Agriculture

PETA, say hello to 2017. Last Thursday, the animal rights group was slapped with a defamation lawsuit filed by a primate facility in Missouri. That follows a belated Christmas present PETA received the previous week: A second defamation lawsuit, this one filed by a zoo in Michigan.  Both lawsuits claim to be responding to PETA harassment, and it’s certainly great to see people sticking up for themselves against animal-rights bullies. Both facilities claim that PETA has been threatening to sue them under the Endangered Species Act to try to take away their animals. [node:read-more:link]

The continued "margin squeeze" faced by crop producers across the Midwest has led to a drastic reduction in working capital buffers. As a result, many grain farmers may seek additional debt capital to carry out marketing and production plans, to finance their capital base, or to provide short-run liquidity. [node:read-more:link]

n Oregon, a $1.8 billion budget gap will force legislators to look for more revenue — taxes and fees — or cut services. The gap, caused by runaway state employee health care and retirement costs, will force lawmakers to make hard choices as the administration of Gov. Kate Brown settles in for the next two years.  In Idaho and Washington, water issues have floated to the top of the legislative agendas. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Oklahoma City reportedly is investigating the alleged embezzlement of $2.6 million by a former employee of the Oklahoma Beef Council. The council, responsible for the state’s beef checkoff investments, has filed a civil lawsuit in state court against its former accounting and compliance manager, Melissa Morton. StateImpact Oklahoma reported that an independent audit indicated Morton had allegedly forged checks dating back to 2009.  [node:read-more:link]

A woman has been denied a second application for a Swiss passport after local residents took offence to her rejection of traditions and her “annoying” campaigning.  Nancy Holten, 42, who was born in the Netherlands, moved to Switzerland when she was eight. She is fluent in Swiss German and her children have Swiss citizenship. The animal rights activist has campaigned publicly against the local traditions of putting bells around cows’ necks and piglet racing [node:read-more:link]

Idaho lawmakers in 2017 will again attempt to introduce a bill that codifies in state law a 2007 Idaho Supreme Court decision over who owns in-stream stock watering rights on federal land.  Rep. Judy Boyle, a Republican rancher from Midvale who tried unsuccessfully to introduce the bill last year, said she will introduce a similar bill this year that addresses concerns about the proposed legislation that arose in 2016. Southern Idaho ranchers and the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Utah's agricultural sector pumped more than $21 billion into the state's economy, according to an analysis of 2014 numbers, making it just slightly more than 15 percent of the state's total financial output. [node:read-more:link]

[For farmers looking to switch to organic production, there has always been a catch.] You'd have to follow the organic rules, renouncing synthetic pesticides and fertilizer, for three entire years before any of your crops could be sold as organic. For those three "transition" years, you'd have the worst of all worlds: Low organic yields and low conventional prices. [node:read-more:link]

Farming is one of the most dangerous professions in the nation.

As High Plains Journal reports, the pitfalls and hazards of farming are so many and varied that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) calls it one of the most dangerous professions in the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture is in the midst of an economic reset that will thin the ranks of some of the largest farm operators but offer growth opportunities for those who have patiently held on to cash. That was the counsel from Dave Kohl, a professor emeritus in ag economics from Virginia Tech who spoke to the 2017 The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP) class in Austin this week.  "Most lenders haven't seen their customers' financials for a year, but when they do, some will be saying 'Oh my God,'" Kohl said. Jan. [node:read-more:link]