Agriculture

It was a crisis more than 60 years in the making. The Umatilla Basin in northeast Oregon is home to some of the state’s most productive farmland, famously growing more than 200 different crops including wheat, corn, potatoes and watermelon. Irrigation pivots dominate the countryside, transforming scrubby desert into lush, green fields.The development of the region’s farms and cities, however, came at a price underground. As early as 1958, regulators began to see groundwater declines in the Butter Creek area of Umatilla and Morrow counties. [node:read-more:link]

The farm bill's hemp provision opens up production of a plant that can be used for food and animal bedding, as well as to make cloth, high-protein feed, fuel and plastics that are biodegradable, said Christopher Disbro, the Iowa Hemp Association's board president. For example, North Face and Patagonia already use hemp fiber in their winter gear. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on Wednesday struck down the Iowa Ag-Gag law, holding that the ban on undercover investigations at factory farms and slaughterhouses violates the First Amendment.Iowa’s Ag-Gag law criminalizes undercover investigations at a broad range of animal facilities including factory farms, puppy mills, and slaughterhouses, preventing advocates from exposing animal cruelty and environmental, workers’ rights, and food safety violations. [node:read-more:link]

The number of farm animals that perished in potentially preventable barn fires in the United State doubled between 2017 and 2018. According to an Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) analysis of media reports, more than 150,000 farm animals died over the past 12 months. However, it is believed that the actual number of fires and animal deaths is likely higher because laws and regulations vary by state, and municipalities are not generally required to report barn fires and livestock losses that occur within their boundaries. [node:read-more:link]

USDA has delayed the deadline for applications for the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments. Farmers had until Jan. 15 to apply for the tariff relief payments, but applications were stopped by the partial government shutdown when Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices closed December 28. USDA will resume taking applications for MFP when the government shutdown ends.  The deadline will extend for as many days as FSA offices are closed by the ongoing shutdown. The May 1 deadline for submitting 2018 production has not been changed according to a USDA spokesman. [node:read-more:link]

Canadian dairy farmers have been deprived of 3.5 percent of our dairy market to European cheese under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union, 3.5 percent more to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership countries, and under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, dairy farmers will lose an additional 3.9 percent of Canada’s market. The USMCA also removes our dairy sector’s ability to counter the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied attempts to make oral arguments before the court by 15 states in lawsuits against California and Massachusetts over claims of regulating agricultural production across state lines. Without commentary, the Supreme Court denied a pair of court cases, including Missouri and 12 other states versus California. [node:read-more:link]

The final 230 miles of the Mississippi river have long reinforced American might in global food markets. Ten grain terminals tower like fortresses along its bends, receiving crops from upstream farms, banking them in concrete silos and sending them over the levees into the holds of foreign ships. Together they can export 500,000 tonnes a day. Yet this year the autumn high season never came. The amount of grain and oilseeds moving through Mississippi river ports has dropped by 9 per cent since the autumn of 2017, according to the Federal Grain Inspection Service. [node:read-more:link]

Farm tractors and other slow-moving vehicles will be allowed to travel a little faster on New York roads under a new law. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed legislation that raises the speed at which slow-moving vehicles can travel from 25 mph to 35 mph. Farm vehicles and construction equipment must have orange triangular signs indicating that they are slow-moving vehicles. [node:read-more:link]

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today announced that more than $42 million awarded through Governor Cuomo’s 2018 Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative will support the growth of the New York’s farms and food and beverage industries across the State.  The REDC awards were announced by the Governor on December 18, with more than 80 agriculture-related projects identified as key to advancing the State’s ten regional economies. [node:read-more:link]