one of his first moves as President, Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). By signing the order, President Trump says he seeks to negotiate trade deals with individual countries. [node:read-more:link]
A dairy farm near the disaster-struck Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan began shipping raw milk again. It was the first milk shipped for processing and public sale from an area previously designated for evacuation following the March 2011 nuclear disaster at the seaside plant in Fukushima Prefecture, according to the prefectural government. Milk produced at the farm in the Naraha district had been checked for radioactive cesium every week from last May to December, with no reading ever surpassing the government-set limit of 50 becquerels per kilogram. [node:read-more:link]
The court decision against this farm family demonstrates why there is so much anger against Washington bureaucracy. he story starts in June, 2002, and was finally determined on April 11, 2016. Arland and Cindy Foster farm in Miner County, S.D. Their farmland is in Prairie Pothole country. EPA, under its WOTUS regulation, seeks to regulate Prairie Potholes. USDA also regulates Prairie Potholes because in 1985 USDA was authorized to determine whether certain farm lands qualify as wetlands. The Fosters initially sought a wetlands determination for 0.8 acres in 2002. [node:read-more:link]
Thirteen states are asking a federal judge to block a last-minute Obama administration environmental rule aimed at preventing coal mines from fouling thousands of miles of streams. The states on Tuesday filed a petition in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction against the Stream Protection Rule, a proposal from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The rule would prohibit changes to land near coal mines, which would stop miners from dumping debris near streams and rivers. It would also require new testing and monitoring of streams near coal mines. [node:read-more:link]
Ample supplies of beef and an expected rise in pork production will keep retail prices for both proteins on a downward path in the coming year, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) predicted in its 2017 Food Price Outlook. Beef and veal prices paid by consumers declined 6.3 percent in 2016 as the increased pace of cattle slaughter, especially during the second half of the year, and higher carcass weights result [node:read-more:link]
Dairy farmers are officially on the 2017 legislative docket. Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley presented a relief funding bill to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. “It’s hard to imagine drought after all the moisture we’ve had over the last couple months,” Bradley said. [node:read-more:link]
It was written at a time when the United States was facing historic change and progress of every kind from industrial capacity to oil production to even major innovations in agricultural technology and production. Although the country was predominantly rural, it was rapidly growing its urban centers. One can imagine that Amelia E. Barr, the poem's author, observed this new trend with a bit of alarm. Despite listing a number of professions and describing their importance, Barr concludes we still need farmers – emphasizing their significance by ending each stanza with the repetitive verse. [node:read-more:link]
California formally proposed a 40 percent slash in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, minutes after President Trump was inaugurated. The state’s Air Resources Board said that 40 percent cut by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, would be the most ambitious climate goal in North America. [node:read-more:link]
The volume of new farm loans dropped sharply in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to respondents to the Survey of Terms of Bank Lending to Farmers. The survey, which asks bankers about new loans to farmers, indicated the volume of non-real estate loans in the farm sector dropped 40 percent from a year ago. The 40-percent drop was the largest year-over-year decline in nearly 20 years. The sharp reduction in the volume of new farm loans at commercial banks occurred during a prolonged decline in farm revenue. [node:read-more:link]
President Trump's "America First" energy plan makes clear that the White House is committed to "reviving" the country's long-suffering coal industry.It's part of Trump's effort to live up to his campaign pledge to coal miners, whom he has told: "Get ready, because you're going to be working your asses off."As soon as this week, Trump could back up that campaign talk with real action. [node:read-more:link]
