AgClips
Recent AgClips
Many people think a cage-free life is better for hens. It’s not that simple.
The Washington Post | Posted onJune 15, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIndiana egg farmer John Brunnquell’s 1.3 million hens don’t live in cages. They also get to go outside, making his company, Egg Innovations, the nation’s largest free-range operation in the industry. It wasn’t always so. Brunnquell, 54, grew up on a traditional chicken farm, and he says he “could argue all the benefits of cages.” That changed in the early 1990s, when his first glimpse of a cage-free barn convinced him that the freer system was better for the birds. He spent the next decade overhauling his own.Along the way, he admits, things weren’t always better for his flocks.
How Does The Richest Nation Solve A Milk Shortage? By Airlifting 4,000 Cows
NPR | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Agriculture, Food NewsHow do you start a dairy industry overnight in a wealthy desert nation with its transport links closed? You buy 4,000 cows from Australia and the U.S. and put them on airplanes. That is what Qatari businessman Moutaz Al Khayyat told Bloomberg he is doing. The airlift will require as many as 60 flights on Qatar Airways, but Al Khayyat said, "This is the time to work for Qatar."Last week, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates all cut ties to Qatar.
EU:Word ‘milk’ banned for use in branding of plant-based products
FG Insight | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Food NewsThe EU Court of Justice has today (June 14) ruled products of a ‘purely plant-based substance’ are no longer legally allowed to be branded with the terms milk, cream, butter, cheese or yoghurt, unless of animal origin. The rule applies to all products that do not appear on the list of exceptions, such as soya and tofu.
Baby death: Parents convicted of killing son with diet of vegetable milk
Newsweek | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Food NewsIdentified as Peter S Sandrina V, the parents, who owned a health food store, were given a six-month suspended jail term after being found guilty of the death of their son, Lucas. At the time of his death, Lucas, dehydrated and malnourished, weighed just under 10 pounds.
PA processor drops 11 farms due to milk surplus
Wilkes Barre Times Leader | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Food NewsA major Pennsylvania dairy has laid off 11 farms due to a surplus of milk.Galliker’s Dairy tells WJAC-TV that the Johnstown-area business has had a surplus for years.Evan Fineman, the dairy’s senior vice president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, says the dairy’s 85 farms have produced more milk each year even though Galliker’s is selling less. After accumulating the surplus and financial losses for several years, the dairy was forced to stop taking milk from 11 farms. Galliker’s produces about 14.5 million gallons (54.9 million liters) of milk each year.
The Trump budget threatens funds that turn farmers into foodmakers. Rural communities should care.
New Food Economy | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsValue Added Poducer Grantss were authorized as part of the Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000, which amended the Federal Crop Insurance Act to strengthen the safety net for agricultural producers by providing greater access to more affordable risk management tools and improved protection from production and income loss. It was later amended by the 2002 farm bill.
Weak farm income to drag Nebraska economy through 2019
Kearney Hub | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsWeak farm income will continue to hamper Nebraska’s economic growth during the next three years, according to the long-term forecast released this morning from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Bureau of Business Research and the Nebraska Business Forecast Council.“Farm incomes have been driven down over the last four years and are expected to bottom out in 2017,” said Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research, an applied economic and business research entity of UNL’s College of Business.
Enviros and BLM reach major public lands settlement in Utah
High Country News | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Federal, Rural NewsThousands of miles of dusty two-tracks crisscross Utah’s remote public lands. Some are historical routes, while others were carved more recently by backcountry recreationists in trucks and four-wheelers. Which roads should still be used and which should be abandoned to protect the environment has been a topic of intense debate for years. Now, Utah is one step closer to ending its roads controversy. Last week an eight-year lawsuit spanning 11 million acres and 20,000 miles of routes in southern and eastern Utah ended with a settlement.
Nuclear Subsidies Slow to Catch on as Opposition Steps Up
Bloomberg | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Energy, SARL Members and Alumni NewsAlmost a year after New York became the first state to approve subsidies for nuclear reactors threatened with closure, efforts to replicate the model elsewhere are proving a tough sell. Lawmakers in Connecticut failed to pass a bill overnight that was designed to shore up a nuclear plant. Dominion Energy Inc., which mounted a high-profile campaign to win higher revenue for its Millstone station, said it would “continue assessing our investments” in the state as a result.
FirstEnergy's nuclear zero emission credits may have stalled
Cleveland.com | Posted onJune 14, 2017 in Energy, SARL Members and Alumni NewsFirstEnergy's effort to convince state lawmakers that it must have more than $300 million a year in new customer charges to keep its nuclear power plants running is approaching a stall point.The Ohio Senate's Public Utilities Committee wrapped up its fourth hearing Thursday on the special nuclear funding legislation, without reaching a conclusion.In fact, most of the 13 members on the committee had drifted away by the time the last witnesses gave their testimony opposing Senate Bill 128.Over 40 witnesses have submitted written testimony, much of it in opposition. Many of them have then app