Between 1992 and 2012, midsize farms - those with gross cash farm income (GCFI) between $350,000 and $1 million - declined in number by about 5 percent. This report examines midsize farms during the period from 1992 to 2014 and describes how commodity prices, the farm economy, and Government payments influenced their growth, survival, and well-being. [node:read-more:link]
Six years ago, only a few U.S. cities had food policy directors — strategists tasked with connecting communities with local farm products and improving access to food in underserved neighborhoods. Now, in line with a national push to improve access to healthy foods and support urban agriculture, nearly 20 cities have them. The shift reflects a growing consensus that boosting availability of locally grown food helps people to eat healthier, supports small and midsize farms, and protects the environment by emphasizing sustainable farming practices. [node:read-more:link]
Agriculture and food policy have not become even small issues in the 2016 presidential campaign, but on Friday, TV host Bill Maher asked President Barack Obama about “food purity” and “torturing animals on factory farms” and got answers. Obama did not say anything that deviated from his previous statements, but it was a rare, three-minute exchange with the president on the subject. Maher asked if food should not be put “more at the top of the agenda” on health care. Obama replied, “We’ve got a disease care system; we should have a health care system,” which would include nutrition and ex [node:read-more:link]
As the saying goes, the customer is always right. Over the past year, the U.S. food industry – grocers, restaurants, foodservice and hospitality – rapidly pledged to serve only cage-free eggs in the next 20 years. [node:read-more:link]
Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil trapped in shale formations, commonly referred to as “fracking,” impacts agriculture in many ways. Farms in shale regions, for example, face competition from energy companies for labor, water, and transportation infrastructure—as well as an increased risk of drilling-related soil or water contamination. But farmers may also earn payments from energy companies. Whether fracking’s net effect on a farm is positive or negative depends largely on who owns the farm’s mineral rights. [node:read-more:link]
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) is considering issuing permits for a potential egg farm near Harrod, Ohio. The farm, if approved, would include two layer houses, with each house capable of accommodating 200,000 hens. The ODA Livestock Environmental Permitting Division has issued a public notice, stating that it plans to hold an open house and public meeting on December 7 regarding the proposed egg farm. [node:read-more:link]
The Obama administration is moving forward with an optional cap-and-trade system that states could use to comply with its climate change rule for power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final model trading rule went to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, the office said Friday, despite the fact that the underlying Clean Power Plan is on hold by order of the Supreme Court. [node:read-more:link]
The debate around policing food and controlling the diets of others has been largely captive to the elite and monetized by special interest groups like the $125 million DC-based “non-profit” sponsoring the $2 million Question 3 campaign. I’ve been through homelessness and poverty, and as a potential victim of Question 3, I am crashing their exclusive party. The deceptive ballot statement makes no mention of consumer impacts or animal welfare trade-offs. [node:read-more:link]
A group of Ohio landowners who are hoping the courts can bring some relief to their farm real estate taxes will keep their case before a Franklin County judge. In the initial lawsuit, the landowners argued that the state determined CAUV values based on crop commodities — like corn, soybeans and wheat — and neglected to take into consideration acres that grow other crops, such as grapes, woodlands or pastureland, or are not suited to grow crops. “Basically, they (state officials) used the rise in commodity prices as an excuse for the fact that they changed other parts,” said Roberts. [node:read-more:link]
Canada's dairy sector will receive help to adjust to increased competition from the new European cheese imports expected under the terms of the Canada-European Union trade deal signed last weekend. But don't call it compensation: the Liberals have something else in mind. Senior government officials from Global Affairs Canada gave a technical briefing to reporters on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, also known as CETA. [node:read-more:link]
