Agriculture News
Farmers across high plains brace for hard times as drought bears down
Wall Street Journal | Posted on May 15, 2018This time of year, Shawn Holladay is usually sitting atop a tractor, laying cotton seeds into rows of red soil on his farm here on the High Plains.But less than 2 inches of rain has fallen across much of West Texas since last October, compared with an average of about 10 inches over the same period last year. With his fields bone dry, Mr. Holladay and many other farmers in the Texas Cotton Belt have held off putting seeds in all but small patches of irrigated ground out of fear they will simply dry up. “The way it’s going right now, the chances are slim to none we will have a crop,” the 49-year-old Mr. Holladay said as he inspected his fields earlier this month. After three fairly wet years, a drought ranging from “severe” to “exceptional” has descended on the southern Great Plains of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Home to one of the nation’s most fertile farming areas—crop production in the Texas region alone generates about $12 billion in economic activity—observers say the drought could punish the agricultural sector, affecting everything from cotton to cattle to farming-equipment sales. “It’s going to be in the billions in terms of crop loss,” said Darren Hudson, director of the International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
2 types of activists challenge animal agriculture
Watt Ag Net | Posted on May 14, 2018When it comes to dealing with animal rights or environmental activists, those involved in livestock and poultry production must first identify what category the activist fits into, based on the passion of their beliefs. Some activists are so convinced animal agriculture is bad that they are unwilling to listen to other people’s viewpoints, Humphreys said.“Negotiation is not an option. Discussion and education is not an option,” he said.For example, in Ohio, many of the hardliners are pointing fingers at animal agriculture and blaming the industry for algae bloom problems in Lake Erie, according to Humphreys.“We have the hardliners around the lake. [They believe] there is no option but the shutting down of animal agriculture and that we are the problem in Lake Erie, and if we shut down all livestock production, that the lake will magically become better and the algae bloom will go away. The reality is that’s not true.”
Dairy co-ops tip scale in FMMO vote
Capital Press | Posted on May 10, 2018Bloc voting by the three largest dairy co-ops in California in favor of joining the federal milk marketing order system could clinch the deal, but it’s not official until USDA announces the outcome of the producer referendum.The voting is closed in the producer referendum determining whether California dairy farmers will leave their state milk marketing order behind and join the federal order system.While nothing is official yet, some industry spokesmen are saying bloc voting in favor of making the switch by the state’s three largest dairy co-ops has sealed the deal.
Washington ranching rivals agree on one thing: wolves
Capital Press | Posted on May 10, 2018Two rival Washington cattlemen’s groups issued a joint communique Wednesday stating their shared discontent over wolves. The statement from the Washington Cattlemen’s Association and Cattle Producers of Washington stemmed from a summit last month in Ellensburg. The Washington Farm Bureau also participated and sent out the announcement that agricultural organizations are “fed up with wolves.”It was the first time the three groups have spoken as one on the subject.“I thought we should all try to get on the same page,” Cattle Producers President Scott Nielsen said Wednesday. “I’m going to try to work much more closely with these other two groups.”
Report: America is losing its best farmland
San Francisco Chronicle | Posted on May 10, 2018The United States is losing its best farmland to development, even as the country’s population booms, according to a new report from the nonprofit conservation organization American Farmland Trust. It’s a familiar sight for anyone who grew up in many Bay Area suburbs: The rolling pastureland or local fruit farms that once were on the outskirts of town have been replaced by a housing development or strip mall.According to the American Farmland Trust, the United States lost almost 31 million acres, or 3.2 percent of its total farmland, from 1992 to 2012. California, which is responsible for one-eighth of the country’s farm production, lost an estimated 1.3 million acres of agricultural land to development during the same time period as both the state and the U.S. population increased by 22 percent.The disappearance of agricultural land has become a global concern because the United States contains more than 10 percent of the land on Earth that is suitable for farming, the report states.
Farm Runoff in U.S. Waters Has Hit Crisis Levels. Are Farmers Ready to Change?
Civil eats | Posted on May 10, 2018Some farmers and lawmakers across rural America are getting serious about preventing nitrogen and phosphorous pollution. Will it be enough to avert a catastrophe in our rivers and oceans? For the last two decades, Bill Kellogg hasn’t told many people about the approach he uses to growing 5,000 acres of corn and soybeans in Hardin County, Ohio.The conventional farmer grows cover crops, tills less often than most of his neighbors, applies fertilizer to his fields 4-6 inches underground, and has planted several pollinator patches on his acreage—all in an effort to improve his soil and cut down on the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous that runs off his land in the winter.When the Ohio Farm Bureau first asked him to talk about these practices as part of a multimedia website designed to educate farmers on how to protect their watersheds, he initially declined. “We’ve tried to stay under the radar, and just do our thing in our corner of the world,” he says, acknowledging that other farmers in his area will often talk at the local coffee shop whenever someone tries something new. “I’m not a coffee shop guy,” he added.“It was out of my comfort zone to give up our information.” However, after long talks with his son, Shane, they decided it was time to share what they do. Kellogg fears that if farmers in this region don’t make progress to improve water quality soon, they’ll face government regulations.
Tyson creates Bill of Rights for its poultry growers
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on May 10, 2018Tyson Foods Inc. announced the launch of several initiatives -- including a Contract Poultry Farmers’ Bill of Rights -- aimed at enhancing communications and transparency with the thousands of independent farmers who grow its chickens. Tyson will also form an advisory council of poultry farmers and invest in technology for additional communications.
Crispr Critters: What meat can learn from Monsanto
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on May 10, 2018When they introduced genetic modifications, the marketing mavens at Monsanto first told farmers that Roundup Ready soybeans would dramatically increase their crop yields by making the soybean plants immune to the Monsanto herbicide, Roundup, while it effectively killed the weeds in the farmers’ fields. What they didn’t do was thoroughly explain how this would benefit consumers. As a result, there was a consumer backlash that helped spawn the anti-GMO movement and lent credence to the nascent organic effort.Now, with their purchase of the licensing rights to the technology of Crispr-Cas9 system from the Broad Institute to use in its seed development (source: Business Insider, 9-22-16), Monsanto may be poised to make the same marketing mistake.
New Idaho beef plant adds local option for producers
Capital Press | Posted on May 10, 2018A beef plant opened in southern Idaho earlier this year, giving the area’s dairy producers a local option to send cows nearing end of life. The Times-News reports the Ida-Beef facility in Burley harvests more than 100 cows per day, but it’s designed to eventually process 350 to 400 cows each day.The company says the plant can reduce the stress on the animals and save dairies on freight costs. The area’s producers have typically shipped their cows for slaughter to facilities outside the state.
Mexico-EU trade agreement intensifies U.S. dairy concerns
Capital Press | Posted on May 10, 2018U.S. cheese exports to Mexico would be restricted from using some common cheese names, threatening well-established markets. U.S. dairy groups are disturbed by preliminary information that Mexico is poised to put new restrictions on common cheese names such as “parmesan” and “feta” for products sold within its borders.