Agriculture

Litigation against alleged pollution by the hog industry in eastern North Carolina will move forward with two test cases in April 2018, a federal judge ruled this week. U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt said the initial trial would involve up to 10 plaintiffs with similar accusations against the hog farms, which are accused of releasing noxious fumes, making disruptive noise and expelling liquid excrement into the surrounding areas, according to U.S. News and World Report. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers and public health officials are growing increasingly concerned with a shortage of food animal veterinarians in Iowa and across the country. The number of farm animal vets is shrinking at a time when worries over potential disease outbreaks are on the rise.  In response to the vet shortage, the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program provides selected food animal and public health veterinarians up to $75,000 in loan repayment in exchange for serving at least three years in designated shortage areas. [node:read-more:link]

The US Supreme Court has refused to rule on a patent dispute between agricultural companies Dow AgroSciences and Bayer CropScience. Yesterday, December 4, the court denied Dow’s petition for certiorari, leaving a decision made by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in March untouched.Dow had asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, which affirmed a $455 million award in damages for Bayer for Dow’s infringement of patents related to genetically engineered soybeans. [node:read-more:link]

The Our Farms, Our Future Conference, hosted by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the National Center for Appropriate Technology ATTRA program will be held on April 3-5, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. This national event will bring together our diverse agricultural community including farmers and ranchers, agribusiness stakeholders, students, researchers, scientists, agency representatives and nonprofit leaders. Every decade SARE hosts a conference to look at the progress of sustainability in agriculture and to understand our trajectory for the future. [node:read-more:link]

Seventy-two days after Hurricane Maria, much of the island of Puerto Rico still has issues with power. Lack of electricity is a huge problem for residents and business owners. You move away from San Juan, and the issue is clear. Hatillo, a northern coastal town, is a major producer of the island's milk. The hurricane’s destruction on the streets of Hatillo is obvious. [node:read-more:link]

In Massachusetts, a bill has been put forth to allow veterinarians to dispense compounded medication from a pharmacy under certain conditions. This bill would also allow a veterinarian to compound medication, for individual patients within a VCPR, as long as the veterinarian does not compound from bulk supplies, does not duplicate proprietary products, does not wholesale cliniccompounded medications, and does not compound federally controlled substances for dispensing. [node:read-more:link]

Washington’s hemp program, not yet a year old, has stopped issuing licenses because of a budget deficit. Restarting the program for a second growing season may depend on whether state lawmakers are willing to invest $287,000 into nurturing a hemp industry that faces high regulatory costs.“Without the additional appropriations, we would need to shut down the program,” state Department of Agriculture spokesman Hector Castro said. [node:read-more:link]

Michigan residents interested in engaging in new agricultural enterprises sometimes lack knowledge, experience and technical support to get started. MSU Extension educators and specialists receive numerous inquiries seeking basic, startup information for beginning farmers. Since 2012, they have filled this need through the Beginning Farmer Webinar Series. New farm businesses provide jobs, income and increased economic activity and social stability with increased food security to communities. [node:read-more:link]

Members of Generation Z (young men and women aged 18 to 22) with strong ties to agriculture exhibit significantly different attitudes toward government involvement in agriculture, farm succession, ag technology, and brand loyalty than do previous generations, including Baby Boomers and Generations X and Y (representing an age range of 28 to 74). Generation Z members, for instance, have a more positive attitude toward government involvement, less brand loyalty, and more interest in technology, but are much less likely to choose farming as an occupation. [node:read-more:link]

MFA will launch an intensive scouting protocol this spring to track soybean growth and provide timely information to applicators about crop progress. A network of “sentinel plots” will be established, representing the average planting dates and maturity ranges of soybeans in different regions of MFA’s service territory. These plots will be scouted every Monday and reports sent to all MFA employees on Tuesday mornings with notes about maturity and potential cutoff dates for spraying dicamba. [node:read-more:link]