AgClips
Recent AgClips
Legalization fuels increase in stoned pets
The Washington Post | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Food NewsAs more jurisdictions legalize marijuana, veterinarians across the country say they are seeing a sharp increase in cases of pets accidentally getting high. Tasty “edibles” such as muffins and cookies that people consume for a buzz are also appealing to animals, who can’t read warning labels, and, in the case of dogs, rarely stop at just one pot brownie.
Falling prices, borrowing binge haunt Midwest 'go-go farmers'
Reuters | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsSome farmers loaded up on easy credit when grain prices were high - and kept borrowing after they crashed. Now debt and delinquencies are rising fast, raising fears of broader turmoil in U.S. agriculture. Their distress could foreshadow broader economic turmoil in the grain sector, which includes corn, soybeans and wheat. “We’re in for a very, very rough time,” said Jim Mintert, director of Purdue University's Center for Commercial Agriculture.
Oil patch states may have seen the last boom
EEnews | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Energy NewsJust maybe, a few of the legislators were praying for the next oil boom, the way their fathers and grandfathers did. But this oil bust could be different.
Demographic and Economic Characteristics of Immigrant and Native-Born Populations in Rural and Urban Places
University of New Hampshire, Carsey School | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Rural NewsIn recent years, researchers have documented the changing demographics of rural areas, with a specific focus on changes in racial-ethnic composition and immigration patterns,1 particularly the increased migration of Hispanics to rural places.2 In spite of this attention to the changing demographics of rural America, surprisingly little is known about how rural immigrants compare to both their urban peers and native-born counterparts.
Huron County steer tests positive for bovine TB
Michigan Live | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsBovine tuberculosis was found in a 2-year-old steer in the state's thumb region. United States Department of Agriculture's food safety inspection service identified the Huron County steer as possibly diseased during inspection and removed the animal from the human food chain, according to a statement from Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.
Safe for now, Canadian dairy farmers fret over E.U. trade deal
New York Times | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Agriculture NewsOn both sides of the Atlantic, many of the people who are most upset about the new free trade deal between Canada and the European Union are dairy farmers. But they have opposite worries. The deal was nearly derailed by enraged farmers in the Wallonia region of Belgium because of how much they had been struggling. In Canada, by contrast, farmers are anxious because they have been doing so well. The way the country’s “supply management” system works now, Canadian dairy farms are almost guaranteed to prosper.
A Cure for What Ails Rural America?
DTN | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Rural NewsMiller, who graduated from The University of Iowa in 2009, heard about a program in North Dakota that was financing grants for telepharmacies, a business model that blends traditional pharmacy services with telemedicine technology. Miller was inspired and intrigued by the program. "I began building a similar platform for my family's business," he said. Even so, the family was forced to close one of its pharmacies and sell another. The remaining four the family owned were at risk, and Miller knew he needed a solution to save them.
Getting over the ‘taboo’ in a gun-rights conversation
High Country News | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Rural NewsDespite his misgivings, von Lossberg couldn’t stop thinking about the data he’d received from local members of Moms Demand Action, comparing states that have passed gun safety measures to those that have not. In the eight states that require background checks on all gun transfers, there were 38 percent fewer deaths of women shot by intimate partners, as well as lower rates of gun suicides and aggravated assaults with firearms. By contrast, Montana ranks fifth in gun deaths per capita and received an “F” from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in 2015.
Iowa generating 35 percent of electricity from wind
Daily Progress | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Energy NewsA new report shows Iowa is deriving more than 35 percent of its electricity from wind energy, an increase from statistics made public earlier this year. The American Wind Energy Association says in a report released Thursday that Iowa has increased its percentage of in-state electricity that comes from wind turbines. The data, backed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, is based on a 12-month rolling average through the end of August 2016. The association says Iowa is now the first state to generate more than one-third of its electricity from wind energy.
CEO explains precisely why companies are moving jobs to smaller cities
The Washington Post | Posted onNovember 1, 2016 in Rural NewsAndrew Florance hires hundreds of recent college grads for research and tech jobs for his real estate data firm CoStar Group.