AgClips
Recent AgClips
Idaho Gov. Otter recommends $10 million for major ag research center
Capital Press | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIdaho Gov. Butch Otter’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget recommends $10 million for ag research center, $400,000 for wolf control efforts and $500,000 in ongoing funding for graduate student housing at University of Idaho agricultural research stations.
Washington Ecology shakes up dairy regulation
Capital Press | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe Washington Department of Ecology’s rules could keep dairies out of court, but the costs for farmers are uncertain. New rules issued by the Washington Department of Ecology on Wednesday will change the regulatory landscape for the state’s 230 dairies with more than 200 cows. Embracing the rules may shield dairies from government fines or lawsuits by environmental groups, but will mean taking on new obligations with uncertain costs.
States Expected to Continue Course Toward Clean Energy Future
Pew Trusts | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Energy NewsIn Wyoming, Republican Gov. Matt Mead is counting on a state-funded research center set to open this year to find a way to produce energy from coal without releasing carbon dioxide into the environment. In Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is eyeing new wind farms to bring jobs and economic growth. And in Ohio, Republican Gov. John Kasich says the state needs to support renewable energy to stay competitive and reduce electricity costs.
Printed human body parts could soon be available for transplant
The Economist | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Rural NewsEvery year about 120,000 organs, mostly kidneys, are transplanted from one human being to another. Sometimes the donor is a living volunteer. Usually, though, he or she is the victim of an accident, stroke, heart attack or similar sudden event that has terminated the life of an otherwise healthy individual. But a lack of suitable donors, particularly as cars get safer and first-aid becomes more effective, means the supply of such organs is limited. Many people therefore die waiting for a transplant. That has led researchers to study the question of how to build organs from scratch.
Tenth District Manufacturing Activity Expands
Kansas CIty Fed | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Rural News–The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the January Manufacturing Survey today. According to Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the survey revealed that Tenth District manufacturing activity continued to expand moderately with strong expectations for future activity. “We had another solid composite index reading in January, and firms’ expectations for future activity were the highest in more than twelve years,” said Wilkerson.
Lessons from Germany’s aggressive path to integrate renewables on the grid
Midwest Energy News | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Energy NewsAs policymakers in Ohio and elsewhere look to modernize their aging electric grid, concepts in Germany’s changing energy system suggest how today’s decisions can set the stage for a greater share of renewables and more energy security. Germany has committed to reducing its reliance on fossil fuels with a shift known as the Energiewende. The country sees the shift not only as “an important energy project, but also an important economic project,” said spokesperson Beate Baron at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy in Berlin.
Buffett's BNSF cuts ethanol shipper costs amid push for safer train cars
Reuters | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Energy NewsBNSF Railway Co will start offering discounts to ethanol shippers this April if they agree to use new, safer train cars, as it pushes to scrub puncture-prone ones from its rail lines at a faster pace than required by U.S. regulations. The move by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rail company comes even as ethanol shippers have been slow to embrace the new train cars mandated by sweeping new regulations enacted in 2015 after a series of fiery crude oil derailments.
Exxon Praises ‘Monumental’ Paris Agreement in Signal to Trump
Bloomberg | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Energy NewsExxon Mobil Corp., the U.S. oil giant that’s facing investigations over what it knew and when about climate change, sees the Paris agreement to mitigate global warming as a “monumental” achievement, according to a top executive. The company supports the December 2015 Paris accord as a “very meaningful and constructive process,” William M. Colton, Exxon’s vice president for corporate strategic planning, said in an interview in Berlin. Adhering to the accord’s commitments are achievable and compatible with Exxon’s business strategy, he said.
Americans Are Eating So Much Bacon That Reserves Are at a 50-Year Low
Fortune | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Food NewsU.S. bacon reserves have hit a 50 year low. The non-profit Ohio Pork Council said that demand for frozen pork belly, often made into bacon, has far outpaced supply, USA Today reports. “Today’s pig farmers are setting historic records by producing more pigs than ever. Yet our reserves are still depleting,” said Rich Deaton, the group's president. With low reserve levels, prices have increased; the cost of pork belly rose by 20% in January, according to the council.
Maine’s efforts to help rural towns didn’t work.
Bangor Daily News | Posted onFebruary 2, 2017 in Rural NewsMaine is the most rural state in the country, but it doesn’t have an organization devoted solely to helping rural communities. There are various groups focused on particular aspects of rural development but not one to tie all the efforts together, even as rural parts of the state continue to struggle with population and job losses. Maine could look to a neighbor and nearly equally rural state, Vermont, to see what a centralized body dedicated to tackling uniquely rural challenges has done for the state’s communities.