North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple has proclaimed this week Animal Agriculture Awareness Week in the state. Officials say animal agriculture in North Dakota generates about $2.6 billion in revenues, with an economic impact of more than $12 billion. [node:read-more:link]
Approximately $879 million was spent on the 2014-2015 HPAI outbreak and Fall planning activities according to data from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). This is equivalent to 1.82% of the total poultry production value, including egg values (USDA-NASS, 2014). [node:read-more:link]
The Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Thursday announced farm debt in the Midwest is increasing. In the first quarter of 2016, the bank says loan demand continued to rise, repayment rates continued to weaken, and almost all district bankers under the KC Fed Bank reported that farm income declined. The Bank released its Ag Credit Survey, which says that, although cash rents declined modestly, production costs have remained high and many producers reduced both capital and household spending to cut costs. [node:read-more:link]
Imagine that weeds were left to grow uncontrolled in corn and soybean fields across North America. That scenario would cut U.S. and Canadian yields by about 50 percent, resulting in $43 billion in annual economic losses to those two crops alone, according to a new study.
The research, spanned seven years from 2007 to 2013. [node:read-more:link]
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he has introduced legislation that would ban packer ownership of livestock after seeing continued consolidation in the livestock industry. The consolidation means independent producers have fewer choices for where to buy from and sell to, said Grassley, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and also a member of the Agriculture Committee.
Grassley’s bill contains exceptions to the ban for: [node:read-more:link]
The entire Pacific Northwest experienced record high temperatures throughout April, causing much of the remaining snowpack to melt and runoff. More than 80% of all Snowpack Telemetry sites with at least 15 years of data set all new melt rate records for April. During two separate high-pressure weather systems in April, sites experienced minimum daily temperatures exceeding 20 degrees above normal. Due to the rapid snowmelt, runoff was above normal and Washington State’s rivers and streams were able to contain it without flooding. [node:read-more:link]
The New England states and New York are more than 50 percent forested, a rate well above the national average. Economies in this heavily forested region have historically relied on forest-based industries, and human population has clustered along coastal regions and major waterways, though recent trends suggest widespread in-migration to amenity-rich rural areas. Over the last decade, all states in this region have experienced notable declines in forest cover. [node:read-more:link]
Federal inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor are conducting spot inspections of farms across south Georgia, a week after many farmers complained the agency has failed to properly process visa applications for migrant workers. [node:read-more:link]
American farm co-ops are coming under pressure to merge from global competition, falling farm incomes, ag industry consolidation and a growing need for specialized talent, according to co-op leaders. Farmer-owned cooperatives historically have bought grain from farmers, storing it in elevators until it was loaded for shipment. But today, many co-ops do much more than store grain and sell fuel, fertilizer and pesticides. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. crop prices surged Tuesday, extending an unexpected run in agricultural prices that has drawn in big investors like hedge funds. The gains promise much needed relief for a farm economy battered by the slump in prices for major row crops over the past three years. The catalyst was a closely watched government report that said rising exports would eat into the glut in farm commodities by next year. The big surprise was a projection that U.S. soybean inventories would fall by a steep 24%. [node:read-more:link]
