AgClips
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What Would You Change About the Federal Government?
OFW Law | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in Federal NewsPresident Trump issued an Executive Order (Reorganization EO) on March 13 directing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit a comprehensive plan to reorganize Executive Branch departments and agencies. OMB has now issued a Memorandum for heads of Executive Departments and Agencies calling for a Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government an Reducing the Federal Civilian Workforce. The Memorandum calls for agencies to take immediate action to achieve near-term workforce reductions and cost savings, including planning for funding levels in the President’s Fiscal Year
Activist group sues Calif. schools for serving processed meats
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in Food NewsA national physicians group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two California school districts seeking to stop them from serving processed meats to students because of research linking the foods to colorectal cancer. The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said serving foods such as hot dogs, pepperoni and luncheon meat violates California’s Education Code, which mandates school lunches be of the “highest quality” and “greatest nutritional value possible.”
Sugar leader looks to spud industry’s example in facing critics
Capital Press | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in Food NewsA dietitian who heads the Sugar Association says her experience in defending potatoes from critics’ attacks will come in handy in improving perceptions about sugar. As a former staff member with the consulting firm Food Minds, Gaine assisted the National Potato Council in reversing restrictions on potatoes in the national school lunch program and in the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Swine veterinarians preparing for emergence of more diseases
AVMA | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in NewsAbout 1 million pigs cross state lines each week destined for other farms, where they are fed or bred, said Dr. Jeffrey J. Zimmerman. That total does not include pigs sent to slaughter. With that rate of migration, outbreak responses need to start within hours of discovering infectious diseases, he said.With more movement of pigs, trucks, and feed, the probability of a disease transmission event increases until it “becomes a certainty,” he said.Dr.
China's H7N9 bird flu death toll at 47 in March
Reuters | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in Federal NewsChina reported 47 human fatalities from H7N9 bird flu in March, the national health authority said on Wednesday, compared with 61 deaths in February. It also reported 96 cases of human infection from H7N9 bird flu for last month.
Large Stocks Heighten the Importance of Ag Trade- Focus on China, Mexico
Illinois Farm Policy News | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in News“In the United States, farmers facing a fourth straight year of declining incomes and rising debts are hanging on to grain in the hope of higher prices later. They may be waiting a long time: Market fundamentals appear to be weakening as the world’s top grain producers ponder what to do with so much food.” Meanwhile, Benjamin Parkin reported on Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “Soybean futures touched a one-year low during trading Tuesday as big South American crops exacerbate worries about the competitiveness of U.S. exports. “The U.S.
Sorry, your farm isn't a farm, Iowa assessors tell angry owners
Des Moines Register | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe land Steven Smith lives on has been farmed for more than 125 years. It's less than 10 acres, but Smith grows alfalfa and usually raises some cattle when prices are higher.But earlier this month, the Wright County assessor notified Smith and about 70 other property owners that their small farms will be assessed like the homes in Clarion, Eagle Grove and the other small towns they live around — rather than as agricultural properties.In other words, as far as his property taxes are concerned, Smith's farm is no longer a farm.The residential classification increases Smith's property values
Oregon Legislature says 'no' to GMO-free zones
Statesman Journal | Posted onApril 14, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsTwo bills that would have let Oregon communities ban genetically modified or engineered crops have died in committee. It’s the third time environmental and farm groups have tried and failed to pass the legislation, which they say is needed to prevent GE crops from contaminating organic and conventional crops.
The Myth of Main Street
New York Times | Posted onApril 13, 2017 in Rural NewsMain Street is a place but it is also an idea. It’s small-town retail. It’s locally owned shops selling products to hardworking townspeople. It’s neighbors with dependable blue-collar jobs in auto plants and coal mines. It’s a feeling of community and of having control over your life. It’s everything, in short, that seems threatened by global capitalism and cosmopolitan elites in big cities and fancy suburbs. Mr.
Convoys and social media come to rescue after wildfires
Daily Yonder | Posted onApril 13, 2017 in Agriculture NewsAdd instant communications to generosity and hard work, and what do you get? America's farmers and ranchers respond to the wildfire devastation in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. While the national media response was quiet, local press and farmers' social media took the story and ran. Simultaneously, farmers in other parts of the country started organizing relief efforts. With little national notice, farmers around the country have been sending thousands of truckloads of hay and supplies to burned-out ranchers. Social media has been the key to this volunteer effort of relief.