Agriculture

News alert to farm entrepreneurs: There are no get-rich-quick schemes. Case in point is cannabis farming. Marijuana, that is. Successful Farming magazine reported a year ago on one of the first cannabis farms in Illinois, where it’s legal to grow the crop for medicinal reasons. The Revolution Enterprises cannabis farm near Delavan had plans to produce 7,000 pounds of medical cannabis every year, worth $20 million or more. Dispensaries in Illinois would sell it to muscular dystrophy, cancer, autism, and other patients for pain, seizure, or depressive disorders. [node:read-more:link]

In assessing a transition to a slower-growing breed, the environmental impact is an important component often left out of the equation, NCC said. If only one-third of broiler chicken producers switched to a slower-growing breed, nearly 1.5 billion more birds would be needed annually to produce the same amount of meat currently produced — requiring a tremendous increase in water, land and fuel consumption. This would amount to: Additional feed — It will take enough feed to fill 670,000 more tractor trailers on the road per year, using millions more gallons of fuel annually. [node:read-more:link]

In our new Post-post modern era, facts are dispensable. It’s the myth that counts. My point is this: With a new Administration assuming the highest office in just a few days, we are going to witness something like a 180 degree turn from the policies of the last eight years.   Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing will be debated for the life of our country.  Some of the debates will be sensible and well-mannered. Too many of them will descend into unreasoned rage and madness. [node:read-more:link]

More importantly, the questions facing production agriculture in 2017 seem to be more critical than years earlier. With that said, here is our list of the 16 key questions facing production agriculture in 2017. 1. Are farm financial conditions stabilizing… or just getting serious? 2. Will the jump in producer sentiment meet reality? 3. Another year of above-trend yields? 4. Will La Nina make a splash? 5. Demand and grain exports have been strong. Will it continue? 6. Planting intentions? 7. Is wheat the canary in the coal mine? Or don’t worry about it? 8. [node:read-more:link]

The recent election was very controversial.  No, I am not talking about the Presidential election, but the measure that was passed in Massachusetts to prevent confinement rearing of several species including table-egg hens.   This measure is estimated to increase the food bill of each resident of that state by $45 per year.  I wish that we could somehow communicate more effectively how many advancements have been made in animal welfare in the last 15 years.  It has been a meteoric change in housing, audits to verify animal care, record keeping and handling.  We all appreciated how many chan [node:read-more:link]

New deboning facility to employ 1,100 people and provide opportunity for 100 contract growers.Sanderson Farms has opened a new $155 million poultry processing plantand wastewater treatment facility in St. Pauls, North Carolina.This new 180,000-square-foot plant will accompany the existing 65,000-square-foot hatchery located in Lumberton, North Carolina, as well as a feed mill in Kinston, North Carolina., making it the company’s eleventh fully integrated poultry processing facility nationwide. [node:read-more:link]

Unable to find enough workers to carry out the painstaking tasks of milk production, dairy producers in South Dakota hope to tap into a different labor force: unemployed residents of Puerto Rico.  It could be a tonic both for dairy operators and Puerto Rico, where the jobless rate stands at 12 percent but workers are far freer to travel to the U.S. for jobs than immigrants due to the island's status as a U.S. territory. South Dakota dairy farms produced 209 million pounds of milk in 2016, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. [node:read-more:link]

A coalition of health and environmental groups is asking Oregon officials to investigate construction of a mega-dairy in Morrow County. It's unclear whether state agencies will sign off on the controversial 30,000-cow dairy farm. It hasn't been determined whether Lost Valley Ranch broke the law by breaking ground long before it secured the necessary permits. [node:read-more:link]

As coastal development along the Gulf Coast continues to expand, tidal saline wetlands could have difficulty adjusting to rising sea levels. Tidal saline wetlands along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast, such as mangrove forests, salt marshes, and salt flats, face survival challenges as sea levels rise rapidly and development along coastlines continues to grow. But, a recently published U.S. Geological Survey study shows there is hope for some of these at-risk Gulf coast wetlands. [node:read-more:link]

Thanks to a class action settlement, Oregon residents who has purchased milk or milk products since 2003 may be entitled to a payment.  The $52 million settlement over price-fixing of milk and milk products includes Oregon, 14 other states, and the District of Columbia. While the payment amounts will vary depending on the number of products and the number of submitted claims, a website for the settlements says consumers may receive up to $70. No proof of purchase is needed to be eligible. In order to be eligible, you must have purchased milk or milk products from a grocery store. [node:read-more:link]