AgClips
Recent AgClips
Center for Consumer Freedom complains to FTC about HSUS
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onDecember 21, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for “orchestrating a deceptive advertising campaign,” the organization said in a news release. Specifically, CCF complains that in November 2017, HSUS drove traffic to a web page on its HumaneSociety.org domain that contained false information. On the web page in question, a graphic claimed that only 19 percent of HSUS donations are spent on fundraising.
President Trump To Address Farm Bureau Members
Ag Web | Posted onDecember 21, 2017 in Federal NewsPresident Donald Trump will address farm and ranch families from across the nation at the 99th Annual Convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The convention will be held January 5th through the 10th in Nashville, Tenn.
Homeland Security’s inspector general has reported moldy food and mistreatment in immigrant detention centers
Pittsburgh Post Gazette | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Federal NewsThe inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security has criticized several immigration detention facilities for having spoiled and moldy food and inadequate medical care, and for inappropriate treatment of detainees, such as locking down a detainee for sharing coffee and interfering with Muslims’ prayer times.
U.S. renewable energy industry relieved as Republicans keep tax credits
Reuters | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Energy NewsThe U.S. renewable energy industry expressed relief after a compromise Republican tax bill preserved key tax credits that had been at risk of being removed, but it raised concerns about a provision that may threaten investment in the sector.The final tax bill retains the production and investment tax credits for wind and solar energy that have spurred investment in the fast-growth industries. It also eliminates the alternative minimum tax, which would have reduced the value of those credits.
Projected Positive Economic Profit Margins for Dairy Producers in 2017 After Continued Negative Margins in 2016
Farm Doc Daily | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsLower milk prices resulted in continued negative economic returns for Illinois dairy producers in 2016, according to figures summarized by University of Illinois agricultural economists in cooperation with the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association. The average net price received per 100 pounds of milk was $16.28, which was less than total economic costs of $18.14. The price received for milk in 2016 was the lowest since 2010. On a per cow basis, total returns from milk were $3,895 compared to the total cost to produce milk of $4,332 per cow.
DMI partner helps grow overseas cheese sales
Hoard's Dairyman | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsPartnerships with major restaurant chains have helped to drive new dairy product sales in the U.S. Those same initiatives are now going past America’s borders. Yum! Brands — think KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell — have 44,000 restaurants in 135 countries.DMI recently facilitated innovation sessions with Pizza Hut in its Asia Pacific region and created a “Cheese University” taught by a dairy checkoff scientist to educate culinary teams on the ways to use U.S. cheese. Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc., said the emphasis is already yielding results.“U.S.
Exploring the Wild World of Milk Alternatives
Vogue | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Food NewsA single container of cow’s milk stands, somewhat awkwardly, alone. Why? Because cow’s-milk consumption in this country has plummeted—7 percent in 2015, an 11 percent further drop expected by 2020—and I’m about to taste my way through the wild and woolly world of alternatives. Almond milk may be the lait du moment, having seen sales in this country rise 250 percent from 2012 to 2015. But I have assembled soy, rice, cashew, coconut, macadamia, and pea. I have convened camel, sheep, horse, and goat. Everyone perches on stools and regards the first sample: store-bought soy.
Hamburger chain Wendy's to reduce antibiotic use in beef supply
Reuters | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Food NewsHamburger chain Wendy’s Co laid out plans to trim the use of antibiotics that are important to human medicine from its beef supply.
Commodity Costs and Returns
USDA | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsCost and return estimates are reported for the United States and major production regions for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, grain sorghum, rice, peanuts, oats, barley, milk, hogs, and cow-calf. The history of commodity cost and return estimates for the U.S. and regions is divided into three categories: Current, Recent, and Historical estimates. Cost-of Production Forecasts are also available for major U.S. field crops.
America’s Diverse Family Farms: 2017 Edition
USDA | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture, Rural NewsThis report provides an overview of U.S. farms, including the latest statistics on production, financial performance, and farm household characteristics by farm size categories. Among the findings are that 99 percent of U.S. farms are family farms, and they accounted for 90 percent of farm production in 2016.