AgClips
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N.C. gives town wastewater grant to support Mountaire Farms expansion
Meatingplace (registration required) | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority has granted the town of Siler City $1.5 million to assist in providing expanded wastewater services in support of a 700-job expansion by Mountaire Farms. The Delaware-based poultry processor currently has five locations in the state. The grant supports a total capital investment of $70 million by the company. Mountaire Farms announced in May it entered into an agreement to acquire the former Townsend processing plant and an adjoining property in Siler City that it would renovate into a modern poultry plant.
My view: To feed the world, look to veterinarians
Deseret News | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsIn many countries, the cause isn't a lack of food — it's a lack of safe food. The risk of malnutrition caused by unsafe food is increasing, as human populations grow and continue to urbanize. This public health problem can be solved — not by doctors but by veterinarians. They're crucial to safeguarding the health of animals that are the foundation of the world's food supply. Unfortunately, well-trained veterinarians are in short supply worldwide. To improve global food safety, that has to change. The world's population will increase by 2.6 billion by 2050.
Nebraska broiler farming would surge with Costco plant
Watt Ag Net | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsIf Costco and Lincoln Premium Poultry plant comes into fruition, Nebraska broiler production would increase from 1 million head to 18 million. To support the plant’s production potential, an estimated 17 million birds would need to be raised by contract farmers in the area, reported KCUR. That would dramatically increase the amount of broilers raised in the state. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the most recent census, about 1 million broilers were being raised in the state.
Freezing in record lows? You may doubt global warming
Science Daily | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Rural NewsIf you're shivering from unusually teeth-rattling cold this holiday season, global warming is probably the last thing on your mind. "The local weather conditions people experience likely play a role in what they think about the broader climate," says Utah State University researcher Peter Howe. "Climate change is causing record-breaking heat around the world, but the variability of the climate means that some places are still reaching record-breaking cold.
Researchers estimate 10,000 metric tons of plastic enter Great Lakes every year
Science Daily | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Rural NewsA new study that inventories and tracks high concentrations of plastic in the Great Lakes could help inform cleanup efforts and target pollution prevention. Researchers found that nearly 10,000 metric tons -- or 22 million pounds -- of plastic debris enter the Great Lakes every year from the United States and Canada.
EPA, farm groups win Mississippi River nutrient case
Agri-Pulse | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Federal NewsMississippi River Basin states should be given a chance to address nutrient pollution first, before the federal government steps in, a federal court ruled. “EPA's ‘policy' of partnering with the states and maintaining a states-in-the-first-instance approach is . . . an integral part of the (Clean Water Act) as enacted by Congress,” U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey said in his opinion, issued Dec.
Genetically Modified Pink Pineapples Are Going On Sale In The US
Kobini | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Food Newsriginally conceived to make crops more resistant to insects or viruses, genetically modified foods are almost unavoidable these days. We all know about Monsanto’s infamous GMO corn and bionic soybeans but today, there’s a new tampered food item in town. This time around, US food production company Del Monte has been fiddling with the DNA of pineapples. No, not to boost crop production or protect it against disease, but simply to turn it pink.
Las Vegas Is Now Powered Entirely by Renewable Energy
Popular Mechanic | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Energy NewsLas Vegas is now the largest city in the country to run entirely on renewable energy.
Old mine could supply new power
Times Union | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Energy NewsSome look at an abandoned, centuries-old iron mine in New York's Adirondacks and see a relic. An ambitious group of engineers sees the shafts in Mineville as a new way to provide a steady flow of electricity in a growing market for renewable energy.They are pitching a plan to circulate some of the millions of gallons of groundwater that have flooded the mine shafts over the years to power an array of 100 hydroelectric turbines a half-mile underground.
At USMARC, OIG audit refutes charges of animal abuse
Farm Forum | Posted onDecember 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsIt’s taken almost two years to clear the air, but a new USDA Office of Inspector General’s audit report about the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) in Nebraska paints substantially different picture than The New York Times described in a scathing report which alleged animal abuse and prompted calls for investigations. “Overall, we did not note evidence indicating a systemic problem with animal welfare at USMARC,” the OIG staff noted in a report.