AgClips
Recent AgClips
Woodchip bioreactors may be able to filter nitrate, phosphorus from water
Science Daily | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIn a recent study, Christianson and several colleagues looked at whether they could also remove phosphorus by adding a special "P-filter" designed to trap the fertilizer-derived pollutant. The team tested two types of industrial waste products in the P-filters: acid mine drainage treatment residual (MDR) and steel slag. Phosphorus binds to elements such as iron, calcium, and aluminum contained in these products, removing it from the water.
Immigration Operation Arrests 650, Including Child Migrants
The Wall Street Journal | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Federal NewsFederal immigration enforcement agents arrested 650 people last week during an operation aimed at families and children who illegally crossed the border and had been ordered deported, officials said Tuesday. Those arrested included 73 individuals who crossed the border as part of family units and 120 who entered as unaccompanied minors.
The Bill Gates-backed veggie burger that 'bleeds' has raised another $75 million — see how it's made
Business Insider | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Food NewsSilicon Valley is rallying around a startup that wants to disrupt the meat aisle. Impossible Foods sells burgers made from plants that sizzle on the grill and "bleed" juices like real beef. The company aims to make meat derived from animals the exception, not the rule.On August 1, the startup announced it had raised a $75 million investment from Singapore-based venture fund Temasek, Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures, and others. The new round brings the company's total funding to over $250 million and will likely serve its plans for expansion.
This Food Bank Invests In The Local Community
NPR | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Food, Rural NewsWayne County, New York, is the biggest producer of apples in the Empire State. Yet, in 2013 public school children in the county were being served apples from Washington on their lunch trays. At the end of the lunch period, the lovely, whole Washington apples ended up mostly uneaten in the garbage. Tom Ferraro, founder of the Rochester, NY, food bank Foodlink, set about solving the problem. Ferraro was familiar with a recent study showing that children were more likely to eat sliced fruit than whole.
Low net farm income among issues for challenging farm bill
Delta Farm Press | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsDon Koehler says the fact that net farm income has fallen to half of what it was four years ago will make writing the 2018 farm bill a “challenge.” That and the fact no new money is available for funding the legislation, according to leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.
US dairy ramps up fight against EU food name protection
Agri-Pulse | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Food NewsThe U.S. dairy sector is fighting harder than ever on several fronts to halt the European Union’s global efforts to block cheese producers in other countries from using names like Roquefort, Asiago and Gorgonzola on the products they export. The EU has been making progress in countries including Japan, China and Mexico, but U.S.-based groups like the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) are fighting back.
Obamacare Saved This Woman’s Life—and Her Farm
Mother Jones | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Federal, Rural NewsAfter battling two brain tumors and breast cancer, Tina Hinchley still milks 130 cows twice a day. Not many people have jobs that are as physically demanding as Tina Hinchley’s. With her husband and four children, Hinchley, 51, milks 130 cows twice a day and works the corn and soybean fields on her family’s 2,500-acre farm in southeastern Wisconsin. To keep things running smoothly, Hinchley says the whole family needs to be healthy and strong.
’17 drought reflects need for safety net
The Bismarck Tribune | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in NewsCrop insurance adjusters will be among the busiest workers in Montana this year; that’s not good news for anybody.As Tom Lutey reported in Sunday’s Billings Gazette, the nation’s worst drought is in northeastern Montana and adjoining areas of North Dakota. The states’ winter durum wheat harvest is expected to be 45 percent less than last year. More than 60 percent of Montana’s spring wheat is rated poor to very poor, as is 51 percent of the lentil crop.
15 states appeal EPA delay of stricter air-quality standards
AP | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Energy, Federal NewsAttorneys general from 15 states filed a legal challenge on Tuesday over the Trump administration’s delay of Obama-era rules reducing emissions of smog-causing air pollutants. The states petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s extension of deadlines to comply with the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.Pruitt announced in June he was extending the deadlines by at least one year while his agency studies and reconsiders the requirements.
Ethanol makers steer away from fuel, turn to booze
St Louis Post Dispatch | Posted onAugust 3, 2017 in Energy NewsA U.S. glut of fuel-grade ethanol has major producers, including Green Plains Inc. and industry pioneer Archer Daniels Midland Co., pursuing other markets and idling excess capacity in an effort to rebuild sagging margins. ADM and Green Plains both said on Tuesday they are converting fuel-ethanol capacity into beverage and industrial alcohol production, as well as idling some mills. The announcements follow Pacific Ethanol's decision in June to buy a beverage-grade facility in Illinois, a diversification away from fuel ethanol.