AgClips
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adds animal welfare assessment programs
USDA | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Federal NewsThe USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has developed a program under which it will offer assessments of animal welfare standards and programs to determine if they conform to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Specification (TS) 34700 — Animal Welfare Management/General Requirements and Guidance for Organizations in the Food Supply Chain.
Canada looks to tighten animal transportation protections
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency has proposed an update to that country’s “Health of Animals Regulations” dealing with the transportation of animals. The CFIA proposes to amend the regulations to:Provide clarification by adding definitions (for example definitions for “compromised” and “unfit” animals) and establishing clear requirements for regulated parties to better understand what is expected of them;Improve animal welfare and reduce risk of suffering during transportation by establishing clear and science-informed requirements that better reflect animals’ needs and current industr
Growing Ohio promotes food, agriculture industry
Sidney Daily News | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe Ohio Department of Agriculture recently unveiled the 2017 edition of Growing Ohio, a magazine and web program that promotes and educates how the food and agriculture community contributes to Ohio’s economic well-being. Stories highlight Ohio’s food producers, the local community and farm families. Articles focus on the state’s thriving and diverse agritourism; how women are growing their influence in the traditionally male-dominated agriculture industry; innovative agriculture education efforts through virtual field trips; and Ohio’s booming greenhouse industry.
Florida Commissioner Of Agriculture, Adam H. Putnam, Launches Cooking Video Series
Space Coast Daily | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Food NewsFlorida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam has launched an educational video series titled “The Science of Cooking” to engage 5th to 8th grade students in the science in daily activities, such as cooking.
Farming programs helps veterans learn to farm
Washington Times | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsDamon Helton had one problem when he bought a 160-acre farm in Lonsdale four years ago - he didn’t know the first thing about farming. Three years out of the military, the retired Army Ranger was still transitioning back to civilian life. He had a well-paying sales job, but it took him away from his wife and children too often. So he bought the Farm at Barefoot Bend in Garland County. “Then, it was like ‘Holy crap, what did we just do?’” he said. Fortunately for Helton, he discovered resources that catered to someone like him - a veteran looking to start a farm.
College helps Okla. tribe build meat plant
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Rural NewsThe University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and School of Law are helping the Quapaw Tribe design and build a meat processing plant near Miami, Okla., to produce and maintain a sustainable local food supply, the college announced in a news release. The $1 million facility, expected to begin operations in May 2017, also will provide the school’s students opportunities for training. The plant will include a classroom, laboratory and test kitchen, and is being designed to process up to 50
Move over vegans, there’s a new flexitarian in town
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Food NewsWhole Foods Market’s global buyers and experts announced the trends to watch in 2017. Among them, a trend toward “flexitarians” who embrace individualized forms of healthy eating. “In 2017, consumers will embrace a new, personalized version of healthy eating that’s less rigid than typical vegan, paleo, gluten-free and other special diets that have gone mainstream,” the Whole Foods team explained in a news release.
Canada seeking common ground, not confrontation as NAFTA talks open
CTV News | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Federal NewsThe Canadian government is signalling the approach it intends to take should Donald Trump make good on his promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada's ambassador to the U.S. is laying out some starting principles such as co-operation instead of confrontation.
Spread by trade and climate, bugs butcher America's forests
Fox News | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsIn a towering forest of centuries-old eastern hemlocks, it's easy to miss one of the tree's nemeses. No larger than a speck of pepper, the Hemlock woolly adelgid spends its life on the underside of needles sucking sap, eventually killing the tree. The bug is one in an expanding army of insects draining the life out of forests from New England to the West Coast. Aided by global trade, a warming climate and drought-weakened trees, the invaders have become one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in the United States.
New Wood Technology May Offer Hope for Struggling Timber
ABC News | Posted onJanuary 3, 2017 in Agriculture NewsJohn Redfield watches with pride as his son moves a laser-guided precision saw the size of a semi-truck wheel into place over a massive panel of wood. Redfield's fingers are scarred from a lifetime of cutting wood and now, after decades of decline in the logging business, he has new hope that his son, too, can make a career shaping the timber felled in southern Oregon's forests. That's because Redfield and his son work at D.R. Johnson Lumber Co., one of two U.S. timber mills making a new wood product that's the buzz of the construction industry.