AgClips
Recent AgClips
Feds offer prizes for innovative ways to fight drug-resistant bacteria
Food Safety News | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Federal NewsTwo federal programs are coordinating on $20 million in prizes for all phases of competition for new, innovative, and novel laboratory diagnostic tests to combat the development and spread of drug-resistant bacteria. Announced Sept. 8 by the National Institutes of Health and the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the competition — the Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Challenge — is designed to tackle what officials call “a rising public health threat.”
Motor Carrier Administration proposes pilot program for veterans
Ag Retailers Association | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Federal NewsThe U.S.
Independent Seed Companies Facing Consolidation and Economic Challenges
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThere was a time when most seed companies were local and family-owned. Today, global corporations dominate the seed business. As a result, family-owned, seed operations are facing some tough challenges. The Dow DuPont merger, the Syngenta buyout, and the proposed Monsanto Bayer merger are changing the nature of the seed business. How are small family companies surviving?
Opinion: Agriculture should dig deep into social purpose
Agri-Pulse | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Food NewsWhile purpose-driven organizations can't be manufactured and must be rooted in authenticity, there are tools to help define an organizational purpose. In our view, there could be no better sector suited for purpose-driven planning than agriculture. After all, food - healthy and sustainable food - is the foundation not only for health and wellness, but also for allowing people and societies at large to thrive. Add to that a growing food culture, and the opportunity is ripe for purpose-driven food and agriculture organizations.
Assessment Matrix valuable tool for Nebraska livestock siting
Nebraska.gov | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Agriculture NewsNebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach, in consultation with an appointed committee, has approved a matrix designed to assist local officials in evaluating livestock siting applications. The development of the assessment matrix is a result of LB 106 which was passed by the Nebraska Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2015. Under the bill, NDA was directed to create the assessment matrix based on input from a committee appointed by the NDA director.
Research reveals eggs from small flocks just as likely to contain Salmonella
Food Safety News | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Food NewsPenn State researchers have found that eggs from small flocks of chickens are more likely to be contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis than eggs sold in grocery stores, which typically come from larger flocks. That conclusion was drawn from a six-month study done last year in Pennsylvania. Researchers from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences collected and tested more than 6,000 eggs from more than 200 selling points across the state for the study.
Study Says Influx of Dead Trees Can Be Handled Through Co-Burning
25 X 25 Blog | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Energy NewsResearchers at the University of Wyoming say a vast number of trees killed by a bark beetle population that is rapidly expanding due to higher temperatures could be sustainably co-fired in coal plants.
The West’s widening healthcare gaps
High Country News | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Rural NewsFor Clements and a growing population of the most vulnerable — the elderly, disabled and uninsured — access to health care is becoming an increasingly urgent issue. The West’s rural areas, as data from the American Medical Association and U.S. Census Bureau show, are simultaneously experiencing a higher demand for services and a decrease in the number of doctors and others qualified to provide those services. In the most extreme examples, some Western counties have seen their elderly populations increase by nearly 60 percent.
Telemedicine shrinks the West’s vast health desert
High Country News | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Rural NewsEvery minute counts during a stroke. Blood-thinning drugs and surgery can prevent traumatic brain injury, but doctors must act fast: A life-saving procedure called a clot retrieval, for instance, is only effective within about eight hours of a stroke’s onset. A drug called tPA, which dissolves stroke-inducing blood clots, must start acting within about four hours. Moreover, a wrong move can be deadly when treating a stroke patient. Few rural emergency room doctors are trained to confidently make such high-stakes calls.
Mapping the Farm Bill: Farm and Farm Operators
Farm Doc Daily | Posted onSeptember 19, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAccording to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the United States is home to 2,109,303 farms. The Census defines a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, in the reference year. The distribution of farms across Congressional districts (114thCongress) is shown in Figure 1. As expected, farms are heavily concentrated in the Great Plains, Midwest, and Mississippi Delta regions. As we discussed previously, the traditional farm coalition is comprised of three major commodities: corn, cotton, and wheat.