AgClips
Recent AgClips
Ash loggers race against time before beetles get them all
Bradenton Herald | Posted onMarch 4, 2019 in Agriculture NewsLoggers in snowy forests are cutting down ash like there's no tomorrow, seeking to stay one step ahead of a fast-spreading beetle killing the tree in dozens of states. The emerald ash borer has been chewing its way through trees from Maine to Colorado for about two decades, devastating a species prized for yielding a light-grained hardwood attractive enough for furniture and resilient enough for baseball bats. Many hard-hit areas are east of the Mississippi River and north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Secretary Perdue urges farmers to fight “Fear Your Food” movement
Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network | Posted onMarch 4, 2019 in Agriculture NewsIt is the battle we are facing in agriculture. People who are working hard every day to produce food to feed a growing population, being met by people who want to tear down those efforts and paint farmers as evil. Activists are a mounting threat to producers, and they have a new movement; “Fear Your Food”. To farmers, it seems counter-productive to want to protest about those who are trying to feed the world. However, this is the case.
‘They’re cutting everything’: As coal disappears, Appalachians lose access to basic services
Southerly Magazine | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Energy, Rural NewsIn early February, Martin County, Kentucky Sheriff John Kirk took to Facebook to announce that his office was unable to continue providing law enforcement, warning residents to protect themselves instead. “I have had to operate the last little bit with just myself and one other paid deputy. There are volunteers that help when they can,” he wrote. “I am going to have to cut even more tomorrow. I have no choice.
Court advances Organic Trade Association’s organic animal welfare lawsuit
Globe News Wire | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Agriculture NewsThe Organic Trade Association on Thursday hailed the ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the association has presented solid arguments that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s failure to put into effect new organic livestock standards has caused harm to the organic sector, and that the association has the legal standing to contest the agency’s withdrawal of the rule.
Arizona House OKs requiring labels that almond milk is 'fake or alternative milk'
Tucson.com | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Food, SARL Members and Alumni NewsLawmakers voted Wednesday to prohibit sale of “almond milk” in Arizona for the reason that almonds do not lactate.Consumers could still buy that product.
Washington legislators remake hemp program
Capital Press | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsWashington lawmakers and the state Department of Agriculture are taking down barriers to growing hemp in time for spring planting, though how much farmers will pay in the future for the privilege has not yet been decided. The House Appropriations Committee unanimously endorsed a bill Tuesday that lifts a ban on moving harvested hemp across state lines. The bill also would allow hemp to be grown for CBD, an oil extract marketed for a wide range of ailments.Meanwhile, the agriculture department plans to abolish two rules by April 23.
Contamination from an Air Force base devastates a New Mexico dairy
High Country News | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Agriculture NewsThe 54-year-old second-generation dairy farmer learned last August that his water, his land, his crops — even the blood in his body — were contaminated with chemicals that migrated to his property from nearby Cannon Air Force Base. The toxins, collectively known as PFAS, have caused rampant pollution on military installations, something the Department of Defense has known about for decades but routinely failed to disclose. Now the state’s dairy industry is ground zero in an unprecedented crisis. For the first time ever, PFAS is threatening the U.S.
‘Things are not going to get better for a long time’
High Country News | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Rural NewsIn early February, John Gillander, an older man with a thick white mustache and wire-rimmed glasses, parked his red Ford Fiesta inside a county park in Mohave County, Arizona. Snow dusted the top of Hualapai Peak, which jutted into the sky. His mobile home burned down during November’s Camp Fire in Paradise, California, and everything Gillander owns fit in the back of his car. His two dogs — an English cocker spaniel named Charlie-Horse and a red border collie called Scarlet — have accompanied him on his wanderings ever since he fled the flames.
Nearly 1 out of 5 farm government loans delinquent
News Observer | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Agriculture NewsFarmers are struggling to pay back their loans after years of low crop prices, with farm delinquencies rates in Kansas and the nation the highest they have been in at least nine years.
China warns of “serious” impact of swine fever, cuts meal demand 5%
Agricensus (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 3, 2019 in Agriculture NewsA Chinese government agency said on Thursday that the situation regarding the current outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) is more serious than initially thought, estimating demand for soymeal will fall 5% as replenishment of pig stocks is “very low”. China’s National Grain and Oil Information Centre said in an emailed report that it had expected soymeal demand to fall almost 5% to 66.8 million mt this marketing year compared to last, mainly as a result of the outbreak.“The situation is more serious and the rate at which pig production capacity is falling exceeds our expectations.