A recent letter describing the detrimental effects of animal agriculture on the environment contains, as usual, incorrect statistics and facts. The writer states that animal agriculture can be blamed for 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The global figure is 10 percent, with most leading scientists and the Environmental Protection Agency putting U.S. animal agriculture emissions at about 3 percent to 4 percent.This is in comparison to GHG emissions of electricity, transportation and industry at 33.28 percent and 20 percent respectively. [node:read-more:link]

Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett announced that USDA has formalized an innovative agreement in which a nonprofit organization will purchase homes from the Department and convert them to transitional housing for people recovering from opioid misuse. “From quality of life to workforce and economic opportunity, the opioid crisis is impacting rural prosperity in communities across our country,” Hazlett said. [node:read-more:link]

Thousands of scrap rubber tires have been recycled and repurposed into material used in construction of a local road.  Nearly 14,000 recycled tires were used during construction on West W Avenue from the Schoolcraft village limits to Portage Road in early August, implementing rubber technology never used before in the United States. "Scrap tire innovation is nothing new to the state, however the type of recycled tire material used for this project has not been used here before," Managing Director Joanna Johnson said.   [node:read-more:link]

USDA forecast net farm income for this year at $65.7 billion, up from a February projection but down $9.8 billion, or 13 percent, from 2017, when the broad measure of farmland profits increased nearly 23 percent. The department’s Economic Research Service said that in inflation-adjusted 2018 dollars, net farm income is expected to drop $11.4 billion for the year, after increasing $13 billion (20.3 percent) in 2017. [node:read-more:link]

Milk prices for dairy farmers have hit rock bottom and stayed there too long. Cordes had to do something. "I just got my milk check for July's milk, and my base was $14 a hundredweight. And that is the same price I got 25 years ago, and our expenses have doubled and sometimes tripled," he said.While the math should make this an easy decision, it's not. After all, Cordes' ancestors from Germany arrived in this part of Otter Tail County before the 1900s. Since then, there has been a Cordes farming for 133 years. I am the last one, but that is a long run," he said.Cordes is not alone. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers rely on exports and overseas markets to stay in business, but the trade war makes it harder and harder for us to stay afloat. Tariffs are allowing foreign competitors to sell to our customers at a better price than we can offer. If the trade war doesn’t end soon, tariffs could cause permanent damage to rural communities in Indiana and across the country. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates the retaliatory tariffs in a burgeoning trade war could cost Indiana up to $1.1 billion, including in lost steel exports to Canada. [node:read-more:link]

The Korean peninsular and Southeast Asia may be next to report outbreaks of African swine fever after the rapid onset of the deadly pig disease in China, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.China announced its fourth case of the disease last week in the province of Zhejiang, four days after it was reported in neighboring Jiangsu, and some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from where an initial outbreak was discovered Aug. 3 in northeastern Liaoning province.
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 federal district court in northern California has ruled that a lawsuit challenging USDA’s withdrawal of organic animal welfare regulations can proceed. The Center for Food Safety is suing USDA after the agency withdrew the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule that would have increased federal regulation of animal housing, healthcare, transportation and slaughter practices for certified organic producers and handlers. [node:read-more:link]