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$48 million in government grants to help western farmers amid drought and climate change

My News 4 | Posted on June 24, 2016

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. The funds include $15 million in USDA funds and $32.6 million from the Bureau of Reclamation for local projects to improve water and energy efficiency and provide a strengthened federal response to ongoing and potential drought across 13 states in the West.


Crop Insurance Gives Farmers More Planting Flexibility

USDA | Posted on June 24, 2016

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. The ability to modify coverage as needed to adequately accommodate growing two crops on one field in the same year will be available for most crops in the 2017 growing season. USDA officials say the program will kick off with winter wheat.


Senators agree on gmo labeling deal

St Louis Post Dispatch | Posted on June 24, 2016

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. Vermont's law would require items to be labeled "produced with genetic engineering."  The agreement couldn't become law before Vermont's law kicks in July 1, since the House is on vacation until July 5. Legislation passed by the House would make the labeling voluntary, but that measure stalled in the Senate earlier this year.


Ag not necessarily exempt from new labor rules

DTN | Posted on June 24, 2016

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. “Direct” agricultural work still is generally exempt from overtime, so if you’re pressed to run full speed during planting and harvest, you simply pay field hands their hourly rate multiplied by time worked. Immediate family members employed on farm also are completely exempt from overtime rules. Neither of those exemptions have changed, says Angie Ziegler who advises clients on payroll issues for the accounting firm of EideBailly in Mankato, Minnesota.


Yellen: Recession Unlikely, but Long-Run Growth Could Be Slow

Wall Street Journal | Posted on June 23, 2016

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. Yellen gave no indication that she expects to lift rates at that time. Instead, she stuck to a line that the Fed will raise rates gradually, cautiously and without a set timetable.


The Panama Canal Expands

Wall Street Journal | Posted on June 23, 2016

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. As the industry copes with its downturn, major shipping companies are pooling their resources and using fewer but much bigger ships—ones that are too large to fit through the pre-expansion Panama Canal.  The nine-year, $5.4 billion expansion more than doubles the canal’s cargo capacity. A third lane has been added to the canal that accommodates ships large enough to carry up to 14,000 containers, compared with around 5,000 currently. This alleviates a cargo bottleneck caused by the smaller ships that was due to get worse over time.

The expansion makes the Panama Canal more competitive with the Suez Canal in Egypt, shortening the one-way journey by sea from Asia to the U.S. East Coast by roughly five days and eliminating the need for a trip around Cape Horn to get to the Atlantic.


Major Cannabis Company Raided in Sonoma Today

SF Weekly | Posted on June 22, 2016

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. Producing high potency cannabis oil — a popular and potent way to consume cannabis — using butane as a solvent to extract active material from plant matter runs afoul of state law banning drug manufacturing. However, according to company officials, Care By Design does not use butane, and does not create the cannais products — shatter, wax, and the like — popular with cannabis consumers who "dab."


DOT and FAA Finalize Rules for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

FAA | Posted on June 22, 2016

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. To qualify for a remote pilot certificate, an individual must either pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center or have an existing non-student Part 61 pilot certificate. If qualifying under the latter provision, a pilot must have completed a flight review in the previous 24 months and must take a UAS online training course provided by the FAA. The TSA will conduct a security background check of all remote pilot applications prior to issuance of a certificate.


FSA Says Operating Loan Program Funding to Run Dry

Hoosier Ag Today | Posted on June 20, 2016

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. The recent rebound in crop prices has not cooled demand. USDA data shows that at the end of May, applications for operating loans were up 23 percent and funding obligation had climbed 19 percent.


Petition asks DEA to quit treating industrial hemp like marijuana

Capital Press | Posted on June 20, 2016

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. The petition notes that 30 other countries allow hemp cultivation, including Canada. The petition letter says state economies, the environment and national security “would greatly benefit from the re-commercialization of industrial hemp in domestic agriculture and manufacturing.”


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