A study released Wednesday by the U.S. Dairy Export Council projects new trade agreements between Japan and other countries will put U.S. dairy exports at a competitive disadvantage, resulting in lost sales of $5.4 billion over 21 years. The Japanese dairy market, the fourth-largest export destination for U.S. dairy exports, is expected to continue to grow in years to come, but new trade agreements between Japan and Australia, New Zealand and the European Union will give the advantage to competitors, according to the study conducted by Tokyo-based Meros Consulting. [node:read-more:link]

Lunar New Year is supposed to be the busiest time of the year for Tom Adams, whose company, Maine Coast, used to sell millions of pounds of lobster to China. But the U.S.-China trade war has shut Maine Coast out of that market.His former customers in China now buy their lobster from Canada, where dealers can sell a hard-shell version without the 25 percent import tariff. [node:read-more:link]

A record number of women now lead state agriculture departments across the country, a leadership wave that reflects the industry's growing gender diversity. A total of 13 women have either been elected or appointed to head state agriculture departments, surpassing the prior record of ten women holding top ag offices, according to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. [node:read-more:link]

A legal challenge to the use of millions of dollars paid by Smithfield Foods Inc. to North Carolina is heading for the state Supreme Court. The seven-member panel agreed to hear appeals in a lawsuit questioning whether money the processor paid annually under a 2000 agreement with the state should have been applied to state education initiatives.The conservative public policy organization Civitas Institute won a challenge to the use of the funds in a state appellate court in September 2018. [node:read-more:link]

Frisco, Texas-based Nurture Ranch has launched “Nurture Ranch 1 Steer Ground Beef,” a grass-fed ground beef product made from the meat from just one steer per pack and a code tracing the product history from birth to harvest. Typically, grinding applicable cuts of beef from multiple steers creates ground beef products. Nurture Ranch is marketing its product in grocery stores across the Southeast as “Product of the USA” and as a “cleaner” ground beef product. It is priced at $9 a pound.   [node:read-more:link]

 Since the end of the Great Recession in 2010, both Arkansas’ and the national economy have grown; however, the state’s rural areas have “grown only slightly since 2010 and have not even come back to pre-recession levels,” according to Wayne Miller, an author of the “2019 Rural Profile of Arkansas.” [node:read-more:link]

A ‘speed gene’ can be used to identify whether racehorses are better suited to short, middle or long distance races.The effects of the gene were tested by matching it to the race records of more than 1,700 thoroughbred horses in Britain and Ireland.Lead author of the study Professor Emmeline Hill, associate professor of Equine Science at UCD, said the research established a clear relationship between the speed gene and a horse’s career earnings by distance. [node:read-more:link]

 Canadians are invited to celebrate the food they love in celebration of the annual Canada’s Agricultural Day.This year, Feb. 12 marks the third annual celebration of the agriculture industry and all other industries that play a role in bringing food to tables across the country.It's the industry's biggest celebration of the year, said Debbie Bailey, manager of Agriculture More Than Ever, one of the driving forces behind Canada’s Agriculture Day.“Canada’s Agriculture Day showcases all the amazing things happening in agriculture and the entire food industry. [node:read-more:link]

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a reorganization of state government she said is largely aimed at ensuring safe drinking water for Michigan residents and fighting climate change. Whitmer announced the restructuring of the Department of Environmental Quality as the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. [node:read-more:link]

With the number of devastating fires expected to increase as the climate grows warmer and drier, experts and states want to see more federal investment in projects that could avert massive blazes. Most forestry experts, including many environmentalists, say protecting communities from fire requires land managers to cut down problem trees, brush and saplings, and set prescribed burns that restore fire’s natural role in forest ecology.Due to the rising costs of fighting fires, however, the U.S. [node:read-more:link]