Agriculture

The 54-year-old second-generation dairy farmer learned last August that his water, his land, his crops — even the blood in his body — were contaminated with chemicals that migrated to his property from nearby Cannon Air Force Base. The toxins, collectively known as PFAS, have caused rampant pollution on military installations, something the Department of Defense has known about for decades but routinely failed to disclose. Now the state’s dairy industry is ground zero in an unprecedented crisis. For the first time ever, PFAS is threatening the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers are struggling to pay back their loans after years of low crop prices, with farm delinquencies rates in Kansas and the nation the highest they have been in at least nine years. [node:read-more:link]

A Chinese government agency said on Thursday that the situation regarding the current outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) is more serious than initially thought, estimating demand for soymeal will fall 5% as replenishment of pig stocks is “very low”. China’s National Grain and Oil Information Centre said in an emailed report that it had expected soymeal demand to fall almost 5% to 66.8 million mt this marketing year compared to last, mainly as a result of the outbreak.“The situation is more serious and the rate at which pig production capacity is falling exceeds our expectations. [node:read-more:link]

The new dredge material facility in Conneaut will be unlike anything else in the state, officials said at a public meeting about the project. State Rep. John Patterson said the state banned open lake dumping of dredged material because 10 percent of all harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie have been traced to the practice. Patterson supported one of two bills establishing the fund used to finance the Conneaut dredge material project, and he attempted to pass another bill to fund Lake Erie cleanup by putting a ballot initiative before Ohio voters to approve $1 billion over 10 years. [node:read-more:link]

Small-scale processing on Oregon farmland would be subject to fewer county restrictions under legislation favored by both agriculture and property rights advocates. However, one provision in the proposal has become a point of debate: whether the exemption should apply to on-farm processing of cannabis.Oregon’s land use laws currently allow crop processing on farmland in facilities smaller than 10,000 square feet, but the buildings are still subject to county siting standards, such as landscaping and parking requirements. [node:read-more:link]

While it might be some time before the direct impacts of the trade war with China has affected Iowa’s economy, a group of eight economists and agriculture development experts at Iowa State University attempted to make exactly those projections this past September. [node:read-more:link]

Natural farming is a popular concept right now.  The "eat local" movement only added to a standing desire for food that is grown in natural conditions, and not far from the table where it is served.  Uproot Meats appears to check those boxes, but it has run into controversy over its hog-and-chicken operation on the south end of Ashland.  Opponents are not happy with the business model of growing animals--and their wastes--on a sloping hillside above other agriculture operations.  [node:read-more:link]

Donald Trump’s attack on the World Trade Organization has U.S. farmers worried that the president’s ‘America first’ foreign policy approach will hamstring efforts to defend their interests. The U.S. is strangling the ability of the WTO, which oversees the rules for nearly $23 trillion in commerce every year, to resolve disputes among its 164 members. But when the WTO’s appellate body becomes incapacitated later this year, even the U.S. cases, of which there are at least two pending meant to protect American agriculture, would be derailed. [node:read-more:link]

Bayer’s $63 billion purchase of U.S. seeds maker Monsanto made its mark on the German company’s fourth quarter earnings, lifting profit and boding well for the peak season of its enlarged agriculture business. However, mounting litigation risks related to Monsanto still cast a pall over an adjusted core earnings rise of 15.8 percent, which was inflated by the addition of the U.S. group and helped by cost cuts at Bayer’s consumer healthcare business. [node:read-more:link]

With massive drifts making travel impossible, Trent Thiele road a snowmobile 50 miles Sunday, checking a dozen pig facilities to ensure thousands of animals were getting feed, water and fresh air. "It's been a lot of early mornings and late nights," said Thiele, who raises 15,000 pigs with five partners in northeast Iowa. "I'm worn out."Blowing snow cut visibility, making it difficult to see rising drifts, Thiele said.With February likely the second snowiest on record, this winter may go down as one of the toughest ever for thousands of Iowa livestock producers.

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