The United States is facing the prospect of potentially significant tariff increases on its beef exports to Japan in coming months, hikes its main competitors would be safeguarded from due to economic partnership agreements with the country. [node:read-more:link]
Farm income is down, and equipment prices are sky-high. Like farmers around the country, Boyd is in the crosshairs of the trade war, caught between the 25 percent tariffs that the United States has imposed on imported raw materials such as steel and aluminum and the retaliatory tariffs that China and other countries have imposed on major American agricultural exports, especially soybeans. [node:read-more:link]
If you're looking for another reason not to eat spinach or kale, you now have one. The leafy greens are ranked second and third, respectively, on Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen, a list of the fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residue. At the top of the advocacy group's latest roster, released Wednesday, is strawberries; nectarines and apples round out the top five. [node:read-more:link]
The EPA wants to keep from the public eye an opening brief and some records to be filed in a small-refinery waivers case, claiming in a court motion the information is subject to a protective order on confidential business information. The agency made the motion in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver last Friday, where a lawsuit filed by several ethanol and agriculture interest groups last year argues the EPA did not publish in the Federal Register what were final agency actions in granting waivers to two refineries owned by HollyFrontier and a third by CVR Energy. [node:read-more:link]
The EPA granted five additional 2017 small-refinery exemptions (SREs) to the Renewable Fuel Standard on Thursday, raising the agency total for that year to 34, according to an update posted to EPA's online dashboard. The dashboard also indicates it has two more waiver requests pending for that year. [node:read-more:link]
On its face, Proposition 12 applies only to California businesses selling pork, veal, and eggs. However, in practice, it has the potential to impact farmers and ranchers producing beef, pork and eggs nationwide. If a farmer in Texas, for example, does not adopt these practices, then he or she will be unable to sell his or her products in California. These types of ballot initiatives could certainly be expanded to additional products and could have major impacts on the farm level, requiring producers to invest in new or different facilities in order to continue producing the products. Th [node:read-more:link]
A rash of goat thefts is plaguing California's San Joaquin Valley. The Fresno County sheriff's agricultural task force says there have been seven reports of goats being stolen between Jan. 9 and March 7.In all, 61 goats worth $27,000 have been taken from private properties south. [node:read-more:link]
American grandparents have long raised their grandkids when their children are unfit or unable to do so. Now grandparents are stepping up again, Census Bureau data show, and the burden is largely falling to low-income white families.As the middle generation has been hollowed out by the abuse of opioids and other substances, the oldest generation has become increasingly responsible for their grandkids, experts say. It's a responsibility that many didn't expect and weren't prepared for. [node:read-more:link]
Iowa’s largest investor-owned utility wants to make local owners of private solar power systems pay more for generating their own electricity, while opponents warn that could cause Iowa to lose its standing as a leader in promoting renewables. House Study Bill 185 would add a yearly “sunshine tax” on private solar generators, a move MidAmerican Energy says creates more fairness for all customers who use its electric grid. [node:read-more:link]
The worst agricultural downturn since the 1980s is taking its toll on the emotional well-being of American farmers. In Kentucky, Montana and Florida, operators at Farm Aid’s hotline have seen a doubling of contacts for everything from financial counseling to crisis assistance. In Wisconsin, Dale Meyer has started holding monthly forums in the basement of his Loganville church following the suicide of a fellow parishioner, a farmer who’d fallen on hard times. In Minnesota, rural counselor Ted Matthews says he’s getting more and more calls. [node:read-more:link]
