Agriculture News
Ohio putting more dollars into reuse of dredged materials, as ban on open-lake disposal looms
CSG-Midwest | Posted on February 27, 2019By July of next year, a practice in Ohio’s commercial harbors will no longer be allowed — the dumping of dredged materials into the open waters of Lake Erie. This ban is the result of a bill passed by the legislature in 2015 (SB 1), and is part of the state’s broader efforts to keep excess nutrients from entering the shallowest of the Great Lakes, causing harmful algal blooms and degrading water quality. The legislative action from four years ago, along with subsequent funding commitments, has led to an unprecedented effort in the state to find beneficial uses of these materials — the rock, sand, gravel, mud and clay removed from the bottom of shipping channels to keep them safe for navigation. Earlier this year, the state announced the awarding of close to $10 million for three Ohio port communities’ dredging-related projects. The city of Lorain, for example, will get $4 million to construct a facility where dredged materials will be sent and then reused for soil at an adjacent brownfield site.
Wisconsin leads nation in farm bankruptcies again, dairy farm closings hit record high in 2018
The Chippewa Herald | Posted on February 27, 2019Wisconsin farmers showed the effects of continued low prices for their products in 2018 as the state led the nation in farm bankruptcies for the third straight year and dairy farms closed at the highest pace this century.The state had 47 Chapter 12 bankruptcies, a chapter designated almost specifically for family farms last year, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy courts. That was 16 more than second-place Nebraska. That was also two more than Wisconsin had in 2017 and seven more than 2016.Nationally, there were 498 Chapter 12 bankruptcies in 2018, three fewer than in 2017, the data shows.
A New Commitment to Precision Conservation on America’s Working Lands
Land O Lakes | Posted on February 27, 2019Farmers are leading stewards of the land and water, making conservation decisions that impact almost 1 billion U.S. acres every day. Farmers understand the importance of habitat for wildlife and outdoor recreation, and they know firsthand the critical role productive land plays in economic success.
The intersection of conservation, wildlife habitat and productive farmland is familiar territory for Pheasants Forever, including its quail division Quail Forever. Their commitment to stewardship is shared by Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN, a business unit launched by Land O’Lakes, Inc., America’s third-largest farmer-owned cooperative, to focus on supporting farmer-led stewardship through Land O’Lakes’ trusted ag retailer network that reaches nearly half of all U.S. harvested acres.The collaboration will aim to advance working land stewardship using the Truterra™ Insights Engine – a first-of-its-kind digital platform that allows farmers to model, plan and execute stewardship practices targeted to every farm, every field and every acre. Farmers turn to ag retailers every day for expert advice on both profit potential and natural resource stewardship. The new collaboration announced today aims to amplify the on-farm benefits of precision conservation, building on the world-class expertise ag retailers deliver to the farm gate.
US, Canada, Mexico to work together to prevent ASF spread
Watt AgNet | Posted on February 27, 2019The United States, Canada and Mexico are partnering to prevent the African swine fever (ASF) virus from entering their borders. ASF has been spreading throughout pig farms and wild boar in China and parts of Europe since last summer, and has resulted in the death or culling of hundreds of thousands of pigs. It recently was detected for the first time in Vietnam.Although ASF does not affect humans, it is highly contagious and deadly among pigs, cannot be cured and has no vaccine.At the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Annual Agriculture Outlook Forum this week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue asked his North American counterparts: “Can the North American countries work together to protect their farmers and their agricultural industries from pests and infectious diseases such as African swine fever?”Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture Villalobos Arambula said they can: “There is more and more risk because of the communication, because of the export of product, because of trade. We have to strengthen our relationship and we have to strengthen our technical capabilities.”
Trump will try again to cut USDA, says Perdue
Food & Environment Reporting Network | Posted on February 26, 2019The Agriculture Department faces large spending cuts, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday while a White House official said President Trump will ask for one “one of the largest spending reductions in history” in the upcoming fiscal 2020 budget. Perdue told reporters that he encouraged the administration to submit a package “within the realm of negotiation,” considering Congress rejected outright Trump’s previous budgets. Acting White House budget director Russ Vought said the 2020 budget package will meet Trump’s goal of cutting federal spending by 5 percent “by means of one of the largest spending reductions in history” in so-called discretionary spending. Military spending will rise, Vought said in an essay at RealClear Politics.A year ago, Trump proposed a 33 percent cut in federally subsidized crop insurance, along with rolling back funding for agricultural research and rural economic development. The White House proposed “America’s Harvest Box” of processed and canned foods for SNAP households that would replace half of the benefits they use to buy food. The “Harvest Box” was the centerpiece of a proposed $213 billion in SNAP cuts, 30 percent of funding for the coming decade. None of the ideas gained traction on Capitol Hill.
Northeast Washington needs action on wolves
Capital Press | Posted on February 26, 2019A northeast Washington legislator Friday laid out for the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee the state of ranching in wolf country. "My folks are at the breaking point right now. I've got people who are not going to continue in the business," said Rep. Joel Kretz, who figures about 90 percent of the state's wolves are in the four counties he represents."We're going to see more family ranches going by the wayside. That might not sound like a big deal to some of you in more urban areas, but it is the base economy in some of these counties," he said. "It doesn't just affect the rancher. It affects every small town up there."Before adjourning, the Democratic-controlled committee voted 11-3 to endorse Kretz's bill directing the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to consider whether it's time to take wolves off the state's endangered species list in the eastern one-third of Washington.
Bill would require Washington farmers to report slaves
Capital Press | Posted on February 26, 2019Washington dairy farmers and fruit growers would have to report to retailers whether they use slaves under a bill endorsed Thursday by Democrats on the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. Farm groups, for the record, say they oppose slavery, as well as human trafficking and peonage — two other forms of servitude producers would have to report.At a hearing last week, farm lobbyists said the bill was offensive and asked the committee to kill it.Introduced by Seattle Democrat Rebecca Saldana, Senate Bill 5693 would require farmers to report any incidents of slavery, peonage and human trafficking to retailers with more than $200 million in global sales.Peonage is also called debt servitude and involves an employer compelling workers to pay off a debt through their labor.
States reviewing hemp laws in wake of changes at federal level that removed production barriers
CSG-Midwest | Posted on February 26, 2019Enacted at the end of last year, the new law legalizes industrial hemp (it must have a THC concentration level of below 0.3 percent), allowing for market-scale cultivation and the interstate sale of products. In another important change for producers, the new farm bill allows hemp to be included in federal crop insurance.What is the role for states?Some may choose to serve as the primary regulatory authority of hemp production, by establishing a licensing system that conforms with federal guidelines and that gets approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is the purpose of legislation introduced in early 2019 in states such as North Dakota (HB 1349), Minnesota (HB 303) and Indiana (HB 1385 and SB 516).To conform with federal guidelines, any state-run licensing programs must include restrictions on locations, THC testing procedures, and plans for crop disposal and farm inspection. In states that don’t request to have their own regulatory and licensing programs, hemp growers will be able to apply directly to the USDA. But to grow hemp legally, growers must also live in a state that permits production. In states such as Iowa, Ohio and South Dakota, statutory language does not differentiate marijuana and hemp. As a result, hemp production is illegal.
Can Hemp Boost Ohio's Farm Economy?
Forbes | Posted on February 26, 2019This week, Senate Bill 57, sponsored by Republican legislators Brian Hill and Stephen A. Huffman, was introduced in the Ohio Senate. The bill aims to legalize hemp cultivation and processing in Ohio as well as legalize the sale of hemp-derived products like CBD oil. The state-level legislation follows on the heels of December’s signing of the 2018 federal farm bill, or the U.S. Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, which removed hemp from its illegal classification under the Controlled Substances
U.S. ag trade surplus gets smaller
Food & Environment Reporting Network | Posted on February 25, 2019The U.S. agricultural trade surplus will shrink to $13.5 billion this fiscal year, the smallest in at least six years, as exports stagnate at $141.5 billion and imports tick upward to $128 billion, said the USDA in a quarterly forecast. Farm exports are a consistent bright spot in the U.S. trade picture and generate at least 20 cents of every $1 in farm receipts.