Agriculture News
Examining Farm Sector and Farm Household Income
USDA | Posted on August 21, 2017Farm sector net cash income is expected to decline 35 percent between 2013 and 2016, following several years of record highs—though it will remain near its recent 10-year average. Starting in the late 1990s, the median household income for farm households has exceeded the median income of all U.S. households; in 2015, farm households had a median total household income of $76,735, a third greater than that of all U.S. households but less than that of U.S. households with a self-employed head. Federal Government payments—including disaster assistance programs and commodity program payments—are expected to be about $13 billion in 2016, and buffer swings in farm income.
“Eat this and die.” Two Steps to Outsmart Media Marketing of Fear
Huffington Post | Posted on August 21, 2017By publishing anything claiming to have a whiff of scientific basis, assigning it a nefarious headline and relinquishing responsibility to verify its legitimacy, media counter their own noble pursuit by contributing to consumer confusion instead of being a beacon of clear, reliable information.“Carcinogenic pesticide found in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream” and “Chemical in mac and cheese tied to birth defects” are among the latest alarming headlines.Often, media outlets hungry for content and short on staff simply post news releases verbatim – no scrutiny applied – from an author, company, advocacy group or public relations firm. One recent example is “These 7 foods are scientifically proven to put you in a bad mood” article, which was picked up by many media outlets including AOL, MSN and Glamour.With a simple 10-minute search for the science behind each claim (if scientific studies were even provided), I discovered the article didn’t “prove” much of anything. As is the case here, so often science “suggests” a link or claims consuming a certain ingredient (in unrealistic, outrageous amounts in many cases) “may” cause various health conditions.The mere presence of a chemical in a food doesn’t make it harmful, but often stories lead us to believe otherwise.
DuPont Buys Granular Ag Software Company
Ag Web | Posted on August 21, 2017DuPont announced it will buy Granular Inc. software company for $300 million. This agreement will solidify the company’s investment in the ag tech space and is expected to close at the end of the third quarter. The acquisition gives DuPont ownership of Granular’s Farm Management Software and AcreValue.com that together serve 250 farms on two million acres in the U.S. as well as farms in Canada and Australia.
Monsanto adds another CRISPR platform to genetic toolbox
Farm and Dairy | Posted on August 21, 2017Monsanto Company has forged an agreement with ToolGen, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in genome editing, to use ToolGen’s CRISPR technology platform to develop agricultural products. The companies announced Aug. 16 that they have reached a global licensing agreement for Monsanto to access ToolGen’s suite of CRISPR intellectual property for use in plants.
Broiler welfare: 3 slow-growth claims examined
Watt Ag Net | Posted on August 21, 2017As proponents of new broiler welfare programs continue to push for changes in broiler production techniques and smaller, slower-growing breeds, cases are being made that birds in modern production are not as healthy or mobile as they should be.Broiler health and mortality rates: The thought that modern breeds of broilers are not as healthy and experience higher-than necessary mortality rates is not necessarily accurate, Jones said. In fact, he said that livability in modern breeds is at an all-time high.Mobility: Critics of modern poultry production say that broilers aren’t given adequate room to move or they are so large and lethargic they cannot move. While younger birds choose to expend their energy more and are naturally more mobile, older birds typically do not move as much and are “efficient,” he said.Leg health: When people question the leg health of modern broilers, they often overlook several things, said Jones. Genetic selection in modern broilers is constantly improving all aspects of flock health, which he said includes leg health.
Pig-to-person spread of flu at fairs a continued concern
Phys.org | Posted on August 21, 2017The spread of influenza among pigs is common at fairs and other gatherings, and protective measures including cutting the length of time pigs and people congregate make good sense for both the animals and humans, say the authors of a new study. A team led by Andrew Bowman of The Ohio State University tracked human cases of H3N2 swine virus associated with seven agricultural fairs in 2016. They tallied 18 cases in Ohio and Michigan documented after exposure to flu-infected pigs. Though most of these infections caused mild, manageable illness, new flu viruses jumping from pigs to people raises the risk of a flu pandemic.The good news is that there are ways to curtail the spread of disease without eliminating swine exhibits altogether, said Bowman, an assistant professor of veterinary medicine. Chief among them: a 72-hour limit to swine exhibits, which would interrupt widespread flu transmission from pig to pig and from pigs to people, he said."Shorter exhibitions don't eliminate the possibility of the disease spreading, but it can be the difference between a few animals catching the virus and most of them becoming infected," Bowman said.
Tiny Asian bug destroying La. marsh cane at alarming rate
WWLTV | Posted on August 21, 2017A tiny insect, barely visible to the naked eye, is killing marsh cane at an alarming rate and threatening to undo nearly a decade of coastal restoration and land-building in the delicate Mississippi River delta. The Roseau cane mealy bug, also known as a Phragmites scale, was first discovered on some of the marsh reeds of Plaquemines Parish last summer. It was the first time the parasite native to Japan and China had ever made it into the United States.Scientists began tracking the bug’s destructive effects in March and are shocked by how quickly it’s spreading – not only eating away at the cane reeds where it was first reported last Fall, in the iconic bird’s foot delta at the mouth of the Mississippi, but now appearing in marshes as far west as Lafourche Parish and as far north as Lafitte in Jefferson Parish.Between March and May, the bug laid waste to 5.5 miles of Roseau cane that form the banks of South Pass. That’s led to fears that a principal navigation channel could be lost if officials can’t come up with a plan to protect the Roseau cane. The infestation is spreading so quickly that scientists from Louisiana State University, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and several federal agencies can’t get a handle on how much land has been lost or how to combat the mealy bug, but they believe 100,000 acres of marsh could be endangered by it.
WOTUS: Where Are We Now?
Texas Agriculture Law Blog | Posted on August 17, 2017In February 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order which required the EPA and COE to “rescind or revise” the 2015 Rule. The Order said that the agencies should “consider interpreting” the term consistent with Justice Scalia’s opinion in Rapanos. In June, the EPA announced it would be taking the first step to rescind the 2015 Rule and to re-codify the definition of WOTUS prior to the passage of the 2015 rule.Where Are We Now? Rescinding a rule already promulgated is not as simple as it may sound. The EPA has published a new proposed rule in the Federal Register, which essentially seeks to codify the rule as it was prior to the 2015 EPA rule being passed (and, due to the 6th Circuit stay, the approach currently in place across the US). Specifically, the proposed rule would rescind the 2015 approach and codify an approach consistent with the Rapanos Supreme Court decision, applicable case law, and other longstanding agency practices. Now, notice and comment rulemaking will take place, which will allow the public to offer input on the new proposed rule. This period is open through August 28, 2017. After that, the EPA plans to conduct a “substantive re-evaluation” of the definition of WOTUS and conduct notice and will likely propose a new rule after property notice and comment rulemaking occurs. Meanwhile, the 2015 rule is not in force anywhere in the United States, as the 6th Circuit stay remains in place. Thus, currently, the definition of WOTUS is governed by the pre-2015 rule that got us the complex decision in the Rapanos case. Unfortunately, until a new rule is promulgated, landowners are left with trying to interpret the Rapanos decision in order to know whether federal permits are required on their land.Hopefully, the revised rule will offer more clarity and certainty for both the government and landowners alike.
FDA Clarifies Sanitary Transportation Rule Waiver for Retail Food Establishments
The Coastal Bend Chronicle | Posted on August 17, 2017The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued guidance to clarify that a waiver to the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food final rule (Sanitary Transportation rule) covers retail food establishments that sell food for humans, including those that sell both human and animal food, but does not apply to establishments that only sell food for animals. The Sanitary Transportation rule established a process by which FDA may waive any of the rule’s requirements for certain classes of persons, vehicles, or types of food if doing so will not result in the transportation of food under conditions that would be unsafe for human or animal health, or contrary to the public interest.
FDA eases restrictions on ultra-filtered milk for cheese-making
Wisconsin State Farmer | Posted on August 17, 2017The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says ultra-filtered cow’s milk can now be used to make all types of natural cheeses, a move that Wisconsin cheese-makers have sought for nearly 20 years. Ultra-filtered milk is fresh farm milk run through a filter to reduce the amount of water and lactose and concentrate the natural proteins.“FDA’s announcement is an important win for Wisconsin and other great cheese-making states,” John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association said in a statement.Umhoefer said the FDA’s decision will allow cheese-makers to use the concentrated form of milk with flexible labeling restrictions.“There’s been an oversupply of milk in the U.S. for over a year, causing real financial stress for dairy farm families. This decision can lead to more production of … ultra-filtered milk and find new markets for our abundant milk supplies,” Umhoefer said.For years, the dairy industry has worked with the FDA to allow the use of ultra-filtered milk in cheeses with a federal standard of identity — such as cheddar, mozzarella, Colby and brick.The agency has allowed the use of the concentrated milk in standardized cheeses if the filtration took place at the factory where natural cheese was made.