Agriculture

Recreational marijuana is now for sale on the East Coast.Massachusetts became the first state east of the Mississippi to legally sell recreational weed Tuesday as two marijuana dispensaries opened to the public more than two years after voters approved its use.The two dispensaries are Cultivate Holdings in Leicester and New England Treatment Access in Northampton, located in the central and western parts of the state, respectively."To get here, licensees underwent thorough background checks, passed multiple inspections, and had their products tested, all to ensure public health and safety a [node:read-more:link]

Animal rights group Compassion Over Killing (COK) is using an undercover video that was apparently filmed at the Amick Farms poultry processing plant in Hurlock, Maryland, as a platform to pressure the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lower the maximum allowable line speeds at U.S. poultry plants. The video was filmed by an animal rights activist who obtained employment at the plant.In the video, some scenes of animal mistreatment are shown. [node:read-more:link]

Mexico has authorized 26 Brazilian meat plants to export chicken products into the country, Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said on Monday, as the two nations seek to strengthen commercial ties amid a realignment of global trade partnerships. [node:read-more:link]

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service surveys producers on dairy cow prices quarterly (published in their Agricultural Prices report). The latest release was for the third quarter. Data are collected only for cows sold to be used as dairy herd replacement purposes, the national number is calculated by weighting state values by cow inventory. Nationally, for the quarter ending October 1, 2018, the average cow price was $1230.00, a drop from the prior quarter of $90.00 (down 7%). Yearover-year the decline was $380.00 per cow (fell by 24%). [node:read-more:link]

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is soliciting applications for technical assistance grants for Climate Smart Agriculture programss.The grants are for organizations that can provide assistance to applicants to the CSA programs.Nonprofit organizations, California academic institutions and California Resource Conservation Districts are eligible to apply.The three CSA programs are: State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), Healthy Soils Program (HSP), and Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP). [node:read-more:link]

In an order laced with language accusing President Donald Trump of attempting to rewrite immigration laws, a federal judge based in San Francisco temporarily blocked the government late Monday night from denying asylum to those crossing over the southern border between ports of entry.Judge Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The high-desert town of Palisade, Colorado, is synonymous with fresh, locally grown peaches. Years ago, thousands of migrant workers would flock here each year in October to harvest the fuzzy fruit. But today, on its narrow dirt roads, Bruce Talbott drives a truck loaded down with 9 tons of wine grapes.For more than 100 years and five generations, Talbott’s family has grown mostly peaches. But he’s diversified, he said, because in the early 2000s, that pool of labor began drying up. [node:read-more:link]

The California Farm Bureau Federation, Butte County Farm Bureau and Butte Ag Foundation are accepting donations to help farms, ranches and rural communities damaged by wildfires, floods and natural disasters. [node:read-more:link]

A series of whole-herd tests have found several more cattle infected with bovine tuberculosis in a Dane County herd. [node:read-more:link]

For a ninth straight month, the overall index rose above growth neutral. On average, bankers estimated that farmland prices declined by 4.0 percent over the past 12 months and expect farmland prices to fall by another 3.2 percent over the next 12 months. Approximately one-fifth of bank CEOs expect low farm income and falling farmland prices to present the greatest challenge to banking operations over the next 5 years. Loan demand by farmers remains strong.  [node:read-more:link]