In an effort to turn away from chemical pesticides, which have the potential to damage the environment, some farmers are looking in a new direction in the age-old struggle against pests. They're warding off intruding insects and noxious weeds with bugs and chickens. [node:read-more:link]
With worker fatalities in agriculture running higher than all non-agricultural industries combined among workers younger than 16 years old, there’s no doubt that routine farm safety practices are important. Our “Farm Tragedy by the Numbers” infographic provides the basis for why farm safety should be taken seriously, not only through National Farm Safety and Health Week, but 52 weeks every year. [node:read-more:link]
Agency requests information on how to establish appropriate durations of use for therapeutic products The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is entering the next phase of its efforts to mitigate antimicrobial resistance by focusing for the first time on medically important antimicrobials (i.e., those important for treating human disease) used in animal feed or water that have at least one therapeutic indication without a defined duration of use. [node:read-more:link]
In reality, there is nothing “natural” as people imagine. Why do chickens and eggs have to be any different? Neither chickens, nor hens, corn, soybeans, the ground itself are as they were in the idyllic past.Groups and individuals are looking for natural foods, with no processing, no chemicals, no genetic modifications, cage-free eggs, slow growth chickens, organic chickens and a long etcetera.However, humans have always processed foods. Although made with "natural" products, jams, bread or a bowl of rice have all undergone a process. [node:read-more:link]
Dr. Peter Spring, of the Bern University of Applied Sciences, said striving for responsible antibiotic use may be a better strategy than going 100 percent antibiotic-free. [node:read-more:link]
I visited a family farm recently. It was small, and local, and certified organic. In theory, it was everything an eco-conscious foodie could want. And yet, it wasn’t. Like every farm family, the couple who runs the farm is constrained by economic factors. Unfortunately, the measures they’ve taken to make their finances work have made their farm less environmentally sustainable. Their biggest expense is labor, so they do everything they can to reduce the amount of labor they need, including employing machines. A lot of machines. Machines that run on fossil fuels. [node:read-more:link]
California will begin regulating greenhouse-gas emissions tied to dairy cows and landfills under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown, escalating state efforts to fight climate change beyond carbon-based gases to include methane and other pollutants. The law targets a category of gases known as short-lived climate pollutants, which have an outsize effect on global warming despite their relatively short life in the atmosphere. Environmentalists hope that tackling short-lived pollutants now would buy time to develop new and more affordable technology to reduce carbon emissions. [node:read-more:link]
Dr. Bronner’s, a Vista, Calif.-based natural and organic body care products company known for its hemp-based soaps, has pledged to contribute upward of $660,000 to marijuana legalization campaigns in five states. Dr. Bronner’s plans to partner with organizations such as New Approach and the Marijuana Policy Project and to make financial contributions to legalization campaigns in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada, which arevoting on recreational marijuana measures this November. [node:read-more:link]
The governors of three Southern states are lifting restrictions on the number of hours that truck drivers delivering fuel can work, hoping to prevent shortages in both states after the shutdown of a pipeline that spilled at least 252,000 gallons of gasoline in rural Alabama. Governors can suspend federal transportation regulations during emergencies. Colonial Pipeline has said most of the leaked gasoline is contained in a retention pond near the city of Helena and there's no public safety concern. The spill was first detected on Sept. [node:read-more:link]
The West Virginia Farm Bureau and the state Department of Agriculture are in a fight over cows and potatoes. Their argument spans genetics, market economies and state pride. It also crosses into politics. In the upcoming Agriculture Commissioner race, the Farm Bureau has endorsed Republican Kent Leonhardt over incumbent Democrat Walt Helmick, just as it did in 2012. In the current spat, the Farm Bureau claims the Agriculture Department’s purchase of four breeding cows from Oklahoma for $33,000 presents unfair competition for West Virginia’s existing beef cattle farmers. [node:read-more:link]
