Agriculture

A new study shows that agriculture plays a big role in the success of the overall U.S. economy. More than one-fourth of the nation’s job total and more than one-fifth of the nation’s economy are tied, either directly or indirectly, to the food and agriculture sectors. A coalition of 23 agriculture groups commissioned the economic impact study that came out last week. It’s the foundation of a new website called Feeding the Economy. [node:read-more:link]

Faced with reservoirs less than half full along the Colorado River, federal authorities and negotiators for Colorado and six other Western states finalized a landmark plan to share the burden of voluntarily using less water as growing cities and warming temperatures deplete the supply for 40 million people. This “drought contingency” plan completed by the seven Western states to meet an extended federal deadline is “meant to avoid a crisis on the river,” said U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Always be prepared. The FDA has the authority to come in unannounced, as long as the facility is open for business. Be thoroughly familiar with the regulations, what you are required to do and what FDA can do.Decide who is the designated employee(s) to accompany the inspector.Be familiar with your company policies regarding what documents can be signed, what can be shown to an inspector, photography and document copying. [node:read-more:link]

Median farm income in 2018 was $26,055, down 8 percent from 2017, capping off a half-decade run of poor years for farming after the boom of the early 2010s, according to a new report from the University of Minnesota Extension. [node:read-more:link]

Emergency Loan Program: These loans help producers who suffer qualifying farm related losses directly caused by the disaster in a county declared or designated as a primary disaster or quarantine area. For production losses, a 30-percent reduction in a primary crop in a designated or contiguous county is required. Losses to quality, such as receiving a reduced price for flood damaged crops, may be eligible for assistance, too. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers who lost grain in their bins during historic floods won't see any kind of indemnity unless Congress includes it in a disaster package. Recovery efforts could be hindered, though, because of expected rainfall, according to DTN Senior Ag Meteorologist Bryce Anderson. "The weather pattern is looking pretty wet for the Midwest from Interstate 80 south over the next week. Rainfall from Thursday through Saturday will total over one inch, and locally heavier. "This kind of rain will keep soils wet and could lead to renewed flooding. [node:read-more:link]

In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted 622 current good manufacturing practice inspections related to the Food Safety Modernization Act. Those inspections were conducted in 47 states, Puerto Rico and four foreign countries – Canada, India, Indonesia and Mexico – that do business in the U.S. and therefore must be in compliance with FSMA. [node:read-more:link]

Nearly two-thirds of the Lower 48 states face an elevated risk for flooding through May, with the potential for major or moderate flooding in 25 states, according to NOAA’s U.S. Spring Outlook issued today. The majority of the country is favored to experience above-average precipitation this spring, increasing the flood risk. Portions of the United States – especially in the upper Mississippi and Missouri River basins including Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa – have already experienced record flooding this year. [node:read-more:link]

State environmental regulators announced Friday that all sludge will have to be tested for the presence of an industrial chemical before being used as fertilizer or applied to land. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection announced the new testing requirement in response to growing concerns about contamination from PFAS, a group of chemicals widely used to create non-stick coatings on cookware, food packaging and fabrics, as well as in firefighting foam. [node:read-more:link]

In mid-2018, Walmart, the Arkansas retailing giant, began bottling milk in a newly-built facility near Fort Wayne, Indiana, for its 500 stores in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. In doing so, this newcomer shoved an industry veteran, Dean Foods, its former bottler, out the door and with Dean went 100 or so dairy farmers in surrounding states who sold milk to it. [node:read-more:link]