AgClips
Recent AgClips
Utilities vote to close Navajo coal plant at end of 2019
Arizona Central | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Energy NewsThe utilities that own the Navajo Generating Station coal-fired power plant near Page are tired of overpaying for power and decided Monday to close the plant when their lease expires at the end of 2019. To run that long, the utility owners need to work out an arrangement with the Navajo Nation, which owns the land, to decommission the plant after the lease expires. Otherwise, the owners will have to close at the end of this year to have time to tear down the plant's three generators and be gone by 2020.
MN:Appeals Court to decide Dodge County hog farm lawsuit pitting pollution vs. water
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Agriculture NewsA bitter three-year community fight over a hog feedlot in Dodge County has landed before three state Court of Appeals judges who are now being asked to decide a question that environmentalists see as critical to the future of clean water in Minnesota. What obligation do county governments in rural areas have to protect their citizens from the impact of a growing livestock industry?
Roadway and Bridge Improvement Calculator
Illinois Soybean Association | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Rural NewsThe Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff program is launching a new Roadway and Bridge Improvement Calculator, an online service intended to help local communities better plan road and bridge projects. Simple, customizable and fast, the calculator will allow communities to save time and money during budgeting and planning stages so that more financial resources can be put toward the actual improvement of roads and bridges. Wagner acknowledges county and city engineers, town officials and others need to consider many factors when planning road and bridge projects.
CA:Egg farm faces first Proposition 2 violation charges
Watt Ag Net | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Agriculture NewsA California egg producer is facing criminal charges in the first case of Proposition 2 violations since the rules took effect. Hohberg’s Poultry Ranches allegedly kept too many hens in cages and were not in compliance with California law. An investigation of the farm was launched after a complaint was filed a year ago to the Inland Valley Humane Society.
Young Farmers seek help from state agency to ship produce across state lines
Augusta Free Press | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Agriculture News“We’d rather have the state come out and inspect farms instead of the federal government,” said Kyle Sturgis, a Northampton County vegetable producer and one of a dozen VFBF Young Farmers who visited the Virginia General Assembly Feb. 6. A focus of their discussions with legislators was SB 1195, sponsored by Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Montross. The bill would allow farmers subject to the produce rule to work with VDACS instead of the FDA to comply with the new rule. Even the FDA has requested that states carry out the rule; to date 41 other states have entered into agreements to do so.
Hemp making a splash in pilot programs
Farm and Dairy | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Agriculture NewsHemp isn’t marijuana. But the reputation that accompanies marijuana seems to be stunting the growth of what could be America’s next cash crop. By some estimates, hemp is used in 25,000 products worldwide. The U.S. market, estimated at $600 million, is supplied totally by imported hemp today.
Growing Organic Demand Provides High-Value Opportunities for Many Types of Producers
USDA | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in NewsIn 2015, the Organic Trade Association estimated U.S. organic retail sales at $43.3 billion, showing double-digit growth during most years since 2000, when USDA set national organic standards. The United States had over 21,700 certified organic operations in 2015—60 percent were crop and livestock farmers, while 40 percent were processors, manufacturers, and other food handling operations. Since setting national organic standards, USDA has streamlined trade arrangements with multiple foreign governments to expand international markets for U.S.
Lawmakers aim to boost Central Illinois agricultural economy
Herald & Review | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Rural NewsLegislation introduced in Springfield could boost efforts to attract bio-based businesses to Decatur and Central Illinois.The legislation introduced by state Sens. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, and Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, would provide incentives to produce and sell new renewable products made from biomass and other renewable sources. The potential exists for Decatur to be at the center of a new $20 billion biotechnology industry, Rose said. “The potential for jobs is here,” Rose said. “We have something no one else has to offer.
Report: Privatized Medicaid program serves fewer people, costs more
Houston Chronicle | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Rural NewsThe privatization of a state program that transports poor Texans to medical appointments has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars more while serving fewer than half as many people, according to a Legislative Budget Board report that some officials tried to withhold from the public.
Disposal of 200 million pounds of cull onions challenge growers
Capital Press | Posted onFebruary 14, 2017 in Food NewsThe Idaho-Oregon onion industry, which was hit hard by the collapse of dozens of storage and packing buildings in the Treasure Valley area this winter, faces another large challenge. Upward of 200 million pounds of onions that were ruined when the buildings collapsed under the weight of snow and ice have to be disposed of in the next two months. But both states have special requirements for the disposal of cull onions to prevent an outbreak of onion maggot, which can devastate onion and other vegetable crops.