AgClips
Recent AgClips
Dairy industry getting help to compete, not compensation, for EU trade deal
CBC.ca | Posted onNovember 7, 2016 in Agriculture NewsCanada's dairy sector will receive help to adjust to increased competition from the new European cheese imports expected under the terms of the Canada-European Union trade deal signed last weekend. But don't call it compensation: the Liberals have something else in mind. Senior government officials from Global Affairs Canada gave a technical briefing to reporters on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, also known as CETA.
Consumer Power Drives the Food System
Take Part | Posted onNovember 7, 2016 in Food NewsA consumer “vote” with every purchase may become easier to tally. Food activist groups will reunite to seek full transparency next. Faber says consumers want access to complete lists of ingredients—including potential allergens—in all the foods they buy, as well as seed-to-table tracking of ingredients and disclosures about fair wage practices. This data can be organized with the “internet of things” technology that has revolutionized other industries. Recent food poisoning incidents have added urgency to tracking efforts.
Oregon ramps up research of bighorn sheep
Bend Bulletin | Posted onNovember 7, 2016 in Rural NewsThis is usually around the time when Oregon wildlife officials start planning to move some bighorn sheep around Eastern Oregon in an effort to bolster genetic diversity. Not this year. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has instead focused its efforts on researching a bacteria that can lead to pneumonia in the animals, a problem that has killed large numbers of bighorn sheep throughout the West over the past several years.
Biotech advances show human health linked to animal welfare
The Hill | Posted onNovember 7, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAnimal biotechnology is a rapidly growing field due to the vast benefits it can bring to both human and animal health. For example, by carefully modifying the genome of livestock to provide disease resistance, we simultaneously improve animal health, welfare and food safety. This practice reduces the use of antibiotics in livestock, helping to preserve an antibiotic’s clinical efficacy in humans. By using biotechnology to reduce disease in livestock, we lessen the likelihood of microbes infecting humans.
Comments express concerns with proposed tax changes
Feedstuffs | Posted onNovember 7, 2016 in Agriculture NewsSeveral agricultural groups and farmers have written comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) urging that a proposed rule change for the taxable value of assets be amended to consider family farmers and ranchers. The IRS plan for more restrictive rules for using valuation discounts would make it more difficult for farmers and ranchers who operate family-owned partnerships, LLCs or corporations to transfer their farms and ranches to the next generation. Reportedly, of the nearly 9,500 comments on the proposed rule, 16% cite the potential negative impact on farmers as reason for oppos
Producers’ Future Outlook Dims as Attention Shifts Toward 2017
Purdue | Posted onNovember 2, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer settled lower in October. Based on a survey of 400 agricultural producers across the U.S., the monthly measure of U.S. agricultural producers’ sentiment was measured at 92, the lowest reading since March 2016 and the second-lowest Ag Economy Barometer value since data collection began in October 2015
Election could create flood of marijuana cash with no place to go
Reuters | Posted onNovember 2, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAlthough the sale of marijuana is a federal crime, the number of U.S. banks working with pot businesses, now sanctioned in many states, is growing, up 45 percent in the last year alone. Still, marijuana merchants say there are not nearly enough banks willing to take their cash. So many dispensaries resort to stashing cash in storage units, back offices and armored vans. Proponents believe the Nov. 8 election could tip the balance in favor of liberalizing federal marijuana laws, a move seen as key to getting risk-averse banks off the sidelines.
Thinking Outside the Box for start up funding
Daily Yonder | Posted onNovember 2, 2016 in Rural NewsFor a long while, banks have led us to believe there’s only one responsible way to get money to invest in a small, start-up business. You go into the bank, sit in green leatherette chairs for an hour, then go back and explain your business plan to a loan officer. Then they decide your fate. But what happens when the banker doesn’t believe in your vision, or thinks the audience isn’t large enough to make a go of it, or any number of reasons to not stamp your loan application? There are better ways to do this. At least 27 better ways, in fact.
Pennsylvania Landowners Helping Indiana Bat through ‘Spooky’ Declines
USDA | Posted onNovember 2, 2016 in Rural NewsWhen most people think of bats, images of dark caves, vampires and Halloween come to mind. But actually, bats get a bad rap, and we often don’t know how important they are for controlling insects, pollinating plants, dispersing seeds and improving biodiversity. Many of our nation’s bats are facing population declines to near-extinction levels, primarily because of disease and loss of habitat. One of those species is the Indiana bat, an endangered species that has experienced rapid declines since the 1960s.
Small dairy farm concerns growing by the tank load
Ohio's Country Journal | Posted onNovember 2, 2016 in Agriculture Newss Ohio’s small dairies continue to battle slim to negative margins, mounting regulations and rising input costs, there is growing concern about increasingly limited markets because of a growing trend from milk processors. The typical milk transport trailer carries 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of milk per load. Small dairies are worried about what seems to be a heavy preference from milk processors that the entire load should be filled from one single farm rather than multiple dairies.