Agriculture

New program pays up to 90 percent of land value.Under the program, landowners enroll land in the federal Conservation Reserve Program for 15 years. But they also sign up for the Reinvest in Minnesota program, and agree to a permanent easement, a legal document stipulating the land must always be managed for conservation.The federal program protects land for 10 or 15 years, opening the door for the land to be plowed under again. [node:read-more:link]

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) joined a chorus of protein producer associations seeking an end to retaliatory trade tariffs that could cost these industries million of dollars — and jobs — in 2018 alone. [node:read-more:link]

New research suggests horizontal gene transfer between different species is a major driver of evolution. Scientists at the University of Adelaide traced the origins of two different jumping genes, self-replicating DNA sequences, across 759 species of plants, animals and fungi. [node:read-more:link]

Behind a row of sealed red incubator doors in a new facility in northern China, about 400,000 chicks are hatched every day, part of the rapidly modernizing supply chain in China’s $37 billion egg industry, the world’s biggest. [node:read-more:link]

The pork industry appears to be headed for a period of large losses in which excess pork supplies force prices below costs of production. In addition, demand will likely be weakened by reduced exports with tariffs in place on U.S. pork exports to China and Mexico. On a positive note, Chinese tariffs on U.S. grains and soybeans are helping to erode feed prices along with favorable growing season weather. The industry has expanded the breeding herd by three percent according to a recent producer survey by USDA. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has enjoined Todd & Patty Meech Dairy Farm and its co-owners from introducing adulterated meat into interstate commerce pending required remedial action. According to the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

World milk production is projected to increase by 22 percent by 2027, with the majority of that production increase (80 percent) expected to come from developing countries according to an annual report by the Organization for Ecoomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  Pakistan and India are expected to jointly account for 32 percent of total milk production by 2027, compared to 26 percent in the base period of 2015-17, said the report, OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027.
[node:read-more:link]

Riparian zones are a very important part of our everyday life. They serve many purposes along streams and rivers to support a biodiversity ecosystem. A riparian zone is an area of land on or adjacent to a river or stream, normally dominated by herbaceous cover that acts as a buffer from the upland. These areas are tolerant to flooding or saturated soils normally in the floodplain. [node:read-more:link]

The Land Commissioner is charged with jurisdiction over state trust lands to generate support for public schools and other state institutions.  In the Complaint, filed in the First Judicial District Court, the Commissioner asserts that he has “an interest in the appropriation of water on and off of state trust lands because the use of water in connection with activities on state trust lands often is essential to the lands’ highest and best use.”  The State Engineer is vested with authority to manage the state’s water resources, including issuing permits for groundwater wells. [node:read-more:link]

Following a steep decline in agricultural commodity prices, the past several years have seen a weaker market for farmland and an uptick in interest rates. At the same time, farm sector income has declined and farm interest expenses have increased. How vulnerable might the farm sector be to a further decline in commodity prices or a rise in interest rates? Inflation-adjusted net cash farm income for the sector is forecast in 2018 to be 38 percent lower than its peak in 2012 and 7 percent below its 1970-2016 average. [node:read-more:link]