Agriculture

Animal rights activists interrupted Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's opening speech Saturday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. [node:read-more:link]

2016 was a busy year for mergers and acquisitions in the poultry, pig and animal feed industries. Here is a review of the more than 100 deals WATTAgNet reported on last year.  Aviagen Turkeys acquiring France’s Le Sayec. Zoetis to sell some animal health brands, manufacturing unit. Pestell Minerals & Ingredients acquires Agri-Feed Products Ltd. Pancosma & Associates acquires Btech. BRF finalizes acquisition in Qatar. Packaging companies Hamer, Fischbein Americas merge. Alltech completes acquisition of Masterfeeds. Nutreco completes acquisition of Micronutrients.. [node:read-more:link]

A beetle that can destroy up to a third of a coffee berry crop has made its way to Maui.  The state Agriculture Department confirmed the coffee berry borer has infested a 13-acre farm on the island. Department entomologists said the farm’s infestation indicates the beetle has been there for some time. [node:read-more:link]

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) announced new seasonal options available for the Restricted Class B Commercial Driver's License (CDL), which will provide greater flexibility for producers and agricultural retailers. The new policy will take effect on Feb. 1, 2017. "During the planting and harvest seasons, those in agriculture have enough to worry about without making it tougher for them to get the proper CDL," said BMV Commissioner Kent Abernathy. [node:read-more:link]

Of the many lies spread about Monsanto over the years, perhaps none is so malevolent as the claim that the seed giant is to blame for farmer suicides in India. This falsehood, spread by anti-biotechnology activists like Vandana Shiva but debunked a couple of years ago, is still parroted by credulous left-wing outlets such as Think Progress and supposedly credible news sites like Deutsche Welle. [node:read-more:link]

More land for hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing will be available to Oklahoma sportsmen and women beginning Sept. 1.  That's when the Oklahoma Land Access Program begins through the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, a program that pays private landowners to allow public access to their properties for recreational use such as hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing.  Where the properties will be and how many there will be remain to be seen. State wildlife officials have been negotiating with private landowners, but no legal agreements have been finalized. [node:read-more:link]

Low commodity prices in late 2016 put downward pressure on farm income, farmland values and credit conditions such as repayment rates for farm loans. Exports may have helped give a boost to some agricultural commodity prices over the summer, but it only tempered the headwinds facing the U.S. agriculture industry, according to the latest ag outlook report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Mo. [node:read-more:link]

The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) has surpassed 300 certified farms, marking a year of strong growth with a milestone. This voluntary program works with farmers and landowners to identify and mitigate risks to water quality on a field by field basis. The Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program has certified 306 farms representing virtually every kind of agricultural production from all across the state.  The 306 farms certified by the MAWQCP represent over 175,000 acres of working lands. [node:read-more:link]

For the first time in more than three decades, New World screwworm has been found on Florida’s mainland. A stray dog was found in Homestead with the flesh-eating parasite last week and the worms in its body were confirmed as screwworm. The dog has been treated and is in good health. It wasn’t known if someone from the Keys abandoned the dog or if it got infested in another way.

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Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported Monday that a hunter-harvested mallard duck in Fergus County has tested positive for the H5N2 Avian influenza virus. This is the first recurrence of the highly contagious “bird flu” disease since 2015, when close to 50 million chickens and turkeys in the U.S. either died or were put down in response to the outbreak.  “The mallard duck appears to have a similar strain as the 2014/2015 outbreak that affected domestic birds nationwide,” the MFWP news release states. “Testing of the sample is ongoing at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories. [node:read-more:link]