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Rural NewsRural hospitals are nearly three times more likely than urban hospitals to lack a rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. That could lead to consumer confusion about the quality of care those facilities offer, UNC researchers say.
As coal dwindles, mining states trim safety inspections
My Blue Ridge Communications | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Energy NewsKathy Bartlett watched helplessly this spring as Kentucky lawmakers cut back on mine safety inspections and replaced them with coaching sessions on miners' safety habits.
Wind takes a blow as legislators OK deal on solar reform bill
Charlotte Business Journal | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in NewsThe N.C. House and Senate agreed to restore the solar compromise provisions of a reform bill on renewable energy regulation and cut a proposed wind moratorium from four years to 18 months. Duke Energy, a principal in the more than nine months of negotiations that led to the original House version of the "Competitive Energy Solutions for NC" act, welcomed the final result.The bill establishes a bidding procedure initiated by Duke for new solar construction and commits the company to seeking 2,660 megawatts worth of new solar projects over the next 45 months.
California Supreme Court upholds cap-and-trade law
Reuters | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Energy NewsThe California Supreme Court refused to consider a challenge by business groups of the state's cap-and-trade law, a ruling that environmentalists hailed as ending a legal fight that had cast a cloud over the program. The state supreme court did not issue a written opinion on the program itself but declined take up the case on appeal from a lower court. California's program to cap emissions and trade carbon permits is a crucial component of a broader effort to reduce the state's output of heat-trapping greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the end of the decade.
D.C. federal appeals court blocks Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to suspend Obama-era methane pollution rule
Pittsburgh Post Gazette | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Energy NewsA federal appeals court in Washington ruled Monday that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of a new rule requiring oil and gas companies to monitor and reduce methane leaks.In a split decision — the first major legal setback for Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator — the three-judge panel from the U.S.
After $3 billion spent, Keystone XL can't get oil companies to sign on
Fox Business | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in Energy NewsKeystone XL is facing a new challenge: The oil producers and refiners the pipeline was originally meant to serve aren't interested in it anymore. Delayed for nearly a decade by protests and regulatory roadblocks, Keystone XL got the green light from President Donald Trump in March. But the pipeline's operator, TransCanada Corp., is struggling to line up customers to ship crude from Canada to the U.S.
A Tale of Two Cheeses
Wisconsin's Magazine for the Life Sciences | Posted onJuly 6, 2017 in NewsHow the Center for Dairy Research helped Wisconsin makers of vastly different cheeses improve production and quality—and bring home top honors in international competitions. Many of the world’s greatest cheeses are made in Wisconsin. It’s a fact that begs the question: How do those cheeses get to be great?A key ingredient is the Center for Dairy Research (CDR), based at CALS and operated with funds from dairy farmers, dairy food manufacturers and processors, and other industry partners.