Thursday, February 09, 2012
A farmworker advocacy group wants to end the federal H-2A guestworker program for sheepherders, a move that threatens the U.S. sheep industry, a representative of the Western Range Association says. Washington, D.C.-based Farmworker Justice has targeted the sheep industry's H-2A exemption, which ...
Thursday, February 09, 2012 10:00 AM
A lack of funding has prevented the USDA from studying the full impact of colony collapse disorder on beehives throughout the country. Congress authorized the USDA to spend $2.75 million a year for such a survey of the syndrome, known as CCD, under the last farm bill. But that money wasn't approp ...
Thursday, February 09, 2012 9:00 AM
Ranchers risk losing their independence unless they keep pressing for stronger oversight of meat packers, according to a former USDA official who recently resigned after losing a battle over livestock industry reforms. Cattle producers are subject to the same forces as the packer-dominated hog an ...
Thursday, February 09, 2012 9:00 AM
MOXEE, Wash. -- Members of the Martinez family have raised sheep in Central Washington for about 75 years and sometimes wonder how long they will be able to continue. Like sheep ranchers across the West, they face many challenges. Declining grazing leases, hiring sheepherders through cumbersome H-2 ...
Thursday, February 09, 2012 10:00 AM
While federal regulations governing on-farm child labor have stirred a lot of emotion, it's unclear what the government is actually doing and why. The question pertains to the "parental exemption" from child labor restrictions. Under federal labor law, farmers can employ their underage children ...
Thursday, February 09, 2012 10:00 AM
A Washington congresswoman says it's too early to speculate whether she would be a possible contender for vice president. Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway named Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., as a possible contender for a spot on the ticket in an article in the Daily Caller, a news ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 4:13 PM
BOISE -- The House Agricultural Affairs Committee rejected a proposal to add a felony provision for animal cruelty to state law. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, said adding a felony provision for a third animal cruelty conviction would make it much less likely animal welfare grou ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 2:33 PM
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Rural Nevada homeowners with mortgages held by USDA Rural Development may be eligible to refinance their loans and save money. USDA Rural Development Director Sarah Adler says with interest rates at historically low levels, homeowners who are current on payments may be ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 11:32 AM
WALSH, Colo. (AP) -- About 30 homes in a small southeastern Colorado town remain evacuated because of an ammonia spill. A tank holding about 1,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia fell off a trailer as it was being hauled to a farm near Walsh on Wednesday. The fall ruptured the tank, releasing an u ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 10:53 AM
Representatives of the Pacific Northwest wheat industry aren't alarmed that Iraq excluded the U.S. in a recent wheat purchase, but they say the situation bears watching. Iraq's Ministry of Trade recently announced a tender offer to buy 50,000 tons of wheat from all origins excluding America and ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 9:43 AM
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A central Pennsylvania dairy connected with 43 illnesses in four states has resumed bottling raw milk after an 11-day shutdown. The Family Cow dairy in Chambersburg began bottling again Tuesday. The dairy had been shut down since illnesses were first reported late last ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 7:43 AM
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Gov. Jack Dalrymple has offered state assistance to try to ensure the future of a plant in northeastern North Dakota that currently produces ethanol. Archer Daniels Midland Co. is closing the Walhalla plant in April, ending 61 jobs. A spokesman for the agribusiness conglo ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 7:42 AM
NEWARK, Del. (AP) -- A new University of Delaware study says that the Environmental Protection Agency has overestimated the amount of chicken waste that's in the nutrient runoff that enters the Chesapeake Bay. WBOC-TV reports that the study is in agreement with Delmarva poultry farmers, who hav ...
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 7:32 AM
NAMPA, Idaho -- Concerned that pulse crops are being overlooked as a health-promoting food, the industry is seeking increased funding for health and nutrition research. The person leading that effort told Idaho dry bean growers recently that pulse crops -- dry beans, dry peas, lentils and ch ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:12 PM
COLUSA, Calif. - Vendors at the 47th annual Colusa Farm Show here said their sales have been good and getting better, buoyed by strength in prices for rice, nuts and other crops grown in the Central Valley. "It's been better this year," said Jose Sanchez, general manager of the Fowler, Calif.-b ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:02 PM
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas and its congressional delegation face "a continuous fight" to obtain federal funding for a new lab that would research plant and animal pathogens, Gov. Sam Brownback said. Brownback told two-dozen lawmakers during a Monday evening meeting at his official reside ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 12:01 PM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as salty junk food like potato chips. That surprising finding comes in a government report released Tuesday that includes a list of the top 10 sources of sodium ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 11:30 AM
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Paraguayan exporters say that production of soy is likely to fall 47 percent in the current harvest. The nation's chamber of cereal exporters says the 2011-2012 harvest is likely to be rough half of the 8.3 million tons produced in the previous season. Technical ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 11:30 AM
The National Agricultural Statistics Service is asking farmers about their cost of production. NASS representatives have begun contacting a representative sample of growers nationwide for its annual Agricultural Resource Management (ARMS) survey. Dave Knopf, director of NASS in Washington, s ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 9:20 AM
The USDA Farm Service Agency is offering help to beginning and minority farmers who want to buy farm land. The Land Contract Guarantee Program is designed to help them obtain land through a sales contract with the owner. Melissa Cummins, farm loan chief for the agency office in Spokane, said ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 9:00 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- You may like the food you buy, but is it "Great for You"? Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to help its customers figure that out by adding a new green icon that reads "Great for You" to packaging of some of its house-brand foods. The green and white sea ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:50 AM
WALHALLA, N.D. (AP) -- Archer Daniels Midland Co. is closing its ethanol plant in the northeastern North Dakota city of Walhalla in April, putting 61 people out of work. The Illinois-based agribusiness conglomerate said it will provide severance packages and give the workers opportunities to ap ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:49 AM
HONOLULU (AP) -- Walter Ritte and his sons will be building a statue at the state Capitol Tuesday to raise awareness about genetically modified food and seed trials. The statue will be part of the Stop GMO in Hawaii rally. The demonstration has been organized to urge lawmakers to support bills ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:49 AM
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Dairy farmers won't be required to warn consumers about the health risks of raw milk they sell at Portland's farmers markets. The city council Monday voted not to amend city ordinances governing the markets, essentially allowing the sale of unpasteurized milk without ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:39 AM
BEIJING (AP) -- In 1985, Xi Jinping led a delegation to Muscatine, Iowa, to study advanced hog-raising techniques. He returns next week, preparing to lead the world's most populous nation. China's vice president, who will take over the presidency from Hu Jintao next year, will be in the U ...
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:39 AM
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- State health officials say the number of people stricken with illness after consuming raw milk from a south-central Pennsylvania dairy has risen to 43 in four states. Officials say confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection include 36 people in Pennsylvania, four in Mary ...
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