AgClips
Recent AgClips
Ethanol groups criticize bill to limit ethanol to 9.7 percent
Ethanol Producer Magazine | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Energy NewsA bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that aims to limit the total volume of ethanol contained in transportation fuel to 9.7 percent. Members of the ethanol industry have spoken out to criticize the legislation.
Cruz aims to declaw energy security hawks with appropriations amendment
Biofuels Digest | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Energy NewsIn Washington, news arrived from Advanced Biofuels USA that the “Defense Department Budget put together by Republican leadership would stop the US Navy from buying biofuels for the Fleet.
Wind on the Rise, Coal on the Wane
Institute for Energy Economics | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Energy NewsA State by STate Snapshot
As coal dependence falters in the U.S., wind-powered electricity generation is on the rise. In less than a decade, the mix of fuels used for generating electricity has gone a major shift.
As Big Candy Ditches GMOs, Sugar Beet Farmers Hit A Sour Patch
NPR | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Food NewsSugar, you might think, is just sugar, no matter where it comes from. But not anymore.
About half of all sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar beets, and the other half comes from sugar cane. Now, for the first time, sugar traders are treating these as two different commodities, with two different prices.
U.S. sugar beet farmers to grow record crop, unfazed by non-GMO trend
reuters | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Agriculture NewsU.S. sugar beet farmers are expected to reap a record harvest next year, undeterred by a trend among some food manufacturers to favor their competitor, cane sugar that's not genetically modified (non-GMO), the government forecast on Tuesday.
In its first estimate for the upcoming season that starts on Oct. 1, U.S. farmers will harvest 5.09 million short tons (4.62 million tonnes) of sugar from beet, an all-time high and up slightly from 5.06 million tons, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast on Tuesday and data since 1959/1960.
Rescuing Hawaii's birds with genetic engineering
Technology Review | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Rural NewsHawaii’s fourth-largest island, says Paxton, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, is seeing a sudden, rapid decline in native birds. The prime suspect is avian malaria. It’s being spread by mosquitoes and it kills rare birds such as the 'i'iwi, a bright red honeycreeper with a curvy Dr. Seuss beak. Surveys carried out on the island’s rugged, roadless interior are finding fewer birds than ever before. Extinction for some species looks imminent.
Price, demand driving Illinois' hog farm expansion
State Journal Register | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Food NewsIllinois hog producers who filed more than 120 expansion notices with state regulators in 2015 already have filed half as many this year. Consumer demand and the best pork prices in years are driving the expansion.
Farmland Value’s Declining on Lower Farm Income
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Agriculture NewsThe Farm Credit Administration says farmland prices continue to soften across the country, particularly in the Midwest. At a monthly meeting last week, the Farm Credit Administration Board heard a report on farmland values across the nation. The report says a third consecutive year of declining crop prices and reduced farm income is causing cropland values to soften. The decrease follows five years of double-digit price increases since 2009 for most Midwest states, with cropland values reaching record levels in 2014.
One Thing Consumers Get Right
Hoosier Ag Today | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Food NewsNearly 90 percent of Americans have a favorable view of farmers, and 92 percent said it was important to provide them with federal funding, according to a new national poll. This is an important finding since the public’s view of farmers and support for crop insurance are critical policy issues. Budget-cutting bureaucrats and anti-agriculture activists have long mounted attacks on crop insurance in an effort to derail the program.
Agriculture groups push OSHA to rollback misguided fertilizer regulation
Farm & Ranch | Posted onMay 16, 2016 in Federal NewsNebraska farmers and fertilizer dealers are working together with members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation to fix a misguided regulatory proposal by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) related to the storage and handling of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer. “The regulatory proposal was initiated under a false premise, is unnecessary, and will cost Nebraska cooperatives and Nebraska farmers millions of dollars collectively,” said Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson.