AgClips
Recent AgClips
Farmer Co-ops Feeling Growing Pressures to Merge
Ag Web | Posted onMay 15, 2016 in Agriculture NewsAmerican farm co-ops are coming under pressure to merge from global competition, falling farm incomes, ag industry consolidation and a growing need for specialized talent, according to co-op leaders. Farmer-owned cooperatives historically have bought grain from farmers, storing it in elevators until it was loaded for shipment. But today, many co-ops do much more than store grain and sell fuel, fertilizer and pesticides.
North Dakota's top oil county wants state inspectors on the home front
Bismarck Tribune | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Energy NewsLeaders in North Dakota’s top oil producing county pushed state health officials to consider stationing inspectors in Watford City to more closely monitor the oil and gas industry. A landfill in McKenzie County is the first to apply to the state to accept waste with radioactivity levels up to 50 picocuries per gram. McKenzie County leaders questioned how much state oversight there would be if the landfill gets approved for accepting the higher level of radioactivity.
Crop Prices Rally as Report Points to Easing of Glut
Wall Street Journal | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsU.S. crop prices surged Tuesday, extending an unexpected run in agricultural prices that has drawn in big investors like hedge funds. The gains promise much needed relief for a farm economy battered by the slump in prices for major row crops over the past three years. The catalyst was a closely watched government report that said rising exports would eat into the glut in farm commodities by next year. The big surprise was a projection that U.S. soybean inventories would fall by a steep 24%.
Delmarva poultry wants to separate facts from fiction
Mountaire.com | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsDelmarva Poultry Industry Inc. is embarking on a new public relations effort to educate consumers about the poultry industry. “We recognize we have not done a good job of getting our messages out,” said Bill Satterfield, the longtime executive director of DPI, an 1,800-member trade association.
Illinois River water quality improvement linked to more efficient corn production
EurekaAlert | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsGood news - the quality of water in the Illinois River has improved in one important aspect. A new study from the University of Illinois reports that nitrate load in the Illinois River from 2010 to 2014 was 10 percent less than the average load in the 1980s and early 1990s.
US challenges China on chicken again at WTO
agri-pulse | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Federal NewsThe U.S. is again challenging China at the World Trade Organization over the country's antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. broiler chicken, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman announced.The U.S. poultry industry has lost roughly $800 million per year since China began levying its duties on U.S. chicken in 2010, according to USTR officials who predicted they have a strong case against China.
China still buys chicken paws and wing tips, from the U.S., but total U.S. exports dropped by about 90 percent over two years after China began levying the duties on broilers.
Community solar systems popping up across rural America
Agri-Pulse | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Energy NewsMore and more people are going solar even if they don't own a home, don't have a sunny rooftop, can't afford to buy their own rooftop system, or simply don't want the fuss of installing and operating their own system. Led by rural electric co-ops responding to their members, what's changed is the arrival of community solar, also known as “shared solar” or “solar gardens” or even “SolarCondo” ownership.
Record corn crop coming, USDA says; soybean production may fall
Agri-Pulse | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Agriculture NewsUSDA on Tuesday projected a record corn crop of 14.4 billion bushels, up 829 million from last year and 214 million bushels more than the previous high in 2014.
Deadly 2013 West Fertilizer plant fire was intentionally set
ABC13 | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Energy NewsAn intentionally set fire caused the 2013 explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant that killed 15 people, federal officials said Wednesday, saying the fire was "a criminal act."
Tyson’s Amazon deal aims to boost e-commerce options
meatingplace.com | Posted onMay 13, 2016 in Food NewsA program that offers Tyson Foods the opportunity to provide fresh proteins to an expanding online grocery program is part of a strategy to grow Tyson’s “non-store retail” presence, President and CEO Donnie Smith told analysts this week.