AgClips
Recent AgClips
Trump's Infrastructure Plan Dwarfed by Estimates of Need
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted onNovember 23, 2016 in Rural NewsIf President-elect Donald Trump is successful with his proposed $1 trillion, 10-year program to fix America’s disintegrating and inadequate infrastructure, the states have a list of critical projects handy for him. And while a trillion could be a decent down payment, it’s not nearly enough.
Wisconsin legislative map ruled illegally partisan; case will go to Supreme Cour
The Washington Post | Posted onNovember 23, 2016 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsFederal judges struck down Wisconsin’s legislative map as illegally partisan, an unusual ruling that will require the Supreme Court to once again consider whether political gerrymandering violates the Constitution. It is a question the court has addressed in the past without resolution. In its last attempt, Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February, wrote that it was impossible for courts to come up with a test to decide when partisan line-drawing goes so far as to violate the rights of those who don’t belong to the party in power.
Opioid addiction is a public health emergency in Virginia, state health commissioner declares
Pilot On Line | Posted onNovember 23, 2016 in Rural NewsThe state’s health commissioner announced Monday that the opioid addiction crisis is an official public health emergency in Virginia and created a standing order that anyone can obtain a rescue drug at pharmacies to treat overdoses. State Health Commissioner Marissa Levine announced at a news conference that the drug naloxone, which can be used to treat narcotic overdoses in emergencies, can now be obtained at pharmacies without a prescription or any explanation as to why it is needed.
With a Meeting, Trump Renewed a British Wind Farm Fight
The New York Times | Posted onNovember 23, 2016 in Energy NewsWhen President-elect Donald J. Trump met with the British politician Nigel Farage in recent days, he encouraged Mr. Farage and his entourage to oppose the kind of offshore wind farms that Mr. Trump believes will mar the pristine view from one of his two Scottish golf courses, according to one person present. The meeting, held shortly after the presidential election, raises new questions about Mr.
Even Mega-Farms Are Mostly Family Owned
fivethirtyeight Science | Posted onNovember 23, 2016 in Agriculture NewsFarms are getting bigger and the smallest farms aren’t real farms — that’s what I told you last week in a story about how the official definition of “farm” in the national Agricultural Census obscures the consolidation that the farming industry has experienced over the last 30 years. But there’s another important part to this story: Consolidation isn’t the same thing as the loss of family farms. Ninety-seven percent of US farms are family-owned, according the most recent Agricultural Census. Even big farms are usually family owned.
Virginia Will Make Opioid Overdose Antidote Available Over The Counter
DCist | Posted onNovember 23, 2016 in Rural NewsAs Virginia declares opioid addiction a public health emergency, the state is making a popular overdose antidote available without a prescription. State Health Commissioner Marissa Levine issued a standing order that lets Virginians purchase the drug Naloxone over the counter. Essentially, she issued a prescription to everyone in the state so they can access the drug. The state government expects a 77 percent increase in fatal opioid overdoses from five years ago by the end of the year. Fatal drug overdoses are the number one cause of unnatural death in Virginia.
The tech that will feed the world
Tech Crunch | Posted onNovember 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsTwenty years from now, the most important tool for putting food on your table won’t be a harvester, combine or a plow. It will be a piece of software. Agriculture is in the process of transitioning into a fully high-tech enterprise. This is a long-overdue revolution in the way things have been done for centuries. To put it in perspective, if we keep doing farming the old-fashioned way, two billion more people will go hungry by the year 2050. World population growth is driving the urgent need for a radical boost in farm productivity. Incremental advances in output simply won’t cut it.
Mysterious source of greenhouse gas methane in ocean explained
Science Daily | Posted onNovember 22, 2016 in Energy NewsFor decades, marine chemists have faced an elusive paradox. The surface waters of the world's oceans are supersaturated with the greenhouse gas methane, yet most species of microbes that can generate the gas can't survive in oxygen-rich surface waters. So where exactly does all the methane come from? This longstanding riddle, known as the "marine methane paradox," may have finally been cracked, thanks to a new study.
USDA ExpandsSpecial Use Valuation in Texas
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted onNovember 22, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThis blog post will focus on the rules related to Open Space Valuation (“OSV”). Passed in 1978, more than a decade after Agricultural Use Valuation, this method is governed by Article VIII, Section 1(d)(1) of the Texas Property Code and Sections 23.51-59 of the Texas Tax Code. This valuation method may also frequently be referred to as “1(d)(1) valuation.” A one-time application must be filed with the County Appraisal District.
Invasive snail blamed for annual Mississippi River bird kill
Winona Daily News | Posted onNovember 22, 2016 in Rural NewsAn invasive snail is being blamed for killing hundreds of waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi River this fall. Field workers have found almost 1,000 dead coot and lesser scaup washed up on the shores near Genoa since early October, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The birds are believed to be the victims of an intestinal parasite found in faucet snails, which the birds eat during stopovers on their fall migration. Die-offs have become an annual event during the past 15 years, since the arrival of the faucet snail.