It’s shaping up to be a tough financial year for many states. [node:read-more:link]

his is a time of tremendous opportunity in farming and ranching. Commodity production (undifferentiated crops and livestock [node:read-more:link]

Richmond– “Reports on agricultural activity in recent weeks were mixed. A South Carolina farmer indicated that improved weather conditions after Hurricane Matthew allowed crops to dry out enough to be harvested; yields, however, were down markedly from historical averages. A Maryland contact said that the fall harvest finished early, which allowed grain farmers to get moderately better prices than growers in the Midwest. Dairy farm consolidation continued and milk production was stable due to technology enhancements. [node:read-more:link]

While it is true change can be a good thing, it rarely occurs without a learning curve. Not surprisingly, then, that is the case with the Veterinary Feed Directive after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently tightened the federal rule.

As of Jan. 1, producers must obtain an authorization or prescription to purchase medically important antibiotics and administer them to food animals through feed and drinking water. Medically important antibiotics are medicines critical to treating human diseases. [node:read-more:link]

The state of New York has taken notice of its role in the regional food supply chain and in August allocated $15 million of the $20 million needed to build Greenmarket’s new 20,000-square-foot distribution center, commonly known as a food hub. [node:read-more:link]

A lawsuit in Montana is grabbing the attention of checkoff boards across the country. The Rancher-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund sued the Montana state beef checkoff council in May, asking a federal court to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the council from spending federal checkoff dollars on advertising unless the state cattle producers paying the fees agree to it. This past fall, a magistrate heard arguments from both sides, and in December he made an official recommendation to the federal judge to stop the council's advertising spending without cattlemen approval. [node:read-more:link]

Ranchers in northern Utah are consolidating their grazing permits and livestock to implement rest rotational grazing across 10 allotments and 136,000 acres. The project aimed to demonstrate good stewardship, switching to rest rotational grazing across 136,000 acres, consolidating 3,200 cows into two herds of 1,600 and facilitating three summer bands and four winter bands of sheep. The allotments allow 17,218 AUMS, and the plan is to rest about 20 percent of range annually. An AUM is the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. [node:read-more:link]

Ireland’s agriculture department confirmed Wednesday the discovery of a case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy in an 18-year-old cow.  The finding derived from the department’s surveillance of rendering facilities processing animals that died on farm, officials said. The animal tested positive on a screening test and follow-up tests confirmed the result. [node:read-more:link]