Agriculture

Bayer is trimming its crop portfolio to help move its acquisition of Monsanto past regulatory obstacles in 2018. "We have now also committed to divest our entire vegetable seed business," Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a press conference on Bayer's 2017 fiscal year earnings report. "Certain additional business activities of Bayer and Monsanto may also be sold or out-licensed." The final takeover of Monsanto, which is now valued at $62.5 billion, is likely to take longer than expected, Baumann added. Bayer had hoped to complete the deal in early 2018. [node:read-more:link]

Demand for meat is going to remain firm throughout the rest of 2018, and U.S. livestock producers will continue to see favorable feed prices. But livestock producers are going to be pressured on market prices for beef, hogs and poultry products because of increased production in most livestock sectors. That's the projection from USDA's outlook for livestock and poultry.The beef, pork and broiler industries are all positioned for higher production and expansion. Exports also will rise for beef, pork and poultry products as well, USDA predicts. [node:read-more:link]

In what is being billed as progress toward a split-up next year, DowDuPont has named the three firms it intends to become. Two of the companies will retain the Dow and DuPont names. However, the third, an agricultural chemical and seed firm, will get a new identity: Corteva Agriscience.The Dow name will go to what is now called the materials science company. To be based in Midland, Mich., Dow’s former headquarters, the company would have had about $44 billion in sales and $9 billion in before-tax earnings in 2017. [node:read-more:link]

A federal judge on Monday halted California’s plan to require Monsanto to place warning labels on its Roundup products, saying scientists haven’t shown a clear connection between glyphosate and cancer. U.S. District Judge William Shubb sided with the St. [node:read-more:link]

More agri-business employers in California's ag-dependent Central Valley are getting served with immigration audits. One agriculture executive said the audits are causing "a chilling, damaging effect." The crackdown on ag-related employers follows immigration sweeps in other parts of the state, including employers in the L.A. and San Francisco areas. But President Donald Trump said Thursday he's now considering pulling federal immigration enforcement agents from California. [node:read-more:link]

Iowa House Study Bill 623, proposed by Iowa House Agriculture Chairman Lee Hein, defines conventional eggs as eggs that are not specialty eggs and it further defines specialty eggs as ones that were laid by hens raised in enriched colony housing, cage-free housing or free-range conditions. [node:read-more:link]

The head of Michigan's agriculture department is resigning to work for the Trump administration.  Gordon Wenk will replace Clover Adams to lead the department. He's been chief deputy director since 2008 and joined the department back in 1978. [node:read-more:link]

Colorado officials have agreed to pay Nebraska $4 million to settle old claims that their state violated a water-sharing compact involving the Republican River. The settlement requires Colorado to make the payment by Dec. 31, 2018, even though state officials did not admit to any violations of the Republican River Compact. Colorado legislators must approve the funding before the deadline, or the settlement will become invalid. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper touted the settlement as a way to promote cooperation between the states. [node:read-more:link]

Currently, the American Farm Bureau is lobbying hard for better access to foreign labour this summer. The future of farming in the district depends upon a program that allows Mexican seasonal workers to come here and return when the job is done. My livelihood is dependent on the program,” said Jeremy East, who farms about 300 acres of vegetables in Weber and Davis counties. “It’s important in the vegetable industry because there are no workers here that want to do it.” [node:read-more:link]

A new pilot project could help curb the declining number of veterinary services in rural Saskatchewan. The Preceptorship Program has been launched by the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. tarting in May, it will run for 14 weeks and employ five third-year veterinary students in the province. [node:read-more:link]