Agriculture

The Dairy Farmers of America cooperative has agreed to a $50 million revised settlement paid to Northeast U.S. dairy farmers. The settlement stems from a class-action lawsuit that accused the marketing group of trying to drive down milk prices. The revised settlement includes new protections to prevent retaliation to farmers that was missing from a settlement proposal denied by a federal judge in March. Settlement papers were filed on Thursday and require approval by a U.S. District Judge. If approved, the cooperative will pay an average of $4,000 to more than 8,000 dairy farms. [node:read-more:link]

The Humane Society of the United States intended to call attention to alleged animal abuses at New England’s largest egg producer in Turner, Maine, but the state’s governor recently took issue with the animal rights group’s tactics — the use of undercover video.  In a strongly worded letter to HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle, Gov. Paul LePage took the organization to task for using the undercover video to publicly rebuke the company in order to prompt an investigation instead of notifying his office directly. [node:read-more:link]

An animal welfare group released undercover video Tuesday of what it called cruel and inhumane conditions at New England's largest egg-producing farm, and said it had asked state and federal officials to investigate. The employee had been hired to work at the facility, managed by Pennsylvania-based Hillandale Farms, but was secretly investigating for the society, said Paul Shapiro, the Humane Society of the United States's vice president of farm animal protection. [node:read-more:link]

Greenpeace just got hit with its own RICO lawsuit in federal court by a Canadian logging company.  The saga started back in 2010 when “a cabal of radical environmental [NGOs] … agreed to stop their campaigns of customer harassment” if members of the Forest Products Association of Canada did what these activists demanded.  Sound familiar? [node:read-more:link]

here are times when rural homeowners on small acreages decide they want to do more with their land than mow it. Believe it or not, this is a common question at county extension centers according to Tim Schnakenberg, agronomy specialist with University of Missouri Extension.  "Someone has 20 to 30 acres, and they want to be a farmer. What most people find are that the options and niches available are endless, but the resources are limited. [node:read-more:link]

The latest news tha Bayer wants to buy Monsanto has the agriculture industry wondering yet again how the growing consolidation in the seed and crop chemical industry could affect farmers large and small.   “I think (feelings about the merger) are mixed … across the country,” says Ken McCauley, a farmer from White Cloud, Kansas. Like other farmers, he is concerned that less competition in the marketplace will drive up input prices, but he’s also concerned that consolidation will also affect the speed at which new products come to market. [node:read-more:link]

The National Pork Board continues to take a prominent role in the ongoing conversation about antibiotic use in pork production. From the Don’t Wait… Be Ready! national producer awareness and education campaign, to ongoing engagement with consumers and influencers, to increased investment in antibiotic research, the National Pork Board is taking unprecedented action on this globally important topic.  Much of the National Pork Board’s 2016 efforts have centered on ensuring that all producers are aware of and prepared for the Jan. [node:read-more:link]

Wild fisheries are stable at best and declining at worst. That means we need aquaculture to meet the world’s growing demand for protein. And to feed the world sustainably, the industry has to figure out how to feed farmed fish without using wild fish stocks. [node:read-more:link]

With little fanfare, Gov. John Kasich signed a law creating a strictly regulated medical marijuana program. patients will have an "affirmative defense" against prosecution for marijuana possession charges if they have written permission from their doctor to use marijuana in a form allowed under the law. It could be a year or more until Ohioans can walk into a dispensary and buy medical marijuana. Ohio is the 25th state to pass a comprehensive medical marijuana program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. [node:read-more:link]

Already forced for months to dump skim milk because there isn’t enough processing capacity in Ontario, a bad situation could get worse if action isn’t taken to modernize aging plants, Ontario’s dairy farmers are warning.  In testimony before the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Peter Gould, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Ontario said there could be a devastating impact on rural Ontario and rural Canada in the absence of a well-thought-out strategy.  “The status quo is not an option. Doing nothing is not an option,” Gould said. [node:read-more:link]