Agriculture News
Organic trade group creating a voluntary checkoff
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on September 13, 2018The Organic Trade Association announced it will develop a voluntary, industry-invested checkoff program to fund research, promotion and education efforts. Organic stakeholders across the supply chain will collaborate to design and implement the program, the group said. The group has formed a steering committee to coordinate the process and address governance questions to maximize participation and good decision making, it said. It also aims to bring together multiple private efforts to foster coordinated organic research and promotion.
How a poultry processor, pork producer and feedyard approach labor: CoBank
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on September 13, 2018In a report titled “Help Wanted,” CoBank — a cooperative bank serving rural America — explores some of the factors influencing today’s agricultural labor climate. The report also takes a closer look at how poultry processor Case Farms, cattle feedyard operator Friona Industries and pork producer Schwartz Farms are addressing the issue.
AVMA State Legislative Update August 2018
AVMA | Posted on September 13, 2018In 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. However, this regulation would prohibit a person from administering antimicrobial drugs solely to promote weight gain or improve feed efficiency.
Maine shrimp population still looks bad amid shutdown
The Salem News | Posted on September 13, 2018The early numbers from a new stock assessment of Gulf of Maine northern shrimp doesn't seem to bode well for the future of the long-shuttered fishery. The northern shrimp fishery has been shut down since the 2014 season because of historical lows in spawning and recruitment and escalating concerns over the warming of the Gulf of Maine waters — which researchers have said are warming faster than 99 percent of the world's other ocean waters.The news going forward does not appear much better.Results of the stock assessment "look fairly similar to what we've seen in previous years," said Megan Ware, a fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States. "We're still seeing low trends for northern shrimp. Low abundance, low biomass."
Georgia farm will get compensated for poultry deaths due to bald eagle attacks
Agdaily | Posted on September 11, 2018White Oak Pastures, whose 3,200 acres makes it the largest USDA certified-organic property in Georgia, estimates that bald eagles have destroyed nearly 160,000 chickens over the years, resulting in over $2,200,000 in losses. The farm was famously the subject of a 2016 Audubon feature article titled, “An Organic Chicken Farm in Georgia Has Become an Endless Buffet for Bald Eagles,” which explored the impact of the nearly 75 eagles living at the farm. It made the farm a focal point of the debate over animal welfare and of the differences in health and safety of pasture-raised and barn-raised poultry. Thursday’s FSA ruling means that White Oak can be compensated for the loss and destruction of its poultry. The decision followed years of disputes between the farm and the FSA, the organization responsible for compensating producers and farmers under the Livestock Indemnity Program. In a press released put out by White Oak, they said that the ruling determined that the FSA failed to follow its own rules for compensating farmers in its previous denials of White Oak’s claims, and that the FSA’s decision to deny benefits was erroneous.
Congress rolls back tariffs
Washington Examiner | Posted on September 11, 2018On a voice vote and with little fanfare the House passed legislation Tuesday that would roll back tariffs on an estimated 1,660 products from China, mostly chemicals. The legislation, dubbed the Miscellaneous Tariffs Act, previously passed the Senate last month and now heads to the White House, which has not taken a public position on it. The bill’s supporters argue that the tariffs are outdated and protect few products made domestically and therefore drove up costs for the manufacturers that need them. A Reuters analysis said that the tariffs included just 145 items made in the U.S."Requiring manufacturers to pay tariffs on products that simply aren't made here runs up their manufacturing costs and puts them at a competitive disadvantage," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
German cows die after being freed from organic farm
DW | Posted on September 11, 2018At least four cows have died and many more are injured after unknown assailants trespassed on an organic farm and released the cattle from their pens in the German state of Brandenburg. The culprits released scores of dairy cows and young cattle between Saturday night and Sunday morning. The cows proceeded to the concentrate feed area, where they ate up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of the substance. Normally, cows only receive a maximum of two kilograms of concentrate per day, the report said. Four cows died from overdose while 40 others are in critical condition and require veterinarian treatment, according to the report.
Minnesota farmers consider asking for government help as trade war worsens downturn that started years ago
Minnesota Star Tribune | Posted on September 10, 2018The escalating trade war is imposing new burdens on Minnesota’s vast and economically important agricultural sector. Farmers have already endured almost five years of marginal profits as they produced record volumes in summer after summer of good weather. Now, the trade war appears likely to tip them from small profits to sizable losses. Many are reluctantly preparing to take what they consider a distasteful step: turning to the government for help. Last Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture started accepting farmer applications for $4.7 billion in emergency aid aimed at helping them through this year. But the market is already signaling danger for 2019. Bankers who provide capital to farmers won’t stand for losses and, instead, will likely force many farmers to sit on the sidelines. As many as 20 percent of farmers in the Upper Midwest won’t be able to get credit to finance spring planting, barring a miracle turnaround in prices, said Al Kluis, a commodity broker in Wayzata. Farmers have lost big foreign markets like China and Mexico, which placed taxes on their products after Trump imposed tariffs on steel imports and pushed to recraft other trade deals. As a short-term response, the Trump administration responded by creating the aid program.
Ag associations voice support for King amendment
Watt Ag Net | Posted on September 6, 2018Support for the proposed King amendment is growing, as a group of agricultural organizations is urging members of Congress to make sure the provision is included in the next farm bill. The King amendment, formally known as the Protect Interstate Commerce Act (PICA) was introduced within the House version of the farm bill. The bill was designed to prevent states from regulating farm animal production in other states.For Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who introduced the legislation, this would protect his state’s egg industry from laws in other states, such as California and Massachusetts that have laws that set restrictions on how hens that lay eggs that are sold in in their state are raised, regardless of where they are raised.
BSE Found in Florida Beef Cow
DTN | Posted on September 6, 2018A 6-year-old mixed-breed beef cow in Florida tested positive for an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, USDA announced. USDA stated the animal never entered slaughter channels, and at no time posed a threat to the food supply, or to human health in the United States."As expected, the market has greeted the news with a big yawn," said John Harrington, DTN livestock analyst. "The scary days of BSE are long gone."