AgClips
Recent AgClips
FSIS issues notice on humane handling and slaughter
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onJanuary 16, 2017 in Federal NewsUSDA’s Food Safety and Inspection service has issued a notice providing instructions to FSIS Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs), inspection program personnel (IPP) and District Veterinary Medical Specialists (DVMSs) about assessing and informing official livestock establishments whether their written systematic approach for humane handling and slaughter meets the criteria for being a robust plan or not.
U.S. lifts ban on French beef
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onJanuary 16, 2017 in NewsThe United States announced an end to a ban on imports of French beef that was in place for 19 years on concerns over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the European Commission said Friday. France becomes the fourth European country under BSE-related restrictions to receive the nod from the U.S., which earlier reopened to Ireland, Lithuania and the Netherlands.
Kansas CRP program featured in bobwhite quail conservation film
Hays Post | Posted onJanuary 16, 2017 in News“Bobwhites on the Brink,” a five-part film series by the syndicated television conservation news magazine, This American Land, examines the reasons for the nationwide decline of the bobwhite quail and the efforts being made to reverse the trend on the American landscape. In the fourth segment (#604) of the series, viewers are brought to Kansas in large part due to the success of the state’s Conservation Reserve Program in providing species habitat. The segment explores how agricultural operations in the U.S.
Rising Sea Levels, Coastal Development’s Effect on Gulf Coast Wetlands
SAT Press Releases | Posted onJanuary 16, 2017 in Agriculture NewsAs coastal development along the Gulf Coast continues to expand, tidal saline wetlands could have difficulty adjusting to rising sea levels. Tidal saline wetlands along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast, such as mangrove forests, salt marshes, and salt flats, face survival challenges as sea levels rise rapidly and development along coastlines continues to grow. But, a recently published U.S. Geological Survey study shows there is hope for some of these at-risk Gulf coast wetlands.
Refund:Milk purchased in these 15 states may get you $70 refund
King 5 | Posted onJanuary 16, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThanks to a class action settlement, Oregon residents who has purchased milk or milk products since 2003 may be entitled to a payment. The $52 million settlement over price-fixing of milk and milk products includes Oregon, 14 other states, and the District of Columbia. While the payment amounts will vary depending on the number of products and the number of submitted claims, a website for the settlements says consumers may receive up to $70. No proof of purchase is needed to be eligible. In order to be eligible, you must have purchased milk or milk products from a grocery store.
Communities get behind hybrid internet systems
Daily Yonder | Posted onJanuary 14, 2017 in Rural NewsGoogle stunned a few communities last June with the announcement that they were taking a break from fiber deployments and considering building hybrid wired/wireless networks. Suddenly, people started to publicly question whether fiber is the Holy Grail that communities assume it to be. Wireless in broadband has been deified, vilified, misunderstood, hyped to holy heaven, and in some circles, just plain ignored. To many, fiber can do no wrong, only become faster. Then came gig fiber. No, wait, now there’s gig wireless.
Peter Crabtree photos of rural newsrooms
Daily Yonder | Posted onJanuary 14, 2017 in Rural NewsI learned about Peter Crabtree’s work when my co-worker, Tim, yelled to me across the office, “Hey, Shawn, come look at these.” On his screen were black-and-white photographs of small-town newsrooms — the cluttered desks, a news staffer taking notes with a phone cradled under her chin, inexpensive wood paneling, police scanners, a writer intently looking at a computer as if her words might pop up on her screen any moment. We scrolled through Crabtree’s photographs and fell to telling stories about our own experiences in newsrooms.
Report ranks Iowa as top state for corporate access to clean energy
Midwest Energy News | Posted onJanuary 14, 2017 in Energy NewsAccording to a new report, companies looking for easy access to renewable energy should consider moving to Iowa. That state, followed by Illinois, topped a ranking released by the nation’s retail and tech sectors urging state governments to lower barriers to the further development of renewable energy. Ohio came in 8th. The report, assembled by Clean Edge on behalf of the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Information Technology Industry Council, comes just as state legislatures across the country are convening for their 2017 sessions.
Upper Midwest Land Values
Farm Policy News | Posted onJanuary 14, 2017 in Agriculture NewsLast month, in its third-quarter 2016 Agricultural Credit Conditions Survey, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis indicated that, “Following a trend from recent quarterly surveys, land prices and cash rents retreated from historic highs. The average value for nonirrigated cropland in the district fell by more than 3 percent from a year earlier, according to survey respondents.
USDA Announces $27 Million in Grants Available to Support the Local Food Sector
USDA | Posted onJanuary 14, 2017 in Federal NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced the availability of $27 million in grants to fund innovative projects designed to strengthen market opportunities for local and regional food producers and businesses. “These grants will continue USDA’s support for the local food sector as an important strategy for keeping wealth in rural communities,” said AMS Administrator Elanor Starmer. “Entrepreneurs around the country are creating jobs and new economic opportunities in response to growing consumer demand for local food.