AgClips
Recent AgClips
Hormel unit to increase chicken housing, handling standards
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsHormel-owned natural and organic meat brand Applegate announced that by 2024, the company intends to elevate and third-party verify its standards for broiler chickens to be consistent with Global Animal Partnership (GAP). These changes will require, among other things, using broiler chicken breeds that are scientifically proven to have improved welfare outcomes.
Presentation highlights risk, solutions to West’s ‘megafires’
Capital Press | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Rural NewsWildfires are getting bigger and hotter across the West, threatening communities and causing billions of dollars in damage as forests become more cluttered and prone to disease. That’s according to a presentation by Paul Hessburg, research landscape ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service, documenting how the landscape has changed and what effect humans are having on fire behavior.
Monsanto starting sage grouse research at corporate ranch
Capital Press | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Rural NewsMonsanto officials say they’ll use a large corporate ranch in a phosphate-rich area of Caribou County to research sage grouse habitat restoration on land denuded for agricultural activities. Monsanto has hired a Ph.D. involved in sage grouse work and plans to collaborate with university researchers on projects at the ranch, intended to help mitigate for the company’s planned Caldwell Canyon Mine.
Land O'Lakes reports record earnings
Feedstuffs | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsDespite continued challenges within the farm sector, Land O'Lakes Inc. reported record net earnings for the year ending Dec. 31, 2016, which it said was powered by growth in core businesses and the unification with United Suppliers.
Tennessee bird flu update
Outbreak News Today | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsHighly pathogenic H7 avian influenza has been detected in a Tyson breeder flock in Tennessee. In a follow-up on the avian influenza situation in Tennessee, USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has confirmed the full subtype for the highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza reported in Lincoln County, TN. The virus has been identified as North American wild bird lineage H7N9 HPAI based upon full genome sequence analysis of the samples at the NVSL.
Visualizing U.S. Farmland Ownership, Tenure, and Transition
USDA | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture News2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey-Details about agricultural land for 25 States, 6 regions, and the contiguous United States.USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Economic Research Service (ERS) jointly conducted the 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey to shed light on the 911 million acres of agricultural land—held by both operator and non-operator landlords—in the contiguous 48 States.
Foreign-born workforce vital to local and national economy
Garden City Telegram | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe President said in September that undocumented immigrants are costing the U.S. more than $113 billion annually. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) was reportedly the source of that number, and they noted that state and local governments pay the vast majority of that amount at $84 billion a year, but also reported that the actual net cost incurred by undocumented immigrants residing illegally in the U.S. is closer to $99 billion.
With Farm Labor Getting Scarcer, Big U.S. Farms Are Preparing To Turn To Robots
Forbes | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Agriculture NewsBuoyed by an inexpensive migrant workforce, California has been the United States’ agricultural mainstay for nearly a century, currently producing about 60 percent of the nation’s fresh produce. But as the state’s minimum wage approaches $15 an hour and competition from a growing Mexican economy mounts, producers face unprecedented operating costs and a workforce that has dropped by 60 percent since the 1990s. Add to this President Trump’s moves to restrict immigration, which threatens to significantly curtail the sector’s already depressed labor supply.
The Rural-Urban Divide
American Farm Bureau | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Rural NewsRural voters tended to vote Republican and urban voters Democratic in this election. The divide may have less to do with party labels and more to do with political philosophy. Rural Americans are more conservative than urban dwellers, and their priorities often differ. In an analysis after the recent election, National Public Radio said the rural-urban divide grew in 2016 from where it was in 2012 and 2008, and it was because rural counties became progressively more Republican.
Fuels America Cuts Ties With RFA
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onMarch 9, 2017 in Energy NewsA coalition of the nation’s top biofuels advocates united together as Fuels America resolved to reject a move by Carl Icahn (Eye’-Kahn), owner of CVR Refining, to destabilize the Renewable Fuels Standard. They’ve also severed ties with the Renewable Fuels Association. Fuels America says it represents diverse groups that are working to protect America’s Renewable Fuels Standard.