AgClips
Recent AgClips
Appeals court sides with farm groups on CAFO info
Agri-Pulse | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Federal NewsEPA violated the Freedom of Information Act by releasing personal information, including phone numbers and email addresses, of the owners of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), a federal appeals court ruled. The unanimous decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis is a big victory for the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council, which sued EPA three years ago after it released CAFO information to environmental groups. The court reversed the decision of U.S.
Trade is Not to Blame for American Job Loss
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThose opposed to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement say trade deals like this cost jobs in America. But the facts do not back that up. When managing plants in Indiana, Ohio, and other Midwestern states close and relocate their operations to Mexico or China, trade deals like TPP and NAFTA get the blame. But the actual figures do not back up that claim, according to John Hardin, Indiana farmer and member of the U.S. Meat Export Federation. “For every three jobs that are lost to foreign trade competition, 7 jobs are lost to automation.
Researchers debunk 'five-second rule'
Feedstuffs | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Food NewsIt turns out that bacteria may transfer to food that has fallen on the floor no matter how fast you pick it up. Rutgers University researchers disproved the widely accepted notion that it's okay to scoop up food and eat it within a "safe" five-second window. Donald Schaffner, Rutgers professor and extension specialist in food science, found that moisture, the type of surface and contact time all contribute to cross-contamination. In some instances, the transfer begins in less than one second.
State owned Alaska Railroad to become first in U.S. to haul liquefied natural gas
Alaska Dispatch News | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Energy NewsLooking for new business opportunities to counter a drop in revenues, the Alaska Railroad Corp. this month will become the first railroad in the U.S. to ship liquefied natural gas, in a demonstration project that could help deliver cheaper energy to Fairbanks. The state-owned railroad has signed an agreement to borrow two LNG containers from a company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, owned partly by Hitachi in Japan.
Lawsuit fights union access to OSHA inspections
meatingplace.com | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Federal NewsThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) safety inspections at workplaces should not facilitate union recruitment of employees at those facilities, a business group argues in a lawsuit filed against the agency late last week in federal court in Dallas. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) contends that OSHA’s recent expansion of the “walk-around” right, established by law in 1970 to allow employee representatives to participate in OSHA inspections, is illegal because it has lowered the standards for qualified participants and facilitated union access to
Sanderson Farms clarifying chicken
Meat + Poultry | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Food NewsChicken processor Sanderson Farms is launching a marketing program to educate consumers about the use of antibiotics in poultry production, and attempting to bring clarity to a complicated subject that is sometimes characterized in simplistic and apocalyptic terms by critics. This effort merits close attention. The Sanderson Farms campaign features print, radio and television marketing materials that will run in the 24 US media markets where the company’s products are sold. The budget supporting the initial launch is between $5 million and $6 million.
Federal District Court Ruling Concerning for Farmers
Indiana Agricultural Law Foundation | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsFarmers should be concerned about a recent decision (Duarte Opinion) from the United States District Court of the Eastern District of California involving the federal Clean Water Act. Generally, the CWA provides that a landowner may not discharge a point-source pollutant (Section 402) or dredge and fill material (Section 404) into a “water of the United States”
FDA provides $21.8 million to states for FSMA produce safety rule implementation
FDA | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Federal NewsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the awarding of a total of $21.8 million to support 42 states to help implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) produce safety rule. The rule, which the FDA finalized in November 2015, establishes science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption.
Sen. Schmit's broadband support is key for Minnesota's growth
Winona Daily News | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsSurely, the silly season in campaign politics is upon us when Minnesota state Sen. Matt Schmit’s standing as a rural leader is called into question. Unfortunately, a Brainerd-area legislator did that last week — and the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. In this day and age, it seems the very least we can expect from our elected leaders is a modicum of integrity. Certainly the Gazelka letter violated that and many other standards. Through those efforts and in many other areas, Sen. Schmit has been a champion for rural Minnesota in his first term in office.
Quick recovery unlikely for U.S. agriculture
Columbia Daily Tribune | Posted onSeptember 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsRecent reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and our institute mostly confirm bad news for the farm sector: Commodity prices and farm income are down, and a quick recovery appears unlikely. Grain prices for crops harvested in 2016 are projected to drop to the lowest level in a decade.