Agriculture News
Contamination from an Air Force base devastates a New Mexico dairy
High Country News | Posted on March 3, 2019The 54-year-old second-generation dairy farmer learned last August that his water, his land, his crops — even the blood in his body — were contaminated with chemicals that migrated to his property from nearby Cannon Air Force Base. The toxins, collectively known as PFAS, have caused rampant pollution on military installations, something the Department of Defense has known about for decades but routinely failed to disclose. Now the state’s dairy industry is ground zero in an unprecedented crisis. For the first time ever, PFAS is threatening the U.S. food supply.“This has poisoned everything I’ve worked for and everything I care about,” Schaap (pronounced ‘skahp’) said. “I can’t sell the milk. I can’t sell beef. I can’t sell the cows. I can’t sell crops or my property. The Air Force knew they had contamination. What I really wonder is, why didn’t they say something?”
Nearly 1 out of 5 farm government loans delinquent
News Observer | Posted on March 3, 2019Farmers are struggling to pay back their loans after years of low crop prices, with farm delinquencies rates in Kansas and the nation the highest they have been in at least nine years. But Kansas delinquency rates are holding up better when compared to national numbers that show one in five direct loans in the Farm Service Agency are now delinquent.The delinquency rates for direct loans at the Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency in Kansas this January was 11.3 percent, compared to 9 percent for the same month a year ago, said David Schemm, the agency's executive director in Kansas. When crop prices were faring better in 2015, the Kansas delinquency rate fell to 6.9 percent in January 2015.
China warns of “serious” impact of swine fever, cuts meal demand 5%
Agricensus (free registration required) | Posted on March 3, 2019A Chinese government agency said on Thursday that the situation regarding the current outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) is more serious than initially thought, estimating demand for soymeal will fall 5% as replenishment of pig stocks is “very low”. China’s National Grain and Oil Information Centre said in an emailed report that it had expected soymeal demand to fall almost 5% to 66.8 million mt this marketing year compared to last, mainly as a result of the outbreak.“The situation is more serious and the rate at which pig production capacity is falling exceeds our expectations. Farmers have greater concerns about the epidemic and have strong uncertainty about the prospect for pig farming,” the agency said.Outbreaks have been reported on more than 100 farms since August 2018, with many analysts predicting China’s pig population – estimated to be between 400-600 million heads – will fall by 15-30% this year as farmers become reluctant to breed the animals.Such poor margins have also hit demand for soybeans, with Chinese imports down 22% this marketing year (October through January) compared to last, although some of that decline will be attributed to a hike on imported soybeans from the US.
Ohio dredging facility would be first of its kind
Star Beacon | Posted on March 3, 2019The new dredge material facility in Conneaut will be unlike anything else in the state, officials said at a public meeting about the project. State Rep. John Patterson said the state banned open lake dumping of dredged material because 10 percent of all harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie have been traced to the practice. Patterson supported one of two bills establishing the fund used to finance the Conneaut dredge material project, and he attempted to pass another bill to fund Lake Erie cleanup by putting a ballot initiative before Ohio voters to approve $1 billion over 10 years.
Oregon Lawmakers may ease small-scale on-farm processing
Capital Press | Posted on March 3, 2019Small-scale processing on Oregon farmland would be subject to fewer county restrictions under legislation favored by both agriculture and property rights advocates. However, one provision in the proposal has become a point of debate: whether the exemption should apply to on-farm processing of cannabis.Oregon’s land use laws currently allow crop processing on farmland in facilities smaller than 10,000 square feet, but the buildings are still subject to county siting standards, such as landscaping and parking requirements. Under House Bill 2844, such county siting standards wouldn’t apply to on-farm processing facilities smaller than 2,500 square feet, which proponents argue will allow farmers to avoid costly and time-consuming requirements without “spill over impacts onto neighbors.”
2018 trade disruptions lost Iowa gross state product up to $2 billion
The Gazette | Posted on March 3, 2019While it might be some time before the direct impacts of the trade war with China has affected Iowa’s economy, a group of eight economists and agriculture development experts at Iowa State University attempted to make exactly those projections this past September. “The Impact of the 2018 Trade Disruptions on the Iowa Economy,” published by ISU’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, looked at the lead up to the ongoing tariffs and counter-tariffs between the United and China, and estimated some of the near-term impacts for Iowa for the year 2018.Among their findings:• Overall losses in Iowa’s gross state product are calculated to be $1 billion to $2 billion, off a GSP of $190 billion.• Overall losses to the state’s soybean industry of $159 million to $891 million. Iowa soybeans are a $5.2 billion industry, according to the researchers.• Overall losses to Iowa’s corn industry of $90 million to $579 million. Iowa corn is an $8.5 billion industry.• Overall losses to the state’s pork/hog industry of $558 million to $955 million. The Iowa pork/hog industry is a $7.1 billion industry.• A 2 percent drop in ethanol prices, resulting in approximately $105 million in lost revenues to Iowa producers.
Hog-And-Chicken Farm Raises Controversy
Jefferson Public Radio | Posted on February 28, 2019Natural farming is a popular concept right now. The "eat local" movement only added to a standing desire for food that is grown in natural conditions, and not far from the table where it is served. Uproot Meats appears to check those boxes, but it has run into controversy over its hog-and-chicken operation on the south end of Ashland. Opponents are not happy with the business model of growing animals--and their wastes--on a sloping hillside above other agriculture operations.
US farmers fear Trump’s assault on WTO hurts them
Bloomberg | Posted on February 28, 2019Donald Trump’s attack on the World Trade Organization has U.S. farmers worried that the president’s ‘America first’ foreign policy approach will hamstring efforts to defend their interests. The U.S. is strangling the ability of the WTO, which oversees the rules for nearly $23 trillion in commerce every year, to resolve disputes among its 164 members. But when the WTO’s appellate body becomes incapacitated later this year, even the U.S. cases, of which there are at least two pending meant to protect American agriculture, would be derailed.
Bayer reaps profit lift from Monsanto seeds, consumer health
Reuters | Posted on February 28, 2019Bayer’s $63 billion purchase of U.S. seeds maker Monsanto made its mark on the German company’s fourth quarter earnings, lifting profit and boding well for the peak season of its enlarged agriculture business. However, mounting litigation risks related to Monsanto still cast a pall over an adjusted core earnings rise of 15.8 percent, which was inflated by the addition of the U.S. group and helped by cost cuts at Bayer’s consumer healthcare business.
Iowa farmers battle bitter cold, 15-foot snow drifts to care for animals
Des Moines Register | Posted on February 28, 2019With massive drifts making travel impossible, Trent Thiele road a snowmobile 50 miles Sunday, checking a dozen pig facilities to ensure thousands of animals were getting feed, water and fresh air. "It's been a lot of early mornings and late nights," said Thiele, who raises 15,000 pigs with five partners in northeast Iowa. "I'm worn out."Blowing snow cut visibility, making it difficult to see rising drifts, Thiele said.With February likely the second snowiest on record, this winter may go down as one of the toughest ever for thousands of Iowa livestock producers.