Many Wisconsin farmers and food entrepreneurs have used grants to evaluate new crops or farming practices or to launch value-added businesses. Individuals interested in learning more about possible grant opportunities or other financial options are invited to attend informational workshops scheduled around the state this fall. [node:read-more:link]
EU imports of U.S. soybeans were already on the rise before an announcement in July that the EU would increase its purchase of U.S. soy. According to a report, the increase was due to falling prices in June, after China stopped buying U.S. soybeans as part of a trade rift between the two countries. In addition, EU imports from Brazil and Paraguay fell sharply, and U.S. exports to the EU increased more than 280 percent in the first five weeks of the 2018-19 marketing year, compared with the previous year. [node:read-more:link]
The Senate passed the Minibus Appropriations bill with an amendment sponsored by Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) that would delay the implementation of the Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) mandate for livestock haulers by one more year. Livestock haulers are already operating on a delay until the end of the Fiscal Year, but this amendment would extend that delay to Sep. 30, 2019. [node:read-more:link]
Discussion in North Carolina featured legislators and ag leaders to discuss economic impact or recent animal lawsuits and threat to all farms. A special national agriculture roundtable was held Aug. 3 highlighting the recent wave of nuisance lawsuits targeting North Carolina hog farms. [node:read-more:link]
World food prices fell 3.7 percent in July from the month before, the sharpest monthly drop since last December, with declines seen across all crop types, the United Nations food agency said. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 168.8 points last month, against an upwardly revised 175.3 in June. [node:read-more:link]
Here are six of the biggest myths spread on social media and in the mainstream media, and some stuff we as farmers are frankly really sick of hearing. 1. GMOs are bad. 2. “Factory farms” wreck the environment. 4. Farmers are rich and get government subsidies.5. Agriculture is run on illegal immigrants who aren’t treated fairly.6. Food safety concerns. No, your food isn’t drenched in pesticides and, as the saying goes, the dose makes the poison. NO, livestock aren’t “pumped full” of hormones and antibiotics. Yes, everything we eat is regulated and inspected, [node:read-more:link]
Naked Cow Dairy, located just inland from Waianae on Oahu’s leeward coast, about 45 minutes from Honolulu, sits on a flat patch of land dwarfed by lush green cliffs. At the far end of the property, past the clucking and bleating, sits the creamery. It’s the key to how Naked Cow continues where no other dairy does. A few small rooms, a guava-wood smoker built from a converted restaurant display fridge with clear doors, and an aging room adapted from a 1963 freezer box truck form the cheese- and butter-making operation. [node:read-more:link]
The Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era ban on the use of pesticides linked to declining bee populations and the cultivation of genetically modified crops in dozens of national wildlife refuges where farming is permitted. [node:read-more:link]
Over the past few decades, agribusiness contributions to politics have declined substantially. Lobbying spending by agribusiness as a percentage of total lobbying spending has decreased since 2008, even in election years. Contributions have also gotten slightly more partisan, with more and more contributions going to the Republican Party. Moreover, the composition of the vital, influential Farm Bill has shifted significantly since 2000; its main focus has become funding for food assistance programs rather than protections for farmers. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. trade deficit expanded in June at the fastest rate since November 2016, underpinned by a stronger dollar and buoyant economic growth. The trade deficit in goods and services increased 7.3% in June from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted $46.35 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. Exports fell 0.7% from May, while imports into the U.S. increased 0.6% on the month. The data confirmed economists’ expectations that a narrowing trade deficit earlier this year was likely to reverse, despite a renewed focus on trade policy from President Trump. [node:read-more:link]
