Cargill Inc. said it plans to spend $2.7 million (C$3.5 million) to expand and upgrade its beef facility in Guelph, Ont., where the company processes 1,500 head of cattle each day.  The Ontario government will supplement the cost of the expansion project by contributing about $442,000 (C$582,000), a move that Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said will help the province remain competitive, according to a release from the agency. The Cargill project also is expected to help maintain the 1,600 local jobs at the plant west of Toronto.  [node:read-more:link]

Farmland values continued to wane in the fourth quarter, according to the Tenth District Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions. On average, nonirrigated and irrigated farmland values dropped 6 percent, and ranchland values fell 7 percent from the same period last year (Chart 1). These downgrades were the largest since the Great Recession of 2007-09 but were relatively small compared to declines in the 1980s. The largest changes in District states occurred in Kansas and Nebraska (Table 1). [node:read-more:link]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee convened a hearing on Wednesday to get input from transportation leaders from rural regions as lawmakers and the new administration assemble an infrastructure package.   “Funding solutions that involve public-private partnerships, as have been discussed by administration officials, may be innovative solutions for crumbling inner cities, but do not work for rural areas,” Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said.  “Public-private partnerships and other approaches to infrastructure investment that depend on a positive revenue stream from a project [node:read-more:link]

As interest grows in developing Michigan agricultural land for solar energy, some farmers may have to choose between keeping tax incentives for preserving farmland or leasing their property to solar developers. Under a state program that provides an annual state income tax break for maintaining farmland, property owners can not do both, state officials say. [node:read-more:link]

Researchers from China’s Northwest A&F University used the gene-editing technology CRISPR to create 11 cows whose added genes made them resistant to a TB-causing bacterium. Throughout various experiments, including real-world exposure to the germ, the TB-proof cows lived up to their name. They showed fewer signs of infection and less bacterial growth than a control bovine group. [node:read-more:link]

The planting of a new experimental crop of genetically modified (GM) wheat will take place this spring after the UK government gave the final go ahead. The GM wheat has been engineered to use sunlight more efficiently and has boosted greenhouse yields by up to 40%. Researchers in Hertfordshire now want to see if they can replicate these gains in the field. [node:read-more:link]

A new audit that potato growers some growers will complete this season seeks to provide a common standard for sustainability. A small number of U.S. growers were picked last season for a trial run with the new Potato Sustainability Audit. This season, the Integrated Pest Management Institute of North America will roll out the audit on a large scale. Growers doing business with major potato buyers — including Lamb Weston, J.R. [node:read-more:link]

Russia plans to ban temporarily imports of beef and beef products from New Zealand from Feb. 6 after finding the feed additive ractopamine in some samples, Russia's agriculture safety watchdog said.  The watchdog, known as Rosselkhoznadzor in Russian, said it was also considering banning fish imports from New Zealand due to traces of mercury in some supplies. New Zealand is not covered by a wider ban on most Western food imports which Moscow introduced in 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. [node:read-more:link]

If it hadn’t been for state cost-share money, Ronnie Nuckols said, he wouldn’t have been able to install 14 fences to keep his cattle out of streams.  Nuckols, who farms in Goochland County, is one of countless Virginia farmers who are doing their part to protect the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways by using environment-friendly farming practices. [node:read-more:link]

Vermont agriculture officials are meeting to discuss concerns about how the Trump administration's immigration policy could affect the state's immigrant farm workers who are key to the success of the state's dairy farms.  The University of Vermont Extension Service told the state's agriculture secretary that the state has about 1,000 Latino farm workers, many of whom are living in the country illegally.  Extension employees say a total of 177 out of the state's 818 dairy farms use Latino workers. Republican Gov. [node:read-more:link]