AgClips
Recent AgClips
Washington dairies embrace live video chats
Capital Press | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe Washington dairy industry, seeking to bridge the rural-urban divide, has turned to social media’s biggest platform, Facebook, and its most-informed spokesmen, farmers. In a live video cht, Yakima County farmer Bill Warvin fielded questions about his dairy practices, including why calves are taken from their mothers at birth. “I think it’s a great question,” he said. “It seems unnatural for someone not close to animal livestock.”The video was the second of four chats planned by the Dairy Farmers of Washington, the state dairy products commission.
McDonald's Tries out McVegan
Independent | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Food NewsCatchily named the McVegan, it consists of a soy-based patty topped with tomato, salad, pickles and vegan McFeast sauce, sandwiched between a bun. McDonald’s have decided to trial the burger in Tampere, Finland, from 4 October to 21 November. However, if it’s popular, the McVegan might be rolled out globally.
Dairy Processors Stretched by Milk Production Gains
Co Bank | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture Newsvery year, U.S. dairy farmers produce 3 billion more pounds of milk than the year before. For the past few years, production growth has outpaced processing capacity growth and dairy processors are struggling to keep pace, according to a new report from CoBank's Knowledge Exchange Division. As a result, "Dairy processors are faced with the challenge of handling an ever-growing milk supply, while anticipating the right product mix to meet consumer demand," said Ben Laine, senior dairy economist at CoBank. "An additional 27 billion pounds of U.S.
Livestock production, a much smaller challenge to global food security than often reported
Phys.org | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsA new study in Global Food Security found that livestock place less burden on the human food supply than previously reported. Even stronger, certain production systems contribute directly to global food security because they produce more highly valuable nutrients for humans, such as proteins, than they consume."As a Livestock Policy Officer working for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, I have been asked many times by the press to report on the negative environmental impacts of livestock," explained lead investigator Anne Mottet, PhD.
Time to bid adieu to GMO regulations
The Western Producer | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIt disturbs me to see less-developed countries using valuable resources to implement western-style regulatory systems for such crops when those resources could be better used elsewhere and such technologies probably hold greater potential than in the western world. Some people have made their careers debating from a pro- or anti-GMO point of view. Organizations have developed on both sides, again taking resources that could be better used elsewhere.
EPA Action would Break President’s Promises on Protecting the RFS
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture, Energy, Federal NewsEfforts underway from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to scale back the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would break repeated promises by President Donald Trump to protect the RFS. As part of a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) published by the agency on Oct. 4, EPA signaled that it is contemplating reducing proposed RFS volumes, including volumes that were finalized a year ago.
Oregon Court of Appeals affirms ruling overturning GMO ban
Capital Press | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe Oregon Court of Appeals has affirmed that a prohibition against genetically engineered crops in Josephine County is pre-empted by state law. Voters in Josephine County approved the ban in 2014, nearly a year after state lawmakers passed a bill barring local governments from regulating genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
How Intermountain Healthcare Developed Its Pain Management Strategy
L.E.K. | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Rural NewsThe CDC estimates that nearly 80 people die of opioid overdose each day in the United States. Opioid overuse is a critical issue, and the need for interventions is becoming an urgent priority for many health systems. Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare has made preventing prescription opioid misuse a top community health priority. Utah ranks eighth in the nation for opioid overdose deaths.
The Navajo Nation has a wild horse problem
High Country News | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in NewsUp to 40,000 wild horses wander the Navajo Nation, roaming across 27,000 miles of deep canyons, rugged hills and huge mountains, according to aerial estimates from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In just five years, the population is expected to double. Already the feral horses compete with domestic animals, sheep or cattle, and wildlife for water and sparse vegetation. Yet a Navajo Nation oversight committee recently denied an $800,000 funding request from the tribe’s Fish and Wildlife Department to help reduce the horse population, leaving the nation with few alternatives.
California animal welfare laws led to higher egg prices, lower production
Purdue | Posted onOctober 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsLaws that changed animal confinement standards in California raised the price of eggs dramatically upon adoption and have kept prices higher than had the laws not been enacted, according to a Purdue University study. An analysis of the laws’ effects on egg production and prices in California could inform other states considering similar legislation. By July of 2016, the number of egg-laying hens and eggs produced in California had dropped by 35 percent. Lusk and Mullally say that led to price increases as high as 33 percent per dozen.