AgClips
Recent AgClips
Alfond Foundation vows to pay off students’ debt to draw STEM workers to Maine
Bangor Daily News | Posted onFebruary 23, 2017 in Rural NewsIn hopes of courting more specialists in science, technology, engineering and math to Maine, the Harold Alfond Foundation is rolling out a new grant program to help them pay off college debts. With an initial investment of $5.5 million, the Alfond Leaders competitive grant program will give about 150 recipients up to $60,000 in college debt relief per person over the next three years, the foundation announced Tuesday. The grants will be administered by the Finance Authority of Maine.
Trump’s push on immigration and NAFTA cast shadow over the Kansas City area economy
The Kansas City Star | Posted onFebruary 23, 2017 in Agriculture NewsExpanded immigration enforcement and potential trade renegotiation are casting a shadow over Kansas City area residents and businesses. Both topics surfaced Wednesday during an agricultural trade forum at Union Station. Talk focused mostly on trade and President Donald Trump’s calls to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement that covers the United States, Canada and Mexico. “For all those who are thinking about renegotiating NAFTA, our request is do no harm first and foremost,” said Neil Herrington, executive director of the Americas for the U.S.
Health insurance woes add to the risky business of farming
NPR | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThere are many challenges to farming for a living: It's often grueling work that relies on unpredictable factors such as weather and global market prices. But one aspect that's often ignored is the cost of health care. A University of Vermont researcher found that nationally, most farmers cited health care costs as a top concern. Shoshanah Inwood is a rural sociologist at UVM. She has been studying the aging and shrinking farm population, and what components are needed to build a prosperous farm economy.
Trump to roll back Obama’s climate, water rules through executive action
The Washington Post | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Federal NewsPresident Trump is preparing executive orders aimed at curtailing Obama-era policies on climate and water pollution, according to individuals briefed on the measures. While both directives will take time to implement, they will send an unmistakable signal that the new administration is determined to promote fossil-fuel production and economic activity even when those activities collide with some environmental safeguards. Individuals familiar with the proposals asked for anonymity to describe them in advance of their announcement, which could come as soon as this week.
Trump proposal would deport more immigrants immediately
The New York Times | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Federal NewsFederal authorities would be empowered to immediately deport vastly more undocumented immigrants as part of a broad crackdown being developed by the Trump administration that would significantly change the way federal agencies enforce immigration laws. Two draft memos signed on Friday by John F.
Trump administration considers change in calculating U.S. trade deficit
The Wall Street Journal | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Federal NewsThe Trump administration is considering changing the way it calculates U.S. trade deficits, a shift that would make the country’s trade gap appear larger than it had in past years, according to people involved in the discussions. The leading idea under consideration would exclude from U.S. exports any goods first imported into the country, such as cars, and then transferred to a third country like Canada or Mexico unchanged.
Organic Food Sales Are Booming; Why Are American Farmers Crying Foul?
The Wall Street Journal | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Food NewsOrganic grain is flooding into the U.S., depressing prices and drawing complaints from domestic organic farmers who fear their harvests are held to stricter standards than foreign-raised crops.
More than 500 groups urge Congress not to cut farm bill
Agri-Pulse | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Federal NewsMore than 500 national, state and local farm, conservation and nutrition organizations have signed a letter urging the House and Senate budget committees not to propose cuts in the farm bill that this Congress will be writing. The groups point out that the 2014 farm bill was required to make $23 billion in cuts, and that spending on crop insurance and nutrition assistance is dropping sharply, according to recent cost estimates.
Slump in Farmland Values Continues
Kansas CIty Fed | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Agriculture NewsFarmland values continued to wane in the fourth quarter, according to the Tenth District Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions. On average, nonirrigated and irrigated farmland values dropped 6 percent, and ranchland values fell 7 percent from the same period last year (Chart 1). These downgrades were the largest since the Great Recession of 2007-09 but were relatively small compared to declines in the 1980s. The largest changes in District states occurred in Kansas and Nebraska (Table 1).
I grew GMOs in my suburban garden, here’s what happened
Medium.com | Posted onFebruary 22, 2017 in Food NewsThere is a lot of emotion these days surrounding the use of seed created with genetic engineering. Some groups have grown concerned about associated pesticides and what they see as corporate control. Scientists tell us that the technology is beneficial and poses no additional risk compared to other breeding methods. I wanted to find this out for myself. In March I contacted Rupp Seeds, one of many suppliers of seed for farmers. The immediate problem I faced was that of scale. I live in a very small Annapolis duplex with a lawn that takes me about five minutes to cut.