Agriculture News
Updated Canadian Food Safety Rules
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted on January 17, 2019Food businesses that import or prepare food for export from Canada will be required to follow new rules designed to remove unsafe food from the marketplace faster and stop the spread of disease, starting yesterday. The new Safe Foods for Canadians Regulations(SFCR), effective Jan. 15, cover a wide range of food safety-related efforts from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), including licensing, labeling standards, rules enforcement and new recall protocols. The program launch also includes CFIA-developed educational efforts such as online videos covering the new rules, documents outlining fee changes, an online glossary of key terms and a downloadable handbook for businesses seeking additional information about SFCR.
Telemedicine Will Enhance, Not Replace Doctors In Rural Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio | Posted on January 17, 2019Medical centers in rural Wisconsin are working to meet the needs of underserved patients through technology — but that’s slow going and may not be the best replacement for human interaction in the future. Telemedicine, which involves the treatment or diagnosis of a patient remotely using telecommunications like video conferencing, is seen as a tool that can help improve the health of Wisconsin’s underserved rural population and its use has expanded in recent years."(Telemedicine can) provide life-saving advice within minutes where it used to be hours," said Dr. Ashok Rai, president and CEO of Prevea Health which operates medical facilities in rural and urban areas in western and northeastern Wisconsin.
Texas Case Offers Good Analysis of Enforceability of Liability Release
Texas A&M | Posted on January 17, 2019One way that Texas landowners can protect themselves from liability is to ensure that guests sign liability waivers before engaging in certain activities. For example, oftentimes hunters that plan to hunt on the property of another are asked to sign a liability waiver (also called a release of liability). A recent Texas case, Quiroz v. Jumpstreet8, Inc., the court addressed whether a liability waiver was valid when a plaintiff was injured at a trampoline park. The court addressed several issues, including the question of whether a release can waive claims for gross negligence.Ms. Quiroz and her son went to a trampoline park called Jumpstreet. Prior to jumping, Ms. Quiroz signed a release form required by Jumpstreet. While jumping, Ms. Quiroz was severely injured, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.Ms. Quiroz filed suit against Jumpstreet for negligence and gross negligence. She also filed claims on behalf of her minor children for loss of consortium and bystaner claims for mental anguish. Jumpstreet filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that her claims should be dismissed because the release she signed expressly released any claims for negligence or gross negligence. Ms. Quiroz alleged the release was invalid for a number of reasons, including because it would be against public policy to allow a release to waive claims for gross negligence. The trial court granted Jumpstreet’s motion and dismissed the case. Ms. Quiroz filed an appeal.
‘Right This Very Minute’ picked as AFB Foundation’s book of the year
Ag Daily | Posted on January 17, 2019Helping to make young people more connected to agriculture, the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has chosen its next book of the year: “Right This Very Minute,” written by Lisl H. Detlefsen and illustrated by Renee Kurilla. Subtitled, “A Table-to-Farm Book about Food and Farming,” the kids book is a delicious celebration of agriculture and is sure to inspire readers of all ages to learn more about where their food comes from.
Ex-dairy worker settles suit with attorney he claims tried to have him deported
San Francisco Chronicle | Posted on January 17, 2019A former Northern California dairy worker has won a million-dollar settlement against his ex-employer’s attorney, who responded to a lawsuit the man filed against the dairy over wages by — according to the worker — contacting immigration officials to try to get him deported. Jose Arias had already settled a retaliation suit against his former employer, Angelo Dairy of Acampo (San Joaquin County), when on Monday lawyers for California Rural Legal Assistance and Legal Aid at Work announced the $1 million settlement of a suit against attorney Anthony Raimondo. The settlement followed a federal court’s decision to reinstate that case.
Animal Agriculture Alliance debuts sustainability report
Feedstuffs | Posted on January 17, 2019The Animal Agriculture Alliance has released a new report that highlights how the animal agriculture industry shares the same values as today’s consumer with its commitment to animal care, environmental stewardship, responsible antibiotic use, food safety and nutrition. According to the report, there are about 2.1 million farms scattered throughout the U.S., and 99% of them are operated by families, with 20% of those being beginning farmers.
Restaurant chains reject criticism leveled in animal welfare report
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted on January 17, 2019Nando’s and Subway have refuted criticism leveled a them and six other food brands by World Animal Protection (WAP), a UK-based animal welfare activist organization. In a new report, titled “The Pecking Order,” WAP said it reviewed the publicly available information from the foodservice companies in three areas:how interested the company publicly appeared to be in the welfare of the chickens supplied to its restaurants, how ambitious the company was in its public promises to improve the lives of the chickens raised for its dishes, and how clearly the company endeavored to show how it was living up to its promises. The report is part of the organization’s Change for Chickens campaign, the report said. “[S]ome of the biggest and most iconic food companies in the world are doing little to improve the lives of the chickens on which their businesses depend,” the report said. “They are ignoring the opportunities created by higher animal welfare standards. Not so, say at least two of the eight brands called out in the report. Nando’s Peri-Peri and Subway submitted statements to Global Meat News, a UK-based business publication.“We ensure the markets in which we operate incorporate high animal welfare standards which are determined and regulated by the countries who participate in the (International Organization for Standardization) and the (International Organization for Animal Welfare,” Global Meat News quoted a Nando’s spokeswoman as saying.
Ag gag laws: Why barricading the barn door doesn't help agriculture
Des Moines Register | Posted on January 17, 2019This week’s ruling by a federal judge striking down Iowa’s “ag-gag” law, which essentially bans undercover activity in agriculture, may cause angst in the agriculture community, but it also presents an opportunity. The use of undercover video investigations is a strategy employed by animal welfare groups to bring public attention to their cause and influence farm and food company animal-care policies. The videos often show a farm worker appearing to commit animal abuse or mistreatment. Sometimes they are legitimate and sometimes not. Either way, how farmers and food companies react to them has evolved over time.Ag-gag laws build a legal barrier of sorts around farms. Unfortunately, these laws also send a message that farmers have something to hide. That's quite the opposite of transparency. Research from The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) clearly shows that consumers want and expect transparency when it comes to food production. And they deserve it.
Ninth Circuit Dicamba Battle Likely to Continue in 2019
DTN | Posted on January 17, 2019The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit against dicamba last week, but left open a door for the plaintiffs to expedite a new lawsuit in 2019. The original lawsuit, which was filed by four farm and environmental groups in 2017, argued that the EPA's 2016 registration of XtendiMax for over-the-top use on soybean and cotton fields was unlawful. When that registration ended and EPA renewed the dicamba registration in 2018, Monsanto (now Bayer) and EPA argued that the court should dismiss the lawsuit as moot.The court agreed, but the panel of judges also ruled that the plaintiffs, National Family Farm Coalition et al., should be allowed to fast-track a new lawsuit based on the new 2018 dicamba registration."We recognize that Petitioners may face the obstacle of bringing a challenge to the EPA's registration decision before the expiration of the current registration," the judges wrote. "Accordingly, if Petitioners bring a challenge in this Court to the 2018 registration decision of the EPA, we direct the Clerk of the Court to set an expedited schedule for briefing and oral argument."
More than 100 Indiana dairy farms had to call it quits in 2018
Edairy News | Posted on January 17, 2019Agriculture-dependent Indiana saw 10-percent of its dairy farms close in 2018. The Indiana State Board of Animal Health says there were 1,000 dairy farms in the state producing Grad A milk at the start of the year. By the end of 2018, there were 892 dairy farms still operating.