Agriculture News
N.Y. companies partner to build new meat plant
Democrat and Chronicle | Posted on April 21, 2016Headwater Food Hub and McCann's Local Meats are teaming up to establish a new United States Department of Agriculture-inspected butchering facility, which they expect to open at Headwater's headquarters in Ontario, Wayne County, early next year. It is expected to create five to eight new jobs.
Protect the Harvest Sues to Stop Massachusetts Ballot Initiative
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted on April 20, 2016Massachusetts farmer James Dunn joined with local anti-poverty activist Diane Sullivan in a lawsuit asking the courts to toss a proposed 2016 animal rights ballot measure. The proposed initiative petition (no. 15-11) would create strict new regulations on farmers and place new restrictions on interstate commerce. Experts warn that the proposed rules will actually harm animals while driving up the cost of food for Massachusetts families. Diane Sullivan, the policy director for a Boston-based advocacy organization, and herself one of more than 450,000 Massachusetts households who participates in the federally-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), warns of the unintended consequences hidden in the ballot measure.
Animal ag feeding U.S. economy
Feedstuffs | Posted on April 20, 2016The analysis shows that animal agriculture increased gross national product by $123 billion in economic output, improved household earnings by more than $21 billion and added 645,629 jobs from 2004 to 2014.
According to the "Economic Analysis of Animal Agriculture," during 2014 alone, U.S. animal agriculture’s support of the national economy included $440.7 billion in economic output, $76.7 billion in earnings and $19.6 billion in income taxes.
Georgia Agriculture chief pushing Georgia Grown branding
The Albany Herald | Posted on April 6, 2016any Georgians are surprised to learn that agriculture contributes approximately $75.35 billion to the state’s economy, according to University of Georgia Center for Agribusiness, which is the state’s top industry.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black was in Albany Tuesday to deliver an address to the Dougherty County Rotary Club about the plight of the state’s farmers and a new program called “Georgia Grown.”