AgClips
Recent AgClips
A New CRISPR System for RNA
genengnews | Posted onJune 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsWhile the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system has been “burning up the charts”, so to speak, with its extraordinary versatility and potential for treating a host of diseases, until now its editing capabilities have been limited to DNA. Whereas DNA editing makes permanent changes to the genome of a cell, a CRISPR-based RNA-targeting approach would allow investigators to make temporary changes that can be tuned up or down, and with greater specificity and functionality than existing methods for RNA interference.
Worker shortage hits consumers
Winnipeg Free Press | Posted onJune 13, 2016 in Federal NewsA severe shortage of workers is costing Canada’s farm industry an estimated $1.5 billion a year in lost revenue and is driving up the cost of food for Canadian consumers, anew industry study states. The study, conducted by the Conference Board of Canada on behalf of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, found there are currently about 59,000 unfilled farm jobs in Canada. And that number is expected to balloon to 114,000 by 2025, as the demand for food and agriculture-industry workers continues to grow and older workers retire.
Animal rights group files complaint against Washington State University over bear deaths
KTUU | Posted onJune 13, 2016 in Federal NewsAn animal rights group has filed a complaint against Washington State University, asking the federal government to fine the university over the deaths of two grizzly bears and the overdosing of three bighorn sheep. A group called Stop Animal Exploitation Now asked the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to fine the university $10,000 for each infraction cited in an April 26 inspection report by the agency.
Investigating Retail Price Premiums for Organic Foods
USDA - Amber Waves | Posted onJune 13, 2016 in Food NewsERS research in 2005-06 found that organic premiums ranged from about 15 percent for onions and carrots to about 109 percent for skim milk. A recent ERS study set out to determine what price premiums consumers are paying for organic foods and whether those premiums are declining over time. In estimating the retail price difference between 17 organic products and their nonorganic counterparts from 2004 to 2010, the researchers found that all organic products were more costly than their nonorganic counterparts and that the premium was above 20 percent for all but spinach.
Brazil faces corn shortage crisis
Agriculture.com | Posted onJune 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAfter Brazilian farmers watched a drought drop 2015/16 soybean yields, the second-corn harvest (safrinha) faces big yield losses due to adverse weather. While it will turn to the U.S. for some corn imports, Brazil's end users will look to Argentina to fill in the major supply gaps, marketwatchers have recently said.
Assaults on modern agriculture
The Hill | Posted onJune 9, 2016 in Agriculture NewsRejecting scientific advancements in agriculture may be in fashion, but this fad poses great dangers to the affordability and accessibility of food domestically and worldwide. In three weeks, the second-smallest state by population is set to create chaos in the U.S. food supply chain. Vermont’s mandatory labeling law for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) takes effect on July 1, with Maine and Connecticut planning to follow suit.
New Ohio laws allow breaking into cars to save kids and pets; first responders to treat pets
Cleveland.com | Posted onJune 9, 2016 in Rural NewsBills that allow people to break into vehicles to save children and animals have been signed into law by Gov. John Kasich and a third will likely become law. The first law protects people from civil liability and damages. Protection from civil liability would only apply if the person also calls the police or 9-1-1 and believes leaving the child or animal in the vehicle would lead to injury or death. The law's supporters said it would reduce the number of heatstroke-related deaths among children by allowing good Samaritans to act without hesitation.
As Young Depart, State Looks For Strategies to Keep Them
Hartford Courant | Posted onJune 9, 2016 in Rural NewsThough young graduates moving out of the state isn't a new phenomenon, it's an issue that has become increasingly important as some of Connecticut's biggest businesses begin pondering whether to leave. Many companies say attracting and retaining young talent, with the technological skills the baby boomer generation lacks, is vital to their economic future.
An All-In Response to the Opioid Crisis
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onJune 9, 2016 in Rural NewsBy its own calculations, this city of 50,000 on the Ohio River has the highest drug overdose death rate in a state ranked No 1 in the nation for overdose deaths. The city’s overdose death rate, at 119 per 100,000 last year, is nearly 10 times the national rate. It’s not a statistic that Huntington advertises in tourist brochures or welcome packages for students attending the local college, Marshall University. But Mayor Steve Williams said the worsening heroin problem was becoming so plain to everyone that “we had to define it, before it defined us.”
An All-In Response to the Opioid Crisis
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onJune 9, 2016 in Rural NewsBy its own calculations, this city of 50,000 on the Ohio River has the highest drug overdose death rate in a state ranked No 1 in the nation for overdose deaths. The city’s overdose death rate, at 119 per 100,000 last year, is nearly 10 times the national rate. It’s not a statistic that Huntington advertises in tourist brochures or welcome packages for students attending the local college, Marshall University. But Mayor Steve Williams said the worsening heroin problem was becoming so plain to everyone that “we had to define it, before it defined us.”