Coastal waters near heavy human development are more likely to receive land-based “pathogen pollution,” which can include viruses, bacteria and parasites, according to a recent study from the University of California, Davis. The study said higher levels of rainfall and development increase the risk of disease-causing organisms flowing to the ocean. [node:read-more:link]
Buying food locally is a goal to which many consumers aspire. Local produce is likely to be fresher than food shipped from hundreds or thousands of miles away, less shipping means less reliance on fossil fuels, and local farmers receive the benefits of local spending. But what makes sense in theory can be difficult in practice. Try, for example, to find and purchase a locally grown carrot. In the traditional food system, local farmers and buyers have trouble connecting. [node:read-more:link]
Last week the Department of Justice (DOJ) decided to take John Deere to court in an anti-trust lawsuit. At this point the outcome of that lawsuit is unclear. Farmers and industry insiders alike were surprised by the challenge, but some analysts not so much. According to Jim Weisemeyer of Informa Economics, the current road block for the Precision Planting and John Deere Merger is temporary. “There’s not one big leader in this area,” he explained to AgriTalk radio show host Mike Adams. [node:read-more:link]
On Aug. 24, the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets published a proposed rule in the New York State Register proposing to update the statement’s fuel regulations to allow for the sale of E15 in model year 2001 and newer vehicles. In addition for allowing for the sale of E15 blends, the proposed rule also includes a provision that will require ethanol blends to comply with certain labeling requirements required by federal regulation. [node:read-more:link]
Attorneys for R-CALF, USA last week asked the court to award the group summary judgment and immediately end the beef checkoff program. [node:read-more:link]
The last place a farmer wants to spend a summer day is in a court room. But that is exactly where more than a hundred Missouri farmers found themselves this past week, trying to be made whole on grain transactions that went horribly wrong and left them holding $27 million in lost grain sales. The culprit of the scam was a small grain dealer and hauler named Cathy Gieseker. A rough-hewn, working class gal who tried to build up her grain hauling business after the death of her husband in 2007. Around this time, she told farmers she had special deals with ADM Grain. [node:read-more:link]
The North American Meat Institute’s (NAMI) Animal Care and Handling Conference will take place at downtown Kansas City’s Westin Crown Center, Oct. 13-14. The educational conference will appeal to all those involved with the production and management of livestock and meat products. [node:read-more:link]
Affected by the ongoing crisis in EU agricultural markets, the European agricultural machinery industry is expected to face further losses this year, after suffering a decline in sales in 2015. [node:read-more:link]
A federal appeals court has ruled that plaintiffs' lawyers leading federal multidistrict litigation against Bayer CropScience over genetically modified rice are entitled to 10 percent of a $92 million settlement the company struck with a farmers' co-op in state court. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision finding the lead MDL lawyers' work had benefited the co-op, Riceland, which had also filed a separate federal action that was part of the MDL. [node:read-more:link]
In her new book “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman: Conservation Heroes of the American Heartland,” published Sept. 6, Miriam Horn follows five people whose forward-looking practices sometimes defy widely held beliefs about sustainability and farming. Below, Horn pulls from the story of Justin Knopf, a farmer in central Kansas, to show that industrial-scale farming — and yes, even the pesticides that come with it — can be sustainable. [node:read-more:link]
