AgClips
Recent AgClips
Senators form new caucus to support rural broadband
Agri-Pulse | Posted onJuly 19, 2016 in Rural NewsA bipartisan group of five U.S.
Celery harvesters win $1 million in sexual harassment lawsuit
Monterey Herald | Posted onJuly 19, 2016 in Agriculture NewsTwo celery harvesters who claimed they were sexually harassed at work reached a $1 million settlement against a labor contractor after a jury found in their favor. Attorneys with California Rural Legal Assistance said their two clients, who did not want to be named, had worked for Jackpot Harvesting on and off from 2007 until 2011. In 2009 they filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after being subject to physical and verbal harassment, but the company did nothing to protect the women, the attorneys said in a statement.
Agriculture drying up in N.H. corrections
Concord Monitor | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe women spend three mornings a week preserving their small garden, the last remaining vestige of agriculture within the Department of Corrections after the state’s prison farm closed last year. To find any other inmates working in vegetable beds – or milking cows for that matter – one has to drive about two hours north to North Haverill. The Grafton County Farm is the last remaining county farm in the state. “Once they pull the plug, you just don’t get them back anymore,” said Grafton County Farm manager Donnie Kimball.
Hillandale Farms shifting to cage-free egg production
Watt Ag Net | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Agriculture NewsNew cage-free layer houses are being built in Ohio and Connecticut, while company will replace existing facilities with cage-free barns as they age
Low pathogenic avian flu detected in 3 US states
Watt Ag Net | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Agriculture NewsBirds test positive for low pathogenic avian influenza at live poultry markets in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.
Animal health authorities are conducting trace-back and testing at markets that have epidemiologic links to the affected markets, Hayden said. APHIS manages a joint system with states and the poultry industry to control low-pathogenic H5 and H7 in live-bird market systems and that states participating in the program have APHIS-approved response plans, she added.
What if antibiotics in animal feed make a comeback?
Watt Ag Net | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Food NewsEurope is resting after a long period of trying to remove growth promoting antibiotics from animal feeds. The U.S. is just starting, but it looks determined to take it one step further — that is, remove even antibiotics used for therapeutic purposes. To this end, we must keep in mind several Northern states of the European Union are already working to reduce the use of therapeutic antibiotics. So, one might be excused to believe the world is working against the notion of usinf antibiotics in animal production.
GMO labeling bill heads to the president
Meat + Poultry | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe US House of Representatives passed by a vote of 306 to 117 a bill that establishes mandatory, nationwide labeling requirements for food products containing bioengineered ingredients. The Senate passed the bill by a 63 to 30 vote on July 7. The bill was sent to President Barack Obama for his signature. It was expected the president will sign the bill into law. The bill nullifies the Vermont mandatory GMO labeling law that took effect July 1.
USDA Proposes Changes to Beef and Soybean Checkoff Programs
USDA | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Federal NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has proposed changes to both the beef and soybean checkoff programs that would allow producers, under certain circumstances, to request that their assessments paid to a qualified state board or council be redirected to the national program.
NIFA Announces $8.3 Million in Available Funding to Support Innovative Small Businesses
USDA | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Federal NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced more than $8.3 million in available funding to support small businesses in the creation of advanced research and development projects that will lead to innovative solutions for American agriculture. This funding is available through the Small Business Innovation Research program, administered by NIFA. Companies initially apply for Phase I feasibility studies, which may be followed by Phase II research and development projects.
U.S. corn yields set to plummet
Weather Trends 360 | Posted onJuly 18, 2016 in Agriculture NewsEverything was humming along in the U.S. Corn Belt in middle July 2011 up until the 3rd week of July when a major heat-wave and dry spell hit much of the Eastern half of the U.S. and the U.S. Corn Belt. Let's compare 2016 with 2011. First, let's compare meteorological Summer 1 June - 13 July here in 2016 compared to the same period in 2011. Eerily similar only this Summer has been hotter/drier than 2011 so far, except in Texas. Actually the extreme June temperatures in the Western and Southern Corn Belt in June this year were much worse in 2016 than they were in 2011.