AgClips
Recent AgClips
Court Sides with New Mexico Cattle Ranchers in Water Dispute
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture NewsA federal court has sided with a group of New Mexico ranchers in a case involving a dispute over stock watering rights in the Lincoln National Forest.The US Forest Service (USFS) manages federally owned land within the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. As part of that management, since 1910, the USFS has issued grazing permits to ranchers to graze cattle on the federally owned forest land. Each year the USFS determines the number of cattle that may be grazed on various portions of the forest, including the Sacramento Allotment.In 1983, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) propose
Bakers, farmers struggle to make any dough on poor wheat crop
Reuters | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture NewsBut this fall, bakers faced a crisis getting the right kind of bread to delis and sandwich shops locally and across the United States.Gonnella Baking Co - which supplies the buns to Major League Baseball’s Wrigley Field - faced an unusual problem in October when flour from this year’s U.S. wheat harvest arrived at their factories containing low levels of protein.That meant bakers couldn’t produce bread with the airy texture customers demand, setting off two weeks of tinkering with temperatures and the mixing process, and the eventual purchase of gluten as an additive.
To Build a Progressive Populism, Look to Farm Country
Civil eats | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Rural NewsPolitical strategists could learn much from the work of farm communities who have fought racism and corporate control.Scapegoating leaves us at a standstill. It also ignores a rich history: In the 1980s, when rural life was rapidly becoming as bleak as it is today, a perfect storm of politics and economics hit middle America, in the form of the farm crisis.
US says WTO losing focus on trade, becoming litigation group
ABC News | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Federal NewsThe United States said Monday that the World Trade Organization is losing its focus on trade negotiation and "becoming a litigation-centered organization." U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also complained that some WTO members try to gain concessions through lawsuits that he said they could never get at the negotiating table."We have to ask ourselves whether this is good for the institution and whether the current litigation structure makes sense," Lighthizer said at the WTO's ministerial meeting
USDA nearing end of feral hog removal
Albuquerque Journal | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal, Rural NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture is nearing the end of an eradication program targeting feral hogs that have been rooting up New Mexico and other parts of the country. The program is set to end in September 2018 and more funding will be needed to continue fighting the pests, USDA District Supervisor for Wildlife Services Brian Archuleta said.
USDA Clears Arizona to Test SNAP Fraud Prevention Improvement
USDA | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Federal, Food NewsThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cleared the state of Arizona to test a program aimed at limiting fraud and reducing illegal trafficking in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) electronic benefit (EBT) cards. The two-year waiver, granted by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), will allow the state to require direct contact with SNAP benefit recipients who request a replacement EBT card more than two times in a 12 month period.
Prevented Planting Option Ended
DTN | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal NewsUSDA Racks Up Cost Savings by Dialing Back Indemnity Potential for Prevented Planting Claims. Farmers in Northern Plains states and parts of the Corn Belt will lose the prospect of larger potential payouts under prevented planting claims following a crop-insurance change announced earlier this week by USDA's Risk Management Agency.For years, the Obama administration repeatedly sought a $1.4-billion cost savings over 10 years by asking Congress to reform prevented planting coverage by eliminating the option of buying 10% higher coverage for prevented planting.
Under Trump, E.P.A. Has Slowed Actions Against Polluters, and Put Limits on Enforcement Officers
The New York Times | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Energy, Federal NewsThe highway billboard at the entrance to town still displays a giant campaign photograph of President Trump, who handily won the election across industrial Ohio. But a revolt is brewing here in East Liverpool over Mr. Trump’s move to slow down the federal government’s policing of air and water pollution.The City Council moved unanimously last month to send a protest letter to the Environmental Protection Agency about a hazardous waste incinerator near downtown. Since Mr. Trump took office, the E.P.A.
U.S. soy processors build new capacity at fastest rate in 20 years
Reuters | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture NewsU.S. agricultural cooperatives are building new soybean crushing plants at the fastest rate in two decades as farmers in the world’s top producer prepare to sow another record area with soy.U.S. processors are expected to open plants with capacity to process at least 120 million bushels of soybeans in 2019, up around 5 percent from existing capacity of an estimated 1.9 billion bushels.
Florida agriculture desperate for post-Irma aid
Ocala Star Banner | Posted onDecember 13, 2017 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsWhile Florida oranges have long occupied iconic status in American life, if Congress does not act promptly, Florida’s agricultural industry, including its treasured citrus growers and the communities that depend on it, could mark the end of Florida orange production and the state’s vital agricultural sector. Hurricane Irma caused enormous damage to Florida’s citrus growers. Of the $2.5 billion in damages inflicted by Hurricane Irma on Florida’s agricultural industry, Florida’s orange crop suffered the most — at $760 million, according to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.