AgClips
Recent AgClips
Another ammonia case dismissed, but the environmentalists will keep fighting
Farm Futures | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Agriculture NewsA second suit was filed in January, 2016 by HSUS, Association of Irritated Residents, Environmental Integrity Project, Friends of the Earth, and Sierra Club against EPA. Plaintiffs filed their original petition to regulate ammonia from CAFOs in 2009. On September 19, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the environmental groups’ second request to force EPA to regulate ammonia and other emissions of pollutants from CAFOs. The environmental groups are unlikely to stop their effort to regulate ammonia.
In push for G.M.O.s, China battles fears of 8-legged chickens
NY Times | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Food NewsFor many in China, the term “genetically modified food” evokes nightmares: poisoned seeds, contaminated fields, apocryphal images of eight-legged chickens. China and the global agricultural industry are betting billions of dollars that they can change those perceptions. They are starting with farmers like Li Kaishun. Mr. Li is an agricultural thought leader.
NRCS rolls out regs for new Ag Conservation Easement Program
Agri-Pulse | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Federal NewsFewer acres would be purchased as easements to protect wetlands and other sensitive lands under the new Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which is replacing three programs repealed by the 2014 farm bill. The Natural Resources Conservation Service published its final rule for ACEP in the Oct.18 Federal Register, after accepting comments on an interim final rule issued in May 2015.
New video "exposes" cruelty in cage free hens
NY Times | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in NewsDirect Action Everywhere, an all-volunteer animal advocacy group, released a video of a stealth visit to a cage-free barn in California that produces eggs sold at Costco under its private label brand, Kirkland. The video shows dead birds on the floor and injured hens pecked by other chickens. One bird had a piece of flesh hanging off its beak. The video focuses on a hen that Direct Action rescued and named Ella. When the organization found her in the cage-free barn, she was struggling to pull herself up and had lost most of her feathers.
New Jersey Has a Bold Plan to Turn Supermarket Food Waste Into Energy
Grub Street | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Food NewsA new proposal by Jersey lawmakers is poised to make the Garden State a serious player in the food-waste fight. Under a bill that’s moving through the legislature, restaurants, supermarkets, hospitals, and other establishments that produce considerable food waste (104 tons per year at first, then 52 tons after the first three years) would be required to separate and save all leftover scraps. These scraps would then be converted into renewable energy used to power homes, schools, and businesses statewide.
Zearalenone reported in US corn crop
Watt Ag Net | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe first report of zearalenone (ZEA) in this year’s U.S. corn crop has come in, along with an additional report of deoxynivalenol (DON). DON has been found in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Indiana. Fumonisin has been found in corn from Missouri, Texas, Illinois and Oklahoma.
Service dog or pet? Maine clarifies law
Portland Press Herald | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Rural NewsThose who try to pass off pets as service animals in Maine now face a $1,000 fine under a new law. The Maine Human Rights Commission says many people in the disability community are unaware of the changes, which include a new category called assistance animals. Such animals are either trained or determined to be necessary to provide comfort and support to people with physical or mental disabilities.
L.A. schools allow chocolate milk back in
Los Angeles Times | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Food NewsAfter a five-year drought, chocolate and strawberry milk are making their way back into public school lunchrooms in Los Angeles. With a vote of 6 to 1, the Los Angeles Unified School District loosened a district-wide ban on sugary, flavored milk that took effect in 2011. The board approved a pilot program to study the effects of reintroducing flavored milk in a small group of schools, all of which must volunteer to take part in the experiment. t is not that board members believe children aren’t consuming enough sugar.
Alienation rates in politics higher in rural areas than in cities
Daily Yonder | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Rural NewsA new poll finds a stark geographic division in the nation’s culture and politics. The study was conducted by Gallup for the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. The polling finds deep distrust in the nation’s institutions and leaders.
Syngenta Pursues Appeal
DTN | Posted onOctober 20, 2016 in Agriculture NewsSyngenta is challenging a federal judge's ruling that creates a major class of farmers who could have been damaged as part of the ongoing lawsuit on Viptera corn. Syngenta filed an appeal last week with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver over a case in which corn farmers are seeking more than $5 billion in damages against the company. "The decision below certified nine classes collectively seeking over $5 billion in damages on novel and dubious theories that Chinese rules on genetically modified (GM) traits for corn seeds should have dictated defendants' practices in the U.S.,"