Western lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act to help farmers understand which manure management rules they’re supposed to follow. HR 848, the Farm Regulatory Certainty Act, would reaffirm and clarify Congress’ intention regarding manure management under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, also known as the Solid Waste Disposal Act. [node:read-more:link]
Heavy rains, warm weather and melting snow have combined to cause widespread flooding across Southern Idaho, with Cassia County taking the brunt of the damage. Canals and creeks are overflowing, roads have been washed out or closed, basements are flooding and water is standing up to 2 feet deep in fields or causing erosion as it runs to lower ground. “It’s pretty devastating for sure. In the Malta area, there’s 100 percent devastation; it’s incredible,” said Joel Packham, Cassia County extension educator. [node:read-more:link]
Minnesota senators voted 62-0 in favor of the bill Thursday, Feb. 16, following House members' action a week earlier. The legislation does not provide loans for farmers to buy seeds, fertilizer and other things they need in the spring, but it does help them pay mortgages and other major expenses that affect how much money they have available for spring planting. "The Rural Finance Authority is an important program and provides much needed assistance to farmers across our state, but it has run dry," said Sen. Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, who sponsored the legislation. [node:read-more:link]
A New York state Assemblywoman has introduced legislation on carbon farming that she says is the first of its kind. The idea is to promote environmentally friendly farming practices while, at the same time, putting money back into the pockets of farmers. Democrat Didi Barrett has sponsored a bill that creates a carbon farming tax credit. Barrett, who represents portions of Columbia and Dutchess Counties, says the plan will give farmers a new tax break while helping the state reach its climate change goals. “This would make New York state the first in the country,” Barrett says. [node:read-more:link]
Two Maryland leaders showed their support for a bill that would move the state’s seafood and aquaculture marketing program to another departmen. Governor Larry Hogan and agriculture secretary Joe Bartenfelder toured the J.M. Clayton crab processing plant in Cambridge in support of House Bill 120, which would move the marketing from the Department of Natural Resources back to the Maryland Department of Agriculture. HB120 will move the program back to the Agriculture Department, where it will join the existing Agriculture Marketing and Development Program. [node:read-more:link]
John Deere & Co. (DE) appears to have relied on “disciplined cost management” to plow through what has been considered the roughest period in the farming since the Depression. Friday, some analysts say they hope to see that the deep double-digit dips in revenues and profits, choked by low commodity prices and weak farm incomes, have slowed down. [node:read-more:link]
State Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) has introduced a bill designed to help improve the living conditions of seasonal farmworkers. An affordable housing shortage has forced many farmworker families into unsafe and unhealthy living conditions, according to a news release. "The hardworking folks that help grow the world's food shouldn't have to choose between putting a roof over their family's heads and feeding their children," said Vidak. Many farmers have the land and want to build housing for their seasonal employees, but zoning ordinances often prevent them from doing so. [node:read-more:link]
There’s a simple step consumers can take to cut waste: Rethink “fresh.” It’s a word we associate with food that’s wholesome and good-tasting. And there’s no argument about a just-picked tomato or a just-caught striped bass; those are the tastes that drive me to grow tomatoes and catch fish. But most tomatoes and fish don’t come to us just-picked or just-caught. They come to us after having been picked or caught, packed and shipped, warehoused and displayed. Because “fresh” signifies “perishable,” especially when it comes to produce and seafood, there’s a lot of waste in that system. [node:read-more:link]
The House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday approved H.R. 953, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, which would clarify congressional intent regarding pesticide regulation in or around waters of the United States, and H.R. 1029, the Pesticide Registration Enhancement Act, which reauthorizes the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act PRIA was intended to create a more predictable and effective evaluation process for affected pesticide decisions by coupling the collection of fees with specific decision review periods. [node:read-more:link]
Monsanto has been served with a second lawsuit over the off-label dicamba drift damage that occurred in 10 states in 2016. The new case, a class action suit filed in U.S. District Court in Missouri, has two farmers from that state as lead plaintiffs. The lawsuit was filed by Randles and Splittgerber, LLP, a Missouri-based legal firm that also sued Monsanto over dicamba drift in November 2016 on behalf of Bader Farms, a Missouri fruit and row-crop operation. [node:read-more:link]
