The 2017 4R Summit will be held June 12-13, 2017, in Minneapolis, Minn. The 4R Summit will be held at the Radisson Blu in downtown Minneapolis. The Summit provides opportunities for those interested in nutrient management and stewardship to learn more about the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program and hear how stakeholders across the country are implementing the 4R principles. [node:read-more:link]
The Farm Bureau’s director of market intelligence, John Newton, flatly told delegates, “The Golden Age of ag income is over.” Net farm income is projected to decline for the third consecutive year, and exporters’ biggest markets — China, Canada, Mexico and Japan — aren’t expanding. Newton said producers need to look at markets that are projected to grow, such as Africa. The world population is projected to hit 9 billion by 2050, and that provides opportunities for American’s farmers, Newton said. “We are the breadbasket of the world, everybody knows that,” he said. [node:read-more:link]
Minnesota farm communities are being hit by the perfect storm: low commodity prices, high land values, and aging schools. It is not fair to stick farmers with big property tax bills, or leave students with outdated classrooms. That is why we are proposing a tax credit to provide Minnesota farmers immediate relief from rising agricultural property taxes. Minnesota students need the best possible schools. However, state school funding has not kept up with the needs of our students over the last 15 years. [node:read-more:link]
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said producers need to speak up and tell the public how they are producing more food with less water, less pesticides and less plowing.
“We need to take back the concept of sustainability, because nobody works harder on sustainability than the American farmer and rancher,” he said.
He says agriculture has never been more sustainable. [node:read-more:link]
China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) [CNNCC.UL] and Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG (SYNN.S) have proposed minor concessions to the EU's competition watchdog to address concerns over their $43 billion merger plan, sources told Reuters. One person close to the deal said it was unlikely ChemChina would have to sell its Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd (ADAM.N) unit. [node:read-more:link]
China has increased punitive tariffs on imports of a U.S. animal feed ingredient known as distillers' dried grains (DDGS) from levels first proposed last year, potentially escalating a trade spat between the world's two largest economies. The ruling is a major victory for China's fledgling ethanol industry, which had complained the U.S. industry was unfairly benefiting from subsidies, and followed a year-long government probe. It also deals a blow to U.S. ethanol manufacturers already bracing for Beijing's higher import taxes on their main product. [node:read-more:link]
Monsanto Company announced recently that it has reached a new global licensing agreement with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for the use of the novel CRISPR-Cpf1 genome-editing technology in agriculture. The CRISPR-Cpf1 system represents an exciting advance in genome-editing technology, because it has potential to be a simpler and more precise tool for making targeted improvements in a cell’s DNA when compared to the CRISPR-Cas9 system. Researchers believe that the CRISPR-Cpf1 system may offer an expanded set of benefits for advancing and delivering improved agricultural products [node:read-more:link]
ith its large crop this season, the Michigan apple industry set new shipment records from mid-October through Christmas and is claiming the title of second-largest apple producer away from New York. Michigan may have beaten New York this season in apple production, but it might be just temporary. Both states are upping their game in competition with Washington. [node:read-more:link]
Several consumers can proceed with a lawsuit alleging they were deceived by vegetable oil labeled as “100 percent natural” despite containing genetically engineered ingredients. In 2015, a federal judge in California agreed to certify the lawsuit against the Conagra food company as a class action, allowing other consumers to be included in the litigation. However, the case was put on hold while Conagra challenged the class certification before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. [node:read-more:link]
Farmers have put a tremendous amount of hope into the new presidential administration, one that built its candidacy on throwing out the political party which had "Hope" as a central theme. That's really the only way to interpret the results of the latest DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agricultural Confidence Index, based on responses from 500 farmers from across the United States. Answers farmers gave to an early December survey produced an Ag Confidence Index of 98, up considerably from the 72 rating in August, and up from the 75.1 rating farmers set in December 2015. [node:read-more:link]
