The Georgia Department of Agriculture’s announcement Tuesday that it would not publish its proposed Georgia Premium Poultry Price Index (GPPPI) means it no longer will oversee price discovery efforts in Georgia. “Due to a lack of participation from Georgia poultry companies, we are ceasing all price discovery efforts,” spokeswoman Julie McPeake said. [node:read-more:link]
Land O’Lakes, Inc. is calling on innovators from the tech industry to enter the Land O’Lakes Prize: Drone Challenge, a crowdsourcing competition designed to develop proposed solutions that enable scalable, autonomous drone usage in precision agriculture. A prize of $140,000 will be awarded to a grand prize winner who is found to meet all the requirements of the challenge, and two $5,000 prizes are available to two runners up. Winners will retain intellectual property rights to the solutions they develop to help farmers use drone technology more effectively. [node:read-more:link]
An immigration related bill opposed by many Idaho farm groups has been amend ed and reintroduced in the Idaho Legislature. The new legislation initially appears to be more palatable to farm groups. The original legislation, House Bull 76, sought to prevent so-called sanctuary cities from being established in Idaho. But it also included a provision that ag groups believe would have required law enforcement officers to hold anyone arrested for up to 48 hours for further checks if they could not prove legal residence. [node:read-more:link]
California dairy co-ops and milk producers have a lot to evaluate in USDA’s recommended proposal for establishing a federal milk marketing order for the state, which has long operated under a state order. The biggest difference in the two is that California’s order regulates all milk prices, and all processors must pay those minimum prices established for different utilizations. [node:read-more:link]
Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman will preview at Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas before it airs worldwide on Discovery Channel in August. Based on a book by the same name, the Discovery Impact film weaves together the stories of a Montana rancher, two Kansas farmers and a handful of Gulf fishermen who feed the world while stewarding the land and water they work. “The men and women profiled in the book and film work tirelessly to protect America’s natural resources, make their operations more productive and resilient and leave a legacy for their children. [node:read-more:link]
The Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric and proposals potentially pose a crippling blow to the state’s agriculture industry and overall economy, agriculture leaders said. “The economic vitality of rural Idaho stands on the shoulders of foreign-born laborers,” said Bob Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, which estimates those workers make up more than 85 percent of the state’s 8,300 dairy employees. [node:read-more:link]
Dow Chemical (DOW.N) and DuPont (DD.N) are set to win EU antitrust approval for their $130 billion merger, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, one of three mega deals in the agrochemicals industry. The deal, which still needs approval from U.S. and other regulators, has faced intense scrutiny from the European Commission. Of particular concern is combining the two companies' agricultural businesses which sell seeds and crop protection chemicals, including insecticides and pesticides. [node:read-more:link]
Imports of organic grains, particularly corn, from countries such as India, Ukraine, Romania, and Turkey surged in 2016 to meet the burgeoning U.S. demand for organic food products. Organic corn imports more than doubled from 2015 to 2016 and accounted for nearly one-half of the U.S. organic corn supply. The domestic shortfall for organic soybeans was even greater, with roughly 80 percent of soybeans supplying the U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Washington marijuana growers want to take another step toward joining mainstream agriculture, though their presence may raise questions about taxes and labor law. Cannabis advocates are championing legislation to insert marijuana into the state’s right-to-farm law. The law bars new neighbors from claiming dust, odors and noise from an existing farm’s lawful operations are a nuisance. Outdoor marijuana farms in particular need protection from disgruntled neighbors, the advocates say. [node:read-more:link]
There are many challenges to farming for a living: It's often grueling work that relies on unpredictable factors such as weather and global market prices. But one aspect that's often ignored is the cost of health care. A University of Vermont researcher found that nationally, most farmers cited health care costs as a top concern. Shoshanah Inwood is a rural sociologist at UVM. She has been studying the aging and shrinking farm population, and what components are needed to build a prosperous farm economy. [node:read-more:link]
