AgClips
Recent AgClips
Oregon bill aims to prevent Trump environmental "rollbacks"
Capital Press | Posted onFebruary 7, 2019 in Federal, SARL Members and Alumni NewsA bill requiring Oregon government agencies to protect against “rollbacks” of federal environmental regulations has been dismissed as “political theater” by farm, ranch and timber organizations.
Sanderson Farms asks for penalties against activists in false ad lawsuit
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted onFebruary 7, 2019 in Agriculture NewsSanderson Farms Inc. is asking a federal judge in San Francisco to impose financial penalties on two advocacy groups suing the poultry processor for alleged false advertising claims. Sanderson wants Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court for Northern California to levy a $11,275 penalty against Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety.
Farm Belt Bankruptcies Are Soaring
The Wall Street Journal | Posted onFebruary 7, 2019 in Agriculture NewsA wave of bankruptcies is sweeping the U.S. Farm Belt as trade disputes add pain to the low commodity prices that have been grinding down American farmers for years. Throughout much of the Midwest, U.S. farmers are filing for chapter 12 bankruptcy protection at levels not seen for at least a decade, a Wall Street Journal review of federal data shows.
Dairy Report Says U.S. Exports to Japan Endangered
DTN | Posted onFebruary 7, 2019 in Agriculture NewsA study released Wednesday by the U.S. Dairy Export Council projects new trade agreements between Japan and other countries will put U.S. dairy exports at a competitive disadvantage, resulting in lost sales of $5.4 billion over 21 years. The Japanese dairy market, the fourth-largest export destination for U.S. dairy exports, is expected to continue to grow in years to come, but new trade agreements between Japan and Australia, New Zealand and the European Union will give the advantage to competitors, according to the study conducted by Tokyo-based Meros Consulting.
Maine lobster orders tank as Chinese turn to tariff-free Canada
Portland Press Herald | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsLunar New Year is supposed to be the busiest time of the year for Tom Adams, whose company, Maine Coast, used to sell millions of pounds of lobster to China. But the U.S.-China trade war has shut Maine Coast out of that market.His former customers in China now buy their lobster from Canada, where dealers can sell a hard-shell version without the 25 percent import tariff.
A new era in ag as record number of women hold top state jobs
Politco | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsA record number of women now lead state agriculture departments across the country, a leadership wave that reflects the industry's growing gender diversity. A total of 13 women have either been elected or appointed to head state agriculture departments, surpassing the prior record of ten women holding top ag offices, according to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
N.C. Supreme Court to hear challenge to Smithfield payments
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Agriculture NewsA legal challenge to the use of millions of dollars paid by Smithfield Foods Inc. to North Carolina is heading for the state Supreme Court. The seven-member panel agreed to hear appeals in a lawsuit questioning whether money the processor paid annually under a 2000 agreement with the state should have been applied to state education initiatives.The conservative public policy organization Civitas Institute won a challenge to the use of the funds in a state appellate court in September 2018.
Ground beef from only one steer hits retail market
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Food NewsFrisco, Texas-based Nurture Ranch has launched “Nurture Ranch 1 Steer Ground Beef,” a grass-fed ground beef product made from the meat from just one steer per pack and a code tracing the product history from birth to harvest. Typically, grinding applicable cuts of beef from multiple steers creates ground beef products. Nurture Ranch is marketing its product in grocery stores across the Southeast as “Product of the USA” and as a “cleaner” ground beef product. It is priced at $9 a pound.
Rural Profile 2019: Arkansas economy rises; rural growth behind
The Pine Bluff Commercial | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Agriculture NewsSince the end of the Great Recession in 2010, both Arkansas’ and the national economy have grown; however, the state’s rural areas have “grown only slightly since 2010 and have not even come back to pre-recession levels,” according to Wayne Miller, an author of the “2019 Rural Profile of Arkansas.”
'Speed gene' key to future of horse racing
Breaking News | Posted onFebruary 6, 2019 in Agriculture NewsA ‘speed gene’ can be used to identify whether racehorses are better suited to short, middle or long distance races.The effects of the gene were tested by matching it to the race records of more than 1,700 thoroughbred horses in Britain and Ireland.Lead author of the study Professor Emmeline Hill, associate professor of Equine Science at UCD, said the research established a clear relationship between the speed gene and a horse’s career earnings by distance.