Monsanto Co and U.S. farm groups sued California on Wednesday to stop the state from requiring cancer warnings on products containing the widely used weed killer glyphosate, which the company sells to farmers to apply to its genetically engineered crops. [node:read-more:link]
Survey Results at a Glance: The overall index improved from September’s reading, but remained below growth neutral. For the 47th straight month, average farmland prices declined across the 10-state region. For the 50th straight month, the agriculture equipment sales index fell below growth neutral.Almost one in 10 bankers expect farm foreclosuresto be the greatest challenge to banking operations over the next five years. Almost one-half of bankers report that current corn prices are below break-even for cash renting farmers in their area. [node:read-more:link]
Michigan farmers depend upon rural bridges to efficiently deliver their commodities to the local elevator or processing facility. The structural integrity of this infrastructure is essential to farmer profitability. Unfortunately, an increasing number of rural bridges in the state are load limited, requiring vehicles transporting agricultural commodities to detour - often at significant distances. This results in additional costs being inserted in the nation's food delivery system and diminished profitability for Michigan farmers. [node:read-more:link]
Butterball, the largest turkey producer in the United States, has quietly entered the organic turkey market in time for the Thanksgiving holiday next week. It did so with so little fanfare that unless you are a reader of USA Today, you probably didn’t know the company even got involved with organic turkey production.Why didn’t Butterball shout it out loud and proud to all of the consumers who are preparing to put a turkey on the table on November 23? [node:read-more:link]
The gap between rich and poor is one of the great concerns of modern times. It's even driving archaeologists to look more closely at wealth disparities in ancient societies. "That's what's so fun about it," says Timothy Kohler, at Washington State University. "It widens our perspective, and allows us to see that the way things are organized now is not the only way for things to be organized."Measuring inequality in societies that didn't leave written records is hard, of course. [node:read-more:link]
Over the past several years, farmers have complained that a dwindling labor force continues to stress production of the state’s multi-billion dollar tree fruit industry.Employment and market experts in the past have questioned whether such a shortage really exists. But recent studies are indicating that our once robust low-wage labor force primarily from Mexico is in fact dwindling, or not keeping pace with industry growth. [node:read-more:link]
Walz Energy plans to custom-feed 1,680 cattle in each of six partially enclosed open feedlots. "We'll be the hotel, the inn-keeper, the caregiver," Haman said. [node:read-more:link]
An environmental watchdog group came out on top in court over clean water violations by a Kauai dairy.A federal court ordered Hawaii Dairy Farms to pay $506,000 to The Friends of Mahaulepu, an environmental watchdog organization. The money will go to cover legal fees encountered over a three-year legal battle. [node:read-more:link]
Canola poses no greater threat to specialty seed producers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley than turnips, radish and other related crops, according to Oregon State University. Problems with insects, diseases and volunteers weren’t materially different enough in canola fields for the crop to be considered a unique risk compared to other species from the Brassica genus, the three-year OSU study found. [node:read-more:link]
Closed circuit television (CCTV) recording would become mandatory in all slaughterhouses in England next year under a new legislative proposal, the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced. [node:read-more:link]
