Agriculture

In February 2018, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held the Hawaii County of Maui’s pollutants were traceable to wells which discharge into groundwater and that groundwater was considered a point source under the Clean Water Act. But a new ruling has reversed that call and agriculture will benefit. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled on September 24, 2018 that the Clean Water Act (CWA) does not extend liabilitywhen pollution from a point source reaches surface water through groundwater movement. [node:read-more:link]

“This doesn’t fix the problems of American oversupply,” said Holtmann, a third generation dairy farmer in Rosser, Manitoba, who will spend the winter reviewing the impact of the deal and whether his expansion plans still make sense. “It’s a slap in the face to Canadian producers who work very hard at managing supply.”Canadian dairy farmers say they’re on the losing end of the new deal, which will give the U.S. greater access to Canada’s protected dairy market and eliminate its new milk pricing system, one that’s been repeatedly attacked by President Donald Trump. [node:read-more:link]

Some U.S. commodities will gain additional access to Canadian markets, and others will retain existing zero-tariff access to Canada and Mexico. The trilateral agreement barely came in under a midnight deadline imposed by the U.S., at which point the U.S. would have moved forward with the trade deal reached with Mexico a month earlier.The renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement will move ahead as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.A major sticking point with Canada was granting more access to U.S. [node:read-more:link]

World's first angus calf engineered to be heat tolerant could beef up meat production in warmer climates. [node:read-more:link]

Recent news articles have discussed USDA’s trade aid package, as well as the potential impacts of ongoing trade tariffs on U.S. farm goods.  Today’s update provides an overview of several of these articles. Wall Street Journal writer Jesse Newman reported late last week that, “The Trump administration has started compensating U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Dairy was a big sticking point for Canadian and US officials as they renegotiated NAFTA.In the end, Canada agreed to open up its market and allow American farmers to sell more milk, cheese and other dairy products north of the border. It also agreed to end a pricing system that limited imports of certain milk ingredients.President Donald Trump is calling the deal a win for US dairy farmers, and Canadian farmers are angry. [node:read-more:link]

Ohio dairy farmers strive to conserve natural resources and minimize the environmental impact in everything they do — from properly managing manure and protecting the rivers and streams to reducing odors and air pollutants. Advanced, modern technologies have allowed dairy farmers across Ohio to work more efficiently while protecting the environment. Today, a gallon of milk is produced with 65 percent less water and 63 percent less carbon than a gallon of milk in 1944.U.S. dairy cows generate the fewest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per gallon of milk. The U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Earlier this morning, Mark Albertson, Illinois Soybean Growers director of strategic market development, met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. This is the first time Díaz-Canel has visited the United States since taking office in April. After his visit, Albertson said: “We were honored to sit down and met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel during his first visit to the United States. We have been working on opening doors with Cuba since 2012 and value the opportunities trade with Cuba brings to our Illinois soybean producers. [node:read-more:link]

The strained farm bill negotiations have erupted in partisan bickering amid darkening prospects for reaching an agreement by the end of the year to replace the 2014 law, which expired Sunday, Sept. 30.Conaway issued a statement on Friday blaming Senate negotiators for the impasse. “Right now, I don’t get the sense that getting something done has quite the sense of urgency with my Senate colleagues as it does with me,” he said.But a committee Democrat, Illinois Rep. [node:read-more:link]

Targeting regions and practices that can most cost effectively reduce nutrient deliveries from cropland to the Gulf of Mexico would reduce the overall cost of achieving water quality objectives for the Gulf but also would increase costs and land-use adjustments for production regions closest to the Gulf. [node:read-more:link]