Featured

Surely, the silly season in campaign politics is upon us when Minnesota state Sen. Matt Schmit’s standing as a rural leader is called into question. Unfortunately, a Brainerd-area legislator did that last week — and the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. In this day and age, it seems the very least we can expect from our elected leaders is a modicum of integrity. Certainly the Gazelka letter violated that and many other standards. Through those efforts and in many other areas, Sen. Schmit has been a champion for rural Minnesota in his first term in office. [node:read-more:link]

This installment of Rural Snapshot looks at poverty in Pennsylvania. For the analysis, the Center used the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s 2016 federal poverty level (FPL) income numbers, which are based on household income and household size. In 2016, the poverty level for a family/household of three is $20,160. [node:read-more:link]

A farm group in northeastern Wisconsin announced plans on Wednesday to supply water to residents with tainted wells in Kewaunee County, where the practice of manure spreading — especially by large-scale farms with thousands of cattle — has been a contentious political topic.  In an unprecedented step, Peninsula Pride Farms will provide water and a subsidy for a system to treat it in selected cases — regardless of whether the source of contamination is from animal waste or another form of pollution. [node:read-more:link]

California Democrats are taking further steps to advance the state’s ambitious climate-change agenda, agreeing to regulate methane emissions from landfills and dairy farms for the first time and approving $900 million in spending on environmental programs. The approval came in the final hours of the two-year legislative session Wednesday following a flurry of negotiations involving Gov. Jerry Brown, Democratic legislative leaders and the affected industries. [node:read-more:link]

EPSOM, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire dairy farmers say low milk prices and ongoing drought have contributed to the state losing 16 percent of those farms over the past eight months.

The state’s agriculture commissioner says 19 of the state’s 120 dairies have closed this year. The state had lost 10 dairies over the previous four years combined.

Federal agricultural prices list 100 pounds of milk as selling for $14.80 last month. That’s down from $23.40 in June 2014 and $16.90 in June 2015. [node:read-more:link]

USDA Secretary Vilsack sent letters to every state governor explaining the federal pre-emption of state law on gmo labeling. This is a link to those letters. [node:read-more:link]

Fifty years after Canada began flying in seasonal workers to help out on the farm, a group is rallying to have the program’s participants granted permanent immigration status.  “These are the workers putting food on our tables, but they’re not being treated the same as other workers,” said Elizabeth Ha, a member of Harvesting Freedom, a migrant farmworker caravan travelling over the next several weeks from Windsor to Ottawa to highlight issues facing those seasonal visitors.  Facing unemployment at home on the Caribbean island of St. [node:read-more:link]

Widely diverse information exists on the size of the yield penalty associated with organic crop production. Some authors/spokespersons – often connected with organic production/marketing – claim organic yields are typically 80-100% of non-organic. [node:read-more:link]

If the biggest complaints you have about your job or workplace are the ancient computers, uncomfortable room temperature, or annoying coworkers, you've got it pretty good. In the US, thousands of people are injured or killed at work each year because of the dangerous nature of their jobs. According to a new report from jobs site CareerCast, "Some of the most vital careers to upholding and maintaining the very fabric of American society are also among the most dangerous." [node:read-more:link]

A fire broke out Tuesday at a USDA facility in Beltsville, Md., which was one of five offices closed then reopened last week after anonymous emailed threats. USDA issued the following statement: "A fire occurred this morning in a storage shed building at USDA’s Beltsville facility. The fire has been contained, and no personnel were harmed. The building involved houses equipment only, and employees in a neighboring building have been safely evacuated. [node:read-more:link]