Agriculture

North Dakota's attorney general is suing the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline over agricultural land the company owns in violation of a state law banning large corporations from owning farmland. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem filed a civil complaint in state district court against Dakota Access LLC, a company formed by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners to build the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. The pipeline began operating a year ago. [node:read-more:link]

Black farmers, whose numbers already have dwindled precipitously over the past century, face new hardships after suffering poor yields last year because they were sold "fake" soybean seeds marketed at a Memphis trade show, members of a group representing African-American growers said. Leaders of the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association have filed a class-action lawsuit against Stine Seed Co., the nation's largest independent seed-producer, accusing the Adel, Iowa, firm of targeting African-Americans for sales of defective seeds. [node:read-more:link]

Canada has implemented a 10 percent retaliatory duty on imports of prepared and cooked US beef in response to US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. [node:read-more:link]

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The milk giant Dean Foods is closing one of its Illinois facilities this year.A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter sent by the Texas-based corporation says 131 people will lose their jobs at the Huntley dairy plant and office. The Northwest Herald reports that the layoffs will occur Sept. 14-28.The facility is one of several Dean Foods plants to close this year. In its 2017 annual investors report, the company attributed shutting down plants to decreased dairy consumption trends and a highly competitive industry. [node:read-more:link]

The Animal Agriculture Alliance released a report detailing observations from the Animal Rights National Conference, held June 28 through July 1 in Los Angeles, Ca. The event was organized by the Farm Animal Rights Movement and sponsored by Mercy for Animals, The Save Movement, Compassion Over Killing and The Humane League, along with other animal rights extremist groups. [node:read-more:link]

In recent weeks, cash corn prices have declined by $.50 per bushel and soybean prices by $1.80 per bushel, resulting in much lower 2018 income expectations.  Crop revenue and returns are projected for corn and soybeans on high-productivity farmland in central Illinois.  These per acre returns then are used to project 2018 net income on a 1,500 acre grain farm.  At prices of $3.40 for corn and $8.45 for soybeans, 2018 net incomes could approach the average for the past two years if three conditions are met: 1) a significant amount of grain produced in 2017 was sold in 2018 for a marketing ga [node:read-more:link]

The recent award of $25 million in damages to residents who sued a Smithfield hog farm prompted a rally this week in support of hog farmers, and proposals that could restrict such lawsuits are moving through the state legislature. Several hundred people gathered in Duplin County, N.C., to support hog farmers across the state that could become targets of what the protesters called nuisance lawsuits over the disposal of hog waste or other environmental impacts. [node:read-more:link]

Undocumented workers are an integral part of industries such as farming. Reducing our reliance on undocumented workers will have big impacts for farming communities and American consumers.While the nation’s attention is currently focused on the southern border, what’s being forgotten is that millions of undocumented immigrants continue to live in the U.S. – and most of them work.And in fact, these workers play vital roles in the U.S. economy, erecting American buildings, picking American apples and grapes, and taking care of American babies. Oh, and paying American taxes. [node:read-more:link]

Washington state is home to some of the most successful companies in the world: Starbucks, Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing. It may not be thought of as a farm state, but its agricultural industry is huge, with more than $8 billion in exports.$1.8 billion worth of Washington exports, including more than $1 billion in agricultural products, are expected to be hit by retaliatory tariffs. Retaliatory tariffs from our trading partners will be soon be imposed on an estimated $1.8 billion worth of Washington exports, including more than $1 billion in agricultural products. [node:read-more:link]