AgClips
Recent AgClips
Allen Harim to build large hatchery on Delmarva
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onOctober 25, 2016 in Agriculture NewsSeaford, Del.-based chicken producer and processor Allen Harim Foods announced plans to invest $22 million to build a state-of-the art hatchery in Dagsboro, Del., that will have an egg-set capacity of 2.5 million eggs per week.
The 6th District Court of Appeals has taken a stand by placing a higher value on companion animals.
Toledo Blade | Posted onOctober 25, 2016 in Rural NewsThe court recently remanded a 2015 civil suit over an injured dog back to Toledo Municipal Court for a hearing on damages awarded in the case by determining “substantial justice was not done” by the trial court in awarding the plaintiff only $400 — or the dog’s market value — in December. “We agree with and acknowledge that pets do not have the same characteristics as other forms of personal property, such as a table or sofa which is disposable and replaceable at our convenience,” the three-judge panel wrote in the decision. The original lawsuit filed in municipal court in April, 2015, sh
How poor management left Mexican wolves dangerously inbred
High Country News | Posted onOctober 25, 2016 in Rural NewsOn the surface, things seemed to be looking up for the entire Mexican wolf population. In 1998, after Mexican wolves were poisoned and shot out of existence here, the Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced 11 wolves, with the initial goal of growing their numbers to 100. After years of struggle, the population crossed that threshold for the first time in 2015. Biologists counted 110 animals, a 25 percent increase over the previous year. M1296 was among 97 wolves counted in this year’s census. Yet trouble lurks even in these historic numbers.
USDA Invests Over $300 Million to Help Hundreds of Small Businesses Improve Energy Efficiency, Adopt Renewable Energy Systems
USDA | Posted onOctober 25, 2016 in Federal NewsAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $300 million to help hundreds of small businesses across the country save money on their energy costs by adopting renewable sources or implementing more efficient energy options. Vilsack made the announcement at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, today during a meeting with several local business owners who will make use of these loans and grants.
N.Y. negotiates national settlement with Cigna on opioid treatment
USA Today | Posted onOctober 24, 2016 in Rural NewsThe insurer Cigna will no longer require pre-authorization for prescriptions to treat opioid addiction under the terms of a national settlement announced late Thursday by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Doctors and patients complain that while it may be common to require doctors to get prior approval for other prescriptions, a delay in getting medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for heroin addiction can be deadly, as addicts can easily relapse and overdose. While pre-authorizations should just take hours, it can often take days if there are problems with the paperwork.
Pork piling up as export pace slowing: Rabobank
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onOctober 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsA glut of U.S. pork at a time when Chinese imports are slowing will pressure global pork prices in the months ahead, Rabobank said in its latest quarterly pork report. “Prospects for 2017 are weak, with global trade expected to stabilize and all main producers in expansion mode, making supply discipline key to the outlook," Rabobank animal protein analyst Albert Vernooij said.
Mountaire Farms gets $2.3 million in tax incentives for N.C. plant project
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onOctober 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsA local tax incentive package totaling some $2.3 million over the next six years will help Mountaire Farms reopen and possibly expand a former Townsends chicken processing plant in Siler City, N.C. The Chatham County board of commissioners approved about $1.5 million in the form of a property tax refund, and the Siler City town council also approved a property tax incentive worth about $800,000.
WI:State may expand funding for dairy farm digesters
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Posted onOctober 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe state's utility regulator is planning to spend more money on energy projects in rural Wisconsin, including a plan to help underwrite the use of systems that convert cattle manure into electricity. The state Public Service Commission voted on Thursday to authorize at least $7.7 million in funding for rebates for solar, wind and geothermal projects around the state that would keep in place a rebate program for energy consumers. The program, Focus on Energy, provided $8.5 million in rebates over the past two years.
Keep it simple, states: Community solar developers say complex regulations stifle growth
Utility Drive | Posted onOctober 24, 2016 in Energy NewsCommunity solar’s dilemma is described in the old saying that a giraffe is a horse designed by a committee. Community solar was supposed to be the “promised land” where utilities, solar advocates, and environmentalists could forget bickering over net energy metering (NEM) and fight together for economically-viable clean energy.
Industry study: Value of Iowa wind energy outweighs its costs
Midwest Energy News | Posted onOctober 24, 2016 in Energy NewsThe wind resource in Iowa is so productive and the cost of wind energy has been falling so precipitously that the value of wind now far exceeds its cost there, according to an industry study released this week. The analysis, conducted by the American Wind Energy Association at the request of the non-profit Wind Energy Foundation, also claims that doubling the state’s installed wind capacity would lower the cost of power so much that the typical residential customer’s monthly bill would fall, possibly by as much as $10.