Federal

The Obama administration is announcing $48 million in grants to help farmers and others in the west conserve water and energy amid drought and climate change. The agriculture department says the effort will include 76 projects in at least 11 western states, which includes Nevada. But drought grants are not new to Nevada farmers.  Nevada farmers have been able to receive grants over the past few years to help keep their farms from drying up. Rick Lattin of Lattin Farms in Fallon Nevada hopes these new grants can help restore the agricultural landscape. [node:read-more:link]

Acting Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse today announced that the federal crop insurance program will provide additional flexibility to farmers. The modifications center on the practice of growing two crops on the same field at different times of the year, which is known as double cropping. This change will address both land added to an operation, and account for multiple crop rotations. These changes will be in effective for the 2017 crop year for most crops, starting with winter wheat. [node:read-more:link]

Senators have a bipartisan deal to require labeling of genetically modified ingredients nationally, a week before a labeling law in Vermont goes into effect.  The deal announced Thursday by the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee would require the nationwide labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, in packaged foods for the first time. But it would be more lenient than Vermont's law, allowing food companies to use a text label, a symbol or electronic label accessed by smartphone. [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture’s 24/7 workload poses special issues for payroll. Most farmers assume they are not required to pay overtime for any farm work performed by their employees, points out Paul Neiffer, a CPA with CliftonLarsonAllen in Yakima, Washington. But given the new rules imposed by the Department of Labor starting December 1, you need to carefully review that policy and the impact on your labor expense, he advises.  The Department of Labor announced final regulations on new overtime rules May 18, greatly expanding who qualifies for overtime treatment. [node:read-more:link]

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the chances of recession this year are “quite low” despite mounting worries that the U.S. could be heading toward a downturn after seven years of tepid economic expansion. Still, a clearly tentative Fed leader has a long list of factors she worries will hold growth to a modest pace in the months ahead. Output growth, hiring, business investment and corporate profits have stumbled or slowed in recent months, leaving the Fed unsure when it will raise short-term interest rates again. Fed officials next meet July 26-27. Ms. [node:read-more:link]

The giant Panama Canal expansion opens June 26 amid much fanfare and one of the worst shipping industry slumps ever. While it won’t do anything to help the dire state of the industry near-term, the changes are critical to Western trade in the long run. The canal, which handles about a third of Asia-to-Americas trade, had no choice but to expand. [node:read-more:link]

Local law enforcement and Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Santa Rosa raided the production labs of prominent cannabis company Care By Design, possibly after receiving a complaint from a disgruntled former employee, according to reports. Several people were arrested and police seized equipment as well as payroll and product paperwork.  Several people were arrested, the newspaper reported, on suspicion of running afoul of drug laws. Authorities said the operation was not licensed, but it appears police were looking to bust a hash oil lab. [node:read-more:link]

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finalized the first   operational rules for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”), opening pathways towards fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. Under the final rule, the person actually flying a drone must be at least 16 years old and have a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating, or be directly supervised by someone with such a certificate. [node:read-more:link]

For the second year in a row, USDA’s Farm Service Agency says its $2.65 billion operating loan program will likely run out of funds before the end of the fiscal year. USDA officials say the funds will likely run dry by the end of June, around three months before next year’s program starts on October first. Cash-strapped farmers and cautious banks have turned to the program amid the global grains downturn. These FSA loan guarantees and direct loans are typically considered loans of last resort, but an increasing number of agriculture lenders have turned to the program. [node:read-more:link]

A Portland attorney and a Southern Oregon environmentalist are asking the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take industrial hemp off the federal government’s list of controlled substances.  The petition is the latest move by people who believe industrial hemp could be a viable agricultural crop if the federal government didn’t classify it as an illegal drug. They have long contended hemp can be used to make food, medicine, clothing, lotions, construction material, oils and other products. Some states, Oregon among them, allow licensed hemp cultivation but keep it tightly controlled. [node:read-more:link]