Agriculture

Rhode Island's legislature has passed a bill to "legalize the production and processing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes in the state." According to the Rhode Island General Assembly HB 8232, which may also be cited as Rhode Island's "Hemp Growth Act", would take effect on January 1, 2017 and would permit the growth of hemp by properly licensed individuals that have applied and met the requirements and would also allow higher educational institutions to grow hemp for educational and research purposes pending approval from the Department of Health. [node:read-more:link]

Antimicrobial drugs are commonly used for animals raised in food production for treatment, control, and prevention of disease as well as growth promotion or increased feed efficiency in many production systems. A recent report from the USDA Economic Research Service (Sneeringer et al. [node:read-more:link]

An effort to legalize recreational marijuana collected more than 25,000 signatures, said spokesman Jim Borghesani.  "(Voters) made it clear that this is something that they're interested in and they think should be on the ballot," Borghesani said. "We're very happy with the signature collection, and we're very happy to be able to, we think, be on the ballot in November."  The marijuana legalization effort faces opposition from a well organizes campaign committee that includes Gov. Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop. [node:read-more:link]

After roughly four decades in operation, the Custom Meat Co. [node:read-more:link]

The mysterious “zombie bee” parasite that kills honeybees has reached the southern United States after scientists confirmed a case in Virginia about an hour outside Roanoke, researchers announced this week.  The discovery suggests the phenomenon is more widespread than previously thought, although researchers still know little about how many bees it actually kills.  Flies attach themselves to the bees and inject their eggs, causing erratic “zombie-like” behavior in the bees such as flying at night and toward light. The bees often die within hours. [node:read-more:link]

The Washington Department of Ecology will develop voluntary “best management practices” for agricultural activities, responding to what federal regulators say is a shortcoming in the state’s plan to protect waterways.  The Environmental Protection Agency last year demanded Ecology undertake the initiative to continue to qualify for federal funding for water-quality projects.  The EPA, along with conservation groups and tribes, accused the state of being too vague about how it will prevent pollution from agriculture. [node:read-more:link]

For more than 40 years, UK farmers have relied on subsidies from the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) and significant export markets in Europe with free access to 500 million consumers.  But the dramatic outcome of the referendum has created huge uncertainty about the future of farm support, regulation and access to the single market and migrant labour, which UK agriculture heavily depends on. Polls carried out by Farmers Weekly have consistently shown strong farmer support for the “leave” campaign. [node:read-more:link]

EU antitrust authorities will decide by July 28 whether to allow the $130 billion merger of U.S. chemical company Dow Chemical Co and its rival DuPont, one of several large agribusiness deals. The EU competition enforcer can approve the deal with or without concessions or it can open a full-scale investigation of about five months should it have serious concerns about the merger's impact on consumers and rivals. [node:read-more:link]

New York's Farm Bureau announced this week it will fight to block bargaining rights for tens of thousands of agricultural workers. The group hopes to intervene in a court battle over the issue sparked by a labor dispute here in the North Country.  Farm Bureau president Dean Norton argued farming is different from other industries that have unions and collective bargaining. "Mother Nature decides our schedule for us," Norton said on the public radio program Capital Pressroom. "When we have to get our crop in the ground, we may have only a certain window of time to get it in. [node:read-more:link]

Judge Kimberly Mueller on June 10, 2016 in the U.S. Eastern District Court of California found that John Duarte, a nursery operator and wheat farmer, plowed wetlands, four to six inches deep, and therefore violated the Clean Water Act.  The Judge found Mr. Duarte, by chiseling a pasture, discharged fill material into a water (vernal pool) of the United States. Get this! The Court wrote “In sum, soil is a pollutant. [node:read-more:link]