Agriculture

Dairy farms around Vermont are struggling amid low milk prices that are in some cases well below the cost of production. The result is that an increasing number of farms are starting to go out of business. Last week, the iconic Nordic Farms in Charlotte auctioned off its cows and machinery. The Agency of Agriculture says 12 farms have called it quits just since January and that leaves the state with 750 dairy farms down from 813 last March. [node:read-more:link]

Ted Matthews drove past acres of fields, racing to meet with a farmer who called threatening to kill himself. That’s when he got a call from another farmer in a different part of the state who was also threatening suicide. Since he couldn’t be in two places at once, he frantically got on his phone to try to find someone else who could help the second farmer.Matthews might have the toughest job in the state of Minnesota. [node:read-more:link]

China announced tariffs on $3 billion of U.S. products on Friday in response to President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese produced goods. There are 128 items on China’s proposed tariffs list including wine, steel and fruit. But most importantly for Iowa, pork is also on the list.Iowa is the number one pork producing state in the country. If these tariffs come into place, not only would agricultural trade decrease as a whole, but pork prices could also fall.China is the second largest market for United State’s agricultural exports. [node:read-more:link]

“Most U.S. farm households can’t solely rely on farm income, turning what was once a way of life into a part-time job,” the article explained, noting that 82% of U.S. farm household income is expected to come from off-farm work this year.That’s because current commodity prices are depressed and haven’t kept up with inflation over the long haul.  Compounding the problem are climbing input costs, the Journal wrote.   Chris Morrow was one of the farmers featured in the story. This 32-year-old Missourian “rises four mornings a week at 4:30 a.m. [node:read-more:link]

David Wiens thought the 2,500-gallon (9,470-liter) stainless steel milk tank he purchased 20 years ago would provide more than enough storage for his dairy farm in Manitoba. These days he’s producing so much he’s had to order a new tank that can hold almost three times as much. “We have to have everyday pickup now because we don’t have the capacity,” Wiens said from Skyline Dairy, a 240-head operation near the small town of Grunthal that he and his brother Charles have owned since 1989.As the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

It’s the biggest cull of its type in New Zealand’s history and officials say it’s the only way to fully eradicate the disease from the 28 properties.It’s hoped the cull will completely eradicate Mycoplasma bovis. [node:read-more:link]

Several New York City officials are launching efforts to eliminate processed meats from the menus at the Big Apple’s public schools, which have an estimated 1.1 million students. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams introduced a resolution asking the New York City Council to ban processed meats like hot dogs, ham, bacon and sausage in an effort to improve student health through diet. Resolution 238 recommends a more plant-based diet in light of studies that suggest processed meat could affect the rates of cancer, respiratory illness and diabetes later in life. [node:read-more:link]

For Johnson County, Ind. farmer Joe Kelsay, it’s not just another day on the farm. He’s continuing to pump milk while a cloud of uncertainty hangs over his farm. As a fifth-generation dairy farmer, his job just became even more difficult. He was notified in February from Dean Foods that he has 90 days to find a new home for his milk. Kelsay is one of 27 producers in Indiana and more than 80 reported across the country who received the same notice from Dean Foods. [node:read-more:link]

Prices for farmland declined across Minnesota in 2017, another sign of a weak farm economy that's been plagued by low crop prices and reduced incomes for the past four years.  [node:read-more:link]

Craig Myhre, a farmer in western Wisconsin, is trying to make a living off 600 acres of crops and a small herd of beef cattle. He also hires himself out to harvest other farmers’ fields, earning money to make payments on his combine. It’s still tough to make ends meet, despite putting in 12- to 16-hour days. In 2015, he added yet another job, as a mail carrier. [node:read-more:link]