AgClips
Recent AgClips
NY offers tax breaks for western NY cheese plant project
Times Herald Record | Posted onDecember 29, 2016 in NewsThe state has pledged $2.5 million in tax credits and grants for a new cheese manufacturing plant scheduled to open in western New York in about a year. The state has pledged $2.5 million in tax credits and grants for a new cheese manufacturing plant scheduled to open in western New York in about a year.
Animal Rights- From hate to hope to heal
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onDecember 29, 2016 in Agriculture NewsMany of us in the meat and poultry industry and our antagonists, the animal rights community, spew forth hateful rhetoric at each other similar to what we witnessed during the recent election campaign. It sickens me. And, what has it gotten either of us? The words that emanate from both sides like “cowards” and “murderers” and the like have no basis in fact or logic. They are the mind’s interpretations of words and actions and they are often not even close to the truth.In past blogs, I have called for direct discussions between the meat industry whose goal is to grow consumption of meat
EU Beef Ban Challenged
DTN | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Federal NewsThe U.S. Trade Representative is planning a public hearing in mid-February to consider possibly reinstating punitive trade measures against the European Union over the EU's ban on beef grown with certain hormone implants. The hearing starts the process of possibly imposing punitive tariffs on as much as $116.8 million on imports from the EU. USTR is taking such actions even as the Obama administration is preparing to leave and President-elect Donald Trump has yet to name a U.S. trade ambassador to oversee the agency. Nonetheless, the USTR set a Feb.
WTO ruling helps U.S. ag exports to Indonesia
Capital Press | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Federal NewsThe World Trade Organization has ruled in favor of the U.S. and New Zealand against Indonesia’s restrictions on its imports of fruits, vegetables and meats. The restrictions cost about $115 million in U.S. agricultural exports to Indonesia in 2015, including $28 million worth of apples and more than $29 million worth of grapes. Prior to restrictions begun in 2012, Indonesia was a 2.7-million-box per year Washington apple market, Powers said.
Cow’s milk growth hormone won’t alter human growth
Detroit News | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Food NewsIn the United States, about 17 percent of cows are treated with bovine growth hormone, called rBGH, which increases milk production. The milk produced from these cows has no more growth hormone than milk produced from cows who are not given the hormone. Further, growth hormone is not well-absorbed, and bovine growth hormone is not active in humans. So, there is no effect from cows treated with this hormone in terms of height of human children.
Panera Bread commits to slower-growing broilers
Watt Ag Net | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Food NewsPanera Bread has revealed a new animal welfare policy concerning its broiler chicken supply, which includes a commitment to only source slower-growing chicken breeds by 2024. In addition to committing to only using slower-growing broiler breeds in its supply chain, the restaurant chain also promised to:Provide birds more space by reducing its stocking density Offer improved environments for the chicken, including litter, lighting and enrichment. Ensure that birds are rendered unconscious using multi-step controlled atmospheric stunning
Avian flu losses mount in Europe, Asia poultry
Watt Ag Net | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe first outbreak of HPAI since July of 2015 has been confirmed in England. Nearly all of the flock of 2,428 housed turkeys at the farm in Louth in the county of Lincolnshire died, and the rest have been destroyed. The presence of the H5N8 virus has been confirmed, the same variant that has been affecting other parts of Europe in recent weeks.
Should Organic Food Be Grown In Soil?
KMUW | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Federal NewsThere is a battle going on in the organic industry over hydroponics, the technique of growing plants without soil. The debate gets at the very heart of what it means to be “organic” and may change the organic food available to grocery store shoppers. To be labeled as organic, fruits and vegetables are required to be grown without genetic modification or synthetic chemicals, and to meet other rules set out by the Agriculture Department.
Canada-US Trade not broken, no need for Trump Fix
KTIC Radio | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Federal NewsCanada’s trade minister says the world-leading trade relationship between Canada and the United States does not need to be on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s list of things to fix once he takes office. Chrystia Freeland told The Canadian Press last week the trade relationship between the U.S. and Canada “is very balanced and mutually beneficial.”Freeland visited Washington earlier this month and met with some senior Trump advisers and Republican senators, including Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts.
Brexit 2017: Farmers express fear of unrestricted imports of foreign food
Farming UK | Posted onDecember 28, 2016 in Food NewsA number of farming leaders in the United Kingdom have expressed their fear about the prospect of unrestricted imports of foreign food as a result of post-Brexit trade deals. But in his recent address to the WTO, Dr Fox said international trade is the 'lifeblood' of the British economy, the 'driver of prosperity', and that commerce is part of the 'UK's national DNA.'Dr Fox told trade envoys during a meeting in Geneva: "The UK will work towards the reduction and ultimate elimination of trade barriers wherever they are found." The National Sheep Association, particularly, has raised concerns