A record number of women now lead state agriculture departments across the country, a leadership wave that reflects the industry's growing gender diversity. A total of 13 women have either been elected or appointed to head state agriculture departments, surpassing the prior record of ten women holding top ag offices, according to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. [node:read-more:link]
A legal challenge to the use of millions of dollars paid by Smithfield Foods Inc. to North Carolina is heading for the state Supreme Court. The seven-member panel agreed to hear appeals in a lawsuit questioning whether money the processor paid annually under a 2000 agreement with the state should have been applied to state education initiatives.The conservative public policy organization Civitas Institute won a challenge to the use of the funds in a state appellate court in September 2018. [node:read-more:link]
Since the end of the Great Recession in 2010, both Arkansas’ and the national economy have grown; however, the state’s rural areas have “grown only slightly since 2010 and have not even come back to pre-recession levels,” according to Wayne Miller, an author of the “2019 Rural Profile of Arkansas.” [node:read-more:link]
A ‘speed gene’ can be used to identify whether racehorses are better suited to short, middle or long distance races.The effects of the gene were tested by matching it to the race records of more than 1,700 thoroughbred horses in Britain and Ireland.Lead author of the study Professor Emmeline Hill, associate professor of Equine Science at UCD, said the research established a clear relationship between the speed gene and a horse’s career earnings by distance. [node:read-more:link]
Canadians are invited to celebrate the food they love in celebration of the annual Canada’s Agricultural Day.This year, Feb. 12 marks the third annual celebration of the agriculture industry and all other industries that play a role in bringing food to tables across the country.It's the industry's biggest celebration of the year, said Debbie Bailey, manager of Agriculture More Than Ever, one of the driving forces behind Canada’s Agriculture Day.“Canada’s Agriculture Day showcases all the amazing things happening in agriculture and the entire food industry. [node:read-more:link]
Suicide rates among farmers are alarmingly high. Much of it has to do with isolation and stress level. We spoke with Minnesota's Department of Agriculture's Mental Health Director who was here for the Local Foods Conference.He says farming is a job that includes one stressor after the next.For example, this year we saw a late planting season, and prices for crops being set lower than in the past few years. [node:read-more:link]
Farmers are still monitoring the impact of Hurricane Michael on their livestock. There have been reports of unexpected animal deaths in areas impacted by the storm - including southeast Alabama, Georgia and Florida.veterinarians who serve the Wiregrass also reported receiving calls about animal loss since the storm.Dr. William Terry of Hartford Veterinary Services and Supply says he’s had about 20 producers contact him about their livestock getting ill - particularly their stocker cows.“It could be anything, that’s the thing. It’s not going to be one thing,” Syfrett said. [node:read-more:link]
The unlikely combination of freshwater fish and cannabis is producing outsized medical marijuana crops that Green Relief Inc aims to capitalize on, as the Canadian company plots a stock market listing and global expansion.In an underground southern Ontario facility surrounded by farmland, Green Relief operates a cutting-edge aquaponic farm, using filtered fish waste to fertilize cannabis plants, which in turn clean the water for the fish.The company says it is the world’s only licensed producer to grow medical marijuana this way, a pesticide-free process that took 2-1/2 years to fine tune. [node:read-more:link]
While glyphosate has lower toxicity than many pesticides — it's rated zero risk for homeowner use — the news and social media are laden with its purported health risks to humans, especially cancer.But those claims are out of step with scientific risk assessments related to exposure, Ronda Hirnyck, University of Idaho pesticide coordinator, said during a pesticide seminar at this year’s Agri-Action.Part of the issue with glyphosate or Roundup —a Monsanto product used to treat weeds in some GMO crops — is that everybody’s heard about it. [node:read-more:link]
Over one-fifth of U .S . corn acreage was planted with DT corn in 2016 . DT corn accounted for only 2 percent of U.S. planted corn acreage in 2012. By 2016, this share had grown to 22 percent. The pace of adoption is similar to the adoption of herbicide-tolerant corn in the early 2000s. DT corn made up roughly 40 percent of corn acreage in some drought-prone States . In 2016, 42 percent of Nebraska corn acres and 39 percent of Kansas corn acres were planted with DT seed. [node:read-more:link]
