Agriculture

It may be time to cut cattle stocking rates by as much as 10% in some parts of the Northern Plains. That news comes as drought conditions that began last year there continue, and many producers are warned to expect reductions in forage production on pasture and rangeland going forward."Last year, some producers experienced as much as a 75 percent reduction in forage production on pasture, range and hayland due to the drought," said Kevin Sedivec, North Dakota State University Extension rangeland management specialist.In many areas, pasture and rangeland received excess grazing pressure. [node:read-more:link]

States' livestock rules to protect against disease can vary widely and are based on the unique needs of that industry and the people there. Identification is an especially challenging issue because we have no mandatory national system. (By the way, that fact scares the willies out of me when I think about some sort of foreign disease outbreak. [node:read-more:link]

The farm bill, which failed on the House floor Friday, will get a second vote June 22 after a vote on a conservative immigration bill earlier that week, House Majority Whip Steve Scalisesaid Monday. The immigration bill by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas that leaders have scheduled a vote on includes border wall funding, security and enforcement provisions, cuts to legal immigration and a process for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients to obtain three-year renewals of their work permits. [node:read-more:link]

Last week, as the U.S. House considered its twice-a-decade Farm Bill, Minnesota’s sugar growers got the challenge they had been expecting for years: an amendment, filed to the massive nutrition and agriculture bill, that would “reform” and “modernize” the federal sugar subsidy program. [node:read-more:link]

America's cereal, soda and soup companies are having a rough 2018.General Mills, Campbell Soup, Hershey and Pepsi are all failing to convince investors they have a plan to navigate shoppers' changing tastes.The consumer staples sector is at the back of the pack in the S&P 500, down 13% this year. It's on track for its worst year in a decade. [node:read-more:link]

Transitioning to more sustainable forms of agriculture remains critical, as many current agriculture practices have serious consequences including deforestation and soil degradation. But despite agriculture’s enormous potential to hurt the environment, it also has enormous potential to heal it. Realizing this, many organizations are promoting regenerative agriculture as a way to not just grow food but to progressively improve ecosystems.Drawing from decades of research, regenerative agriculture uses farming principles designed to mimic nature. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected next month to roll back chemical plant safety reforms that the Obama administration proposed after 15 people died in a fertilizer plant explosion in West. [node:read-more:link]

As California fruit growers wait for effective tools to mechanically harvest their crops the association that represents about 85 percent of the industry is on offense, hoping to secure wins in water and labor issues. Survey California farmers up and down the state and the top issue they likely will cite is water. The cost of labor, and regulatory burdens associated with it, are also high on that list, particularly because the industry must rely on labor-intensive harvest crews to pick fruit. [node:read-more:link]

Tyson Fresh Meats will receive nearly $675,000 in Iowa state tax credits to help the company upgrade its pork plant in Perry, Iowa. The Tyson Foods subsidiary plans to construct a new chilling system to improve product quality and efficiencies at the Perry facility, the Iowa Economic Development Authority said in a post on its website.  The $43.7 million project won’t add jobs there but will require additional training for existing employees. [node:read-more:link]

 need to make a confession. This was an interview I really wanted to do. I spent over 25 years in consumer packaged goods, specifically in dairy, and have always wanted to see quark succeed in the US market. If you don’t know what quark is, Google it. It is creamy and soft. If yogurt and cream cheese had a love child, it would be quark.I first tried Wünder Creamery’s quark at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. I loved it. Then I met co-founder Kamilya Abilova. [node:read-more:link]