AgClips
Recent AgClips
Lawsuit Launched to Speed Endangered Species Act Protection for 417 Species
Center for Biological Diversity | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Federal NewsThe Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to act on petitions to protect more than 417 animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act. The notice includes species from across the United States, including Florida sandhill cranes, coastal flatwood crayfish, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and many others.
New Ohio law requires migrant worker housing upgrades
Toledo Blade | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Rural NewsA series of improvements to housing facilities in Ohio migrant worker camps, including running water, smoke detectors, and improved toilets, will soon be required with a state regulation that goes into effect Jan. 1. The new rule, instituted by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, requires installing sinks with hot and cold running water in existing structures and including them in any new facilities built.
PETA chicken memorial idea trivializes human fatalities
Watt Ag Net | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsPETA wants to erect a stone to memorialize chickens that were lost in a highway crash. To me, the thought of putting up a roadside stone monument to memorialize chickens is more than absurd. It’s downright insensitive and offensive, and I would hope that most people who have lost someone they cared about in an automobile accident agree.
European Grapevine Moth Eradicated From California
Growing Produce | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAgricultural officials from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and USDA, in cooperation with county agricultural commissioners, have declared the European grapevine moth (EGVM) eradicated from California and have lifted quarantine restrictions. EGVM was first detected in Napa County in 2009 with subsequent detections and quarantines in the counties of Fresno, Mendocino, Merced, Nevada, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, Solano, and Sonoma in 2010, 2011, and 2012. No EGVM have been detected in California since June 25, 2014.
FDA Delays compliance deadlines on FSMA
FDA | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Federal NewsFDA has agreed to a number of compliance deadlines facing food companies and farmers in connection with the new rules issued under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The agency also clarified and corrected its compliance timeline for agricultural water testing. While the major provisions of the FSMA rules are being implemented as planned, the FDA issued a final rule that extends and clarifies the compliance dates for certain provisions in four of the seven foundational rules.
An Unconventional Cardiologist Promotes a High-Fat Diet
New York Times | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Food NewsBritish cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra is among a small but increasingly vocal group of doctors in the United States and Britain who are challenging the medical and nutritional orthodoxy around fat, carbohydrates and calories. He has been leading a campaign to change the public opinion about fats, sugar and what constitutes a health diet.
Sizing up livestock farming’s carbon footprint
Food and Agriculture Organization | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsA new and interactive tool released by FAO allows farmers, policy makers and scientists to calculate meat, milk and eggs production as well as greenhouse-gas emissions from livestock to make the sector more productive and more climate-friendly. GLEAM-I the Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Modelinteractive, provides answers to a wide range of questions. For example, as a small livestock keeper or a pastoralist, how can you get your animals to produce more milk, meat or eggs?
Test your animal welfare assessment skills withAVMA quiz
AVMA | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Agriculture NewsEnsuring animal welfare is a human responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling and, when necessary, humane euthanasia. Seems straightforward, right? In reality, animal welfare assessment may be much more complex and challenging to assess; real-life situations may present advantages in one area and disadvantages in another, and an assessment often depends on weighing which elements of welfare are most important to the animals.
There's a good reason GE picked Rhode Island for America's first offshore wind farm
Business Insider | Posted onAugust 24, 2016 in Energy NewsThe kinds of energy policies we'll all have to adopt in the coming decades are already on display in New England. The region barely uses any coal, and the six states there are embracing renewables like it's 2050. In 2014 Rhode Island and Vermont were the only two states in the US that didn't use any coal at all. That makes Rhode Island the most logical place for the nation's first offshore wind farm, called Block Island Wind Farm. The wind farm will generate 30 megawatts of energy — enough to power every home on Block Island.
The next animal rights target
Brownfield | Posted onAugust 23, 2016 in Agriculture NewsIf our new friends in the eat-no-meat movement are to be believed, then which on-farm practice is the next target? While I have no inside track on the strategies of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) and its cohorts, I’m guessing the next target will be the broiler industry specifically and poultry production of all varieties broadly, if only because we raise and kill more than 9 billion birds a year for food.