AgClips
Recent AgClips
Preserving Water Quality: Challenges and Opportunities for Technological and Policy Innovations
Choices magazine | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsNutrient pollution refers to water quality damages caused to water resources by various forms of nitrogen and phosphorous,which are essential nutrients for living organisms. Water pollution problems occur when the concentrations of these nutrients are elevated to harmful levels by human activity. Examples of this activity include densely populated urban areas, intensive agricultural production, and substantial energy
production from fossil fuels.
Low-protein wheat challenge deates US bakers
Food Navigator | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe $23bn US bread market is facing a crisis as low-protein levels in this year’s winter wheat crop have given rise to higher costs. The US wheat industry has endured a poor harvest for the past two years, resulting in a scarcity of high-protein hard wheat.
Consumers increasingly dictate production, retail placement through emerging fork-to-farm model
Food Navigator | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Food NewsIncreasingly savvy shoppers who are well-versed in food production and nutrition are turning the tables on the farm-to-fork marketing model that once educated them and inuenced what they consumed to create a fork-tofarm model that requires producers, manufacturers and retailers to meet their continuously changing preferences for new products and increased quality, according to Rabobank analysts.
Iowa Farmland Values, and the Corn Belt Economy- “At a Crossroads”
Farm Policy News | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe 2017 Iowa State University Land Value Survey was released on Tuesday, and showed that farmland values climbed 2% this year to $7326 an acre the first increase after three years of decline.“Limited land supply is driving this year’s increase in farmland values, not an improvement in the overall farm economy, said Zhang, who leads ISU’s annual survey.”
Family farming group sues USDA to reinstate fair practice rule
Meat + Poultry | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in Agriculture NewsThe Organization for Competitive Markets which advocates for family farming interests, is suing the US Dept. of Agriculture for withdrawing a rule intended to protect family farmers when selling live animals to large agribusiness companies and meat processors.The lawsuit brought by OCM intends to reinstate the rule to “prohibit major meat and poultry producers who contract with farmers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices.”The Farmer Fair Practice Rule was under the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) of the USDA.
A Look at the Final Tax Bill
DTN | Posted onDecember 18, 2017 in NewsVarious farmers, ranchers and agricultural companies are likely to see a wide variation in benefits — and in costs. The vast majority of farms are structured as pass-throughs, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited liability companies, or LLCs, whose owners pay taxes on profits through the individual code. These pass-throughs account for 85 percent of U.S. agricultural production. It would increase deductions or passthroughs. It would repeal the Section 199 deduction Co-ops use.
As NAFTA talks continue, Canada strengthens ag ties with Mexico
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted onDecember 14, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsIn between rounds of negotiation on possible changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada’s Agriculture Minister concluded a two-day visit to Mexico City to strengthen bilateral relations and promote trade last week. Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay also attended the Mexican food and beverage trade show Alimentaria, touring the show with Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto and Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, José Calzada.
State files again to dismiss Colorado River ‘personhood’ lawsuit, threatens to sanction lawyer
Post Independent | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsProtestors spurred on by the environmental group Deep Green Resistance gathered at dusk in front of the Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse in downtown Denver Friday. High above their heads, the words "Colorado River Rights of Nature" loomed, lit by a spotlight projector placed outside the protester circle.The activists had come in support of a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in the U.S., the Colorado River Ecosystem v. the State of Colorado, which seeks to grant direct rights to nature in the United States.
Breaking ground on the future of rural healthcare
Hutchinson News | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Rural NewsOfficials were scheduled to gather in a large open field in rural Harper County at 2 p.m. Sunday to break ground on a new $41 million medical complex that its developers say will introduce an entirely new model for rural health care.
Wolf Administration Officials Tour New Agricultural, Environmental Learning Center at Philadelphia’s Largest Head Start Center
Pennsylvania State Government | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsEducation Secretary Pedro Rivera, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, and Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Patrick McDonnell participated in the grand opening of the first Head Start center in Philadelphia to use agriculture and environmental lessons for teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts to young children. The School District of Philadelphia welcomed Wolf Administration officials, local leaders and families to celebrate the opening of the Agricultural and Environmental Learning Center with Outdoor Engagement Learning Gardens.