AgClips
Recent AgClips
Top-ranking Georgia House leader seeks ‘creative’ approach to rural issues
Macon Telegraph | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsA state House committee has unanimously endorsed an idea to take a close look into how Georgia lawmakers could help struggling rural communities. “I want this council to look at the big picture and recommend legislative actions that can empower our rural areas,” said House Speaker David Ralston, explaining House Resolution 389 to a House committee on Tuesday. The legislation would create the House Rural Development Council, a group of 15 lawmakers to be appointed by Ralston.
As energy mix becomes cleaner, Minnesotans paying less for it
Midwest Energy News | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Energy NewsConsumers have seen flat or declining energy costs as renewable energy becomes a greater part of the energy mix of Minnesota and the nation. That’s one of the findings in the annual 2017 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in partnership with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.
Egg Carton Labeling Petitions Fail to Hatch
OFW Law | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Food NewsEgg cartons in the United States are not required by federal regulations to bear labels which identify the living conditions of the hens. Two animal rights non-profit organizations and six individuals sought to change that by filing petitions with four different federal agencies under the apparent strategy of not putting all their eggs in one basket. Each petition sought the promulgation of regulations that would require egg cartons to identify the hens’ living conditions during the production process. After each agency denied these scattershot efforts, petitioners filed suit in the Nor
Latest: Family ordered to pay up for unauthorized grazing
High Country News | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Federal NewsStarting in the mid-1990s, Nevada rancher Wayne Hage grazed his cows on public land without the necessary permits, saying his rights predated federal ownership. Hage, an outspoken government critic, passed away in 2006, but his son Wayne N. Hage continued the fight, illegally adding more cows annually — up to 648 by 2011.
REAP Tax Credits Available to PA Farmers for Conservation and Nutrient Plans to Improve Soil, Water Quality
Pennsylvania Press Room | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsWith more and more farmers interested in protecting and improving local water quality, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding today reminded producers of a tax credit program that can help them develop plans and install measures that reduce nutrient and sediment runoff. Farmers can use Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program tax credits to help offset the cost of writing conservation plans and nutrient management plans, purchasing conservation equipment, and implementing best management practices (BMPs) for their operations.
Omaha’s Answer to Costly Potholes? Go Back to Gravel Roads
The New York Times | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Rural NewsAfter living more than 40 years along a road plagued by potholes, Jo Anne Amoura was excited to see city crews shred her block of Leavenworth Street into gravel. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is great. We’re going to get a new street,’” Ms. Amoura recalled. “And then we waited and waited and waited.”Fresh pavement never arrived. Only after the asphalt had been ripped out almost three years ago did Ms. Amoura and her neighbors learn that their street had been “reclaimed,” Omaha City Hall’s euphemism for unpaving a road.“It’s really kind of like living in the country in the city,” said Ms.
A right to repair: why Nebraska farmers are taking on John Deere and Apple
The Guardian | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThere are corn and soy fields as far as the eye can see around Kyle Schwarting’s home in Ceresco, Nebraska. The 36-year-old farmer lives on a small plot of land peppered with large agricultural machines including tractors, planters and a combine harvester. Parked up in front of his house is a bright red 27-ton Case tractor which has tracks instead of wheels. It’s worth about $250,000, and there’s a problem with it: an in-cab alarm sounds at ten-minute intervals to alert him to a faulty hydraulic connector he never needs to use.
Asian nations restrict U.S. poultry imports over bird flu
Reuters | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Federal NewsSouth Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong have limited imports of U.S. poultry after the United States detected its first case this year of avian flu on a commercial chicken farm, South Korea's government and a U.S. trade group said on Monday. South Korea will ban imports of U.S. poultry and eggs after a strain of H7 bird flu virus was confirmed on Sunday at a chicken farm in Tennessee, South Korea's agriculture ministry said.
Bovine TB found in SD beef herd
Capital Journal | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsState Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven in Pierre confirmed bovine tuberculosis has been found in a South Dakota beef herd. Oedekoven says meat inspectors initially identified the suspect animals in February during routine slaughter inspection of otherwise healthy appearing cattle. The cattle were traced to a herd in Harding County. Testing of the herd revealed additional infected animals.Oedekoven says his office is working with the herd owner and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials to evaluate the extent of the disease.
Healthy Soil Will Eat Your Underwear
Real Agriculture | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in NewsHow healthy is your soil? If you want to know all you have to do is bury your underwear, says Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) soil management specialist Adam Hayes. Last summer, Hayes helped members of the Renfrew County Soil and Crop Improvement Association bury underwear in their fields to determine the amount of biological activity in their soils. They buried cotton briefs six to eight inches deep in the soil in late May and then dug them up in early August.