Agriculture News
China supersizes pig farms to cut costs in world's top pork market
Reuters | Posted on February 7, 2018Surrounded by mountains in a remote part of southwestern China, Xinguangan’s first large-scale, modern pig farm is getting ready to produce its first offspring.By the end of the year, 10,000 sows will live inside two huge barns on this 73-hectare (180-acre) site, producing up to 280,000 piglets annually, or about 20,000 tonnes of pork.The farm, big even by American standards, is one of a record number of large-scale projects that will be built in China this year as it shifts a big chunk of its pork production from backyard pig pens to automated, intensive hog barns of the kind widely used in the United States.Some in the industry estimate it could build several hundred sow farms with about 5,000-8,000 head this year, even more than last year, accelerating the transformation of the world’s biggest pork industry.
Improve soil health to reduce erosion
Agrinews | Posted on February 7, 2018Bad things tend to happen when the ground isn’t covered, Johnson said, so it is important to do practices such as no-tilling, growing cover crops, leaving the stover or managing the grazing. By keeping soil covered, it protects the soil from wind, rain and temperature fluctuations.“When those intense rainfall events come and the ground is not covered, we can see mud running down the ditch and we know there are nutrients in that mud,” Johnson said. “We are giving our topsoil away when we let it wash away.”Armoring the soil will reduce evaporation.
Global cereal output heading for a new record, lifting consumption and stocks
FAO | Posted on February 7, 2018Global food prices dipped in August, mainly as the prospect of bumper cereal harvests pushed up expectations for larger grain inventories. The FAO Food Price Index declined 1.3 percent from July, averaging 176.6 points in August.The drop was largely driven by a 5.4 percent decline in the FAO Cereal Price Index, reflecting a sharp fall in wheat prices as the outlook for production in the Black Sea region improved.FAO raised its forecast for global cereal production to 2 611 million tonnes, an all-time record. Worldwide stocks of cereals are also expected to reach an all-time high by the close of seasons in 2018
Oregon has big pot overproduction problem
AP | Posted on February 6, 2018Oregon’s top federal prosecutor said Friday the state has a “formidable” problem with marijuana overproduction that winds up on the black market and that he wants to work with state and local leaders and the pot industry to do something about it. U.S. Attorney Billy Williams convened the unprecedented summit of influential federal law enforcement representatives, state officials and marijuana industry scions after Attorney General Jeff Sessions withdrew an Obama administration memo that had guided states with legalized weed on how to avoid federal scrutiny.
Effects of milk prices reach far beyond the dairy
Frederick News Post | Posted on February 6, 2018But the decline of dairy is not just a loss of landscape and heritage; it is a real economic loss too. Few people realize that the economic impact of one dairy farm goes far beyond the farm lane. In many cases, a dairy will have several full-time employees representing multiple families’ incomes, but it goes even beyond employee salaries. A dairy almost always has a plumber or electrician on speed dial, a veterinarian they regularly have out, a nutritionist they consult, a feed or seed salesman, the trucking company that hauls the milk, and on and on. That one farm is like a hub that supports other businesses in the community. While the loss of one farm won’t bankrupt these other businesses, the loss of many will.
Kansas legislation introduced in response to Tyson-Tonganoxie saga
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on February 6, 2018Bills introduced last week in the Kansas House and Senate would require countywide public votes on large-scale poultry project proposals like the one Tyson Foods abandoned amid public opposition in Tonganoxie. Rep. Jim Karleskint, R-Tonganoxie, and Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, said the bills would expand to poultry operations existing state law allowing public scrutiny of hog and dairy facilities.
Monsanto now offering (legally required) free training for dicamba
Modern Farmer | Posted on February 5, 2018Back in October, the Environmental Protection Agency placed dicamba on its list of restricted use pesticides, which means it now has to address some specific requirements. Among those are that dicamba may not be applied except either by the manufacturer of the product or by someone trained to use it correctly. (Monsanto has long claimed that any drifting, and destruction caused thereof, is the fault of those applying it incorrectly. Farmers have replied that the instructions for applying dicamba are incredibly difficult to follow.) As part of those requirements, Monsanto has set up a schedule of free training sessions across the country, which anyone wishing to apply dicamba legally must attend. Those sessions last about 90 minutes, according to Successful Farming. It seven of the states where dicamba is legal—Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee—trainings have to be done by the state, but in the other 26 states that allow it, Monsanto is running the sessions.
China launches probe over U.S. sorghum imports
Wall Street Journal | Posted on February 5, 2018China’s Commerce Ministry said Sunday that it initiated an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation after preliminarily finding that heavy volumes and low prices of American exports of sorghum, bolstered by U.S. government subsidies, hurt Chinese growers. In announcing the action, the Commerce Ministry didn’t mention the Trump administration’s recent ruling to place tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels. Chinese officials have told representatives of U.S. businesses that Beijing is preparing tit-for-tat measures to retaliate if trade is affected by President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.The U.S. is also in the midst of studies and processes that would impose penalties involving China on intellectual property and trade in steel and aluminum.
Equipment Manufacturer, Dealer Coalitions Pledge Right to Repair Transparency by 2021
Precision Ag | Posted on February 1, 2018The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) joined the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA) on Thursday in making a joint industry commitment to provide comprehensive service information tools to end users of farm equipment for tractors and combines in model year 2021. EDA and AEM’s Ag Sector Board debuted a Statement of Principles that affirms the industry’s joint commitment to providing the tools farmers and ranchers need to minimize downtime and maximize productivity of farm equipment.The Statement of Principles makes so-called “Right to Repair”legislation sought by special interest groups unnecessary.Manufacturers will make available through authorized dealers the following diagnostic and repair information beginning with tractors and combines put into service on or after Jan. 1, 2021:Manuals (Operator, Parts, Service), Product Guides, Product Service Demonstrations, Training, Seminars, or Clinics, Fleet Management Information, On-Board Diagnostics via diagnostics port or wireless interface, Electronic Field Diagnostic Service Tools, and training on how to use them, Other publications with information on service, parts, operation, and safety
Washington state legislators introduce bill to provide help to suicidal farmers
The New Food Economy | Posted on February 1, 2018House Bill (H.B.) 2671, which he introduced last week. Its aim? To improve “the behavioral health of people in the agricultural industry.”If Wilcox’s bill is passed, which seems a good possibility given its strong bipartisan support, it will establish a task force to study the factors that lead to high rates of suicide and substance abuse, and then establish free resources aimed at increasing mental health support services and suicide prevention outreach.But who exactly will these services be for?As the bill is written now, the task force will convene representatives from the healthcare industry and various agricultural associations. But what about a representative for migrant workers or other vulnerable populations?There’s no specific language in the bill pertaining to those populations. But it does promise a free resource that must meet the following requirements: be publicly available online or via phone call; provide community-based training resources in suicide risk recognition and referral skills; and contain marketing guidelines to promote behavioral health in the agricultural industry.