SARL Members and Alumni

Tariffs, oversupply and European policies may all be to blame for some Hoosier dairy farm troubles.  The dairy industry is dealing with some tough times and that trickles down to Hoosier dairy farmers. You may have heard the story of one Indiana farm where milk will no longer be produced. Joe Kelsay said his troubles don't just come from the tariffs on exports, but from a long downward trend in the market. Deb Osza, CEO of the American Dairy Assoc. [node:read-more:link]

After leading NCSL for more than three decades, Pound tells Governing in an exclusive interview that he will step down by the time of the group's next annual meeting in August 2019. He will be leaving at a moment when the group faces a changing political landscape. "In the early years, it was hard sometimes to tell the Democrats from the Republicans," Pound says. [node:read-more:link]

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has announced a plan to bring broadband Internet to every residence and business throughout his state. The state will coordinate with Connect Michigan, a subsidiary of the nonprofit Connected Nation, to implement the plan to connect nearly 40,000 households that don't have high-speed Internet.The plan calls for Internet at a speed of 1 gigabit per second to all homes and businesses by 2026."As technology continues to rapidly change and evolve, having access to fast, reliable internet is now a necessity for everyday life," Snyder said in a statement. [node:read-more:link]

It’s August in southern Idaho, and all is calm for the region’s dairy workers. But after four workers were picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, in July, Latino families have mostly stayed inside, missing church and otherwise lying low. In dairy country, the anxiety is constant. [node:read-more:link]

In Massachusetts, a new law pertaining to abuse/cruelty reporting (HB 2419/S 2646) allows government employees to report known or suspected animal cruelty, abuse, or neglect to local authorities. If an employee makes such a report in good faith, he or she has immunity from civil or criminal liability.  The Maryland Department of Agriculture proposed a regulation, Dept of Agriculture/18-196, that would allow a person to administer medically important antimicrobial drugs to livestock if a licensed veterinarian finds that the drug is medically necessary. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been running checkpoints in New Hampshire more frequently under the Trump administration, setting up on Interstate 93 near the small towns of Woodstock and Lincoln. The stated goal of these stops is enforcing immigration law, and to that end, they have been fairly successful. Agents have arrested more than 50 people over the past two years who they determined to be in the country illegally. [node:read-more:link]

Under this bill, a high volume breeder is an establishment that keeps , houses and maintains six or more breeding dogs (meaning a fertile, unspayed, adult dog) AND meets one of the following criteria:In return for a fee or other consideration, sells 5 or more dogs to a pet store or dog retailer (a retailer is defined in current law as someone who sells at wholesale for resale), or In return for a fee or other consideration, sells 40 or more puppies in a calendar year to the public, or Keeps, houses and maintains at any given time in a calendar year, more than 60 puppies under the age of 6 m [node:read-more:link]

Farm Foundation has released six papers commissioned to examine specific issues critical to rural infrastructure development. Understanding the economic returns on investing in rural infrastructure improvements is a critical element in the decision-making process for public and private investors. “As the nation addresses rural infrastructure needs, it is vital that public and private decision makers have the best information possible on the economic and social returns of their investments,” says Farm Foundation President Constance Cullman. [node:read-more:link]

Ever wonder why flat earthers, birthers, climate change and Holocaust deniers stick to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary? New findings suggest that feedback, rather than hard evidence, boosts people's sense of certainty when learning new things or trying to tell right from wrong.Developmental psychologists have found that people's beliefs are more likely to be reinforced by the positive or negative reactions they receive in response to an opinion, task or interaction, than by logic, reasoning and scientific data. [node:read-more:link]

No family wants to end up in court arguing over how inherited farmland will be divided. It's even more discouraging when one owner wants to keep the land, but the court orders all the owners to sell. Iowa just passed a law in 2018 that allows a way to equalize the property without a sale. The result: Person(s) wanting to sell can get cash out, while owner(s) preferring to keep the family farm are not forced to sell. [node:read-more:link]