In its first 2019 projections for U.S. livestock and poultry products, USDA today forecast beef production above 2018 on higher slaughter and heavier carcass weights and pork production to increase as growth in farrowings and pigs per litter supports larger pig crops. Hog weights are also forecast higher in 2019, USDA said in the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. [node:read-more:link]
In its first assessment of world supply-and-demand prospects for 2018-19 crops and U.S. grain prices, USDA said today its U.S. feed-grain outlook is for lower production, domestic use, exports and ending stocks. With beginning stocks down from a year ago, total corn supplies at 16.3 billion bushels, if realized, would be down 675 million from the prior year, USDA said in the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.With total U.S. corn supply falling faster than use, 2018-19 U.S. ending stocks are down 500 million bushels from last year to 1.7 billion. [node:read-more:link]
An Illinois woman has filed a lawsuit against Tyson Foods over an “all-natural” claim on one of the company’s products, according to a local media report. Caitlyn Barnes’ complaint contends that the 100% All Natural Batter Dipped Chicken Tenders she bought for $4.97 at a Wal-Mart in O’Fallon, Ill., are not all natural as advertised because they contain xantham gum, a synthetic substance.She is seeking an order certifying the case as a class action and an award for compensatory damages. [node:read-more:link]
Located in the sprawling farmland of southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley, five hours away from Denver, the closest major city, Alamosa can feel about as far removed from D.C. politics as you can get. But not when it comes to immigration enforcement: More than half of the town’s 15,000 people are Hispanic, many of them immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala who now find themselves in the crosshairs of the government’s immigration crackdown. It wasn’t just immigrants and their families who felt targeted. [node:read-more:link]
Mark Christensen, a county commissioner from northeast Wyoming, traveled to the nation’s capital last month to ask for more money from production of federal minerals in his county. Christensen testified in support of the proposed POWER Counties Act, which would amend the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act to funnel federal royalties on oil and gas extraction back to the counties in which they were produced. “Even though we have these great mineral resources, 88 percent of them are controlled by the federal government (in Campbell County),” he said. Discussion of the bill at a U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Doctors who are cutting back on prescribing opioids increasingly are opting for gabapentin, a safer, non-narcotic drug recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By doing so, they may be putting their opioid-using patients at even greater risk.Recently, gabapentin has started showing up in a substantial number of overdose deaths in hard-hit Appalachian states. [node:read-more:link]
More than 30,000 Medicaid recipients in Louisiana, many in nursing or group homes, could lose their benefits due to proposed state cuts -- a situation that could force thousands to move.Louisiana Department of Health Deputy Secretary Michelle Alletto said the agency will notify about 37,000 Medicaid recipients, whose eligibility to receive the benefit could end on July 1, they may have to move out of the nursing and group home facilities because of the lack of state funding.The letters, which will be mailed out Thursday, also will go to Medicaid patients with developmental disabilities and [node:read-more:link]
Republican Governor Phil Scott plans to study a bill passed by the Vermont Legislature that would set up a first-in-the-nation system to allow the state to import prescription drugs from Canada before deciding whether he will sign it. Scott spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley said Wednesday the governor supports the goal of making prescription drugs more affordable, but he has questions about the implementation of the bill.The National Academy for State Health Policy says Vermont is the first state in the nation to approve the importation of less costly prescription drugs from Canada. [node:read-more:link]
The 10 winning plaintiffs in a hog nuisance lawsuit won’t receive their $50 million in punitive damages — $5 million each — against Murphy-Brown, as awarded by a jury. Instead, the total amount has been reduced to $2.5 million, just $250,000 apiece, according to a ruling handed down today by US District Court Judge Earl Britt. Including compensatory damages for harm to their quality of life, the plaintiffs will each receive $325,000. [node:read-more:link]
Federal fishing managers are considering allowing commercial fishermen to take a species of endangered skate that is currently prohibited. Fishermen catch skates for use as food and bait on both coasts. They are currently prohibited from possessing barndoor skates, or bringing them to shore. Barndoor skates are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says proposed changes to the skate fishery include an allowance for limited possession of barndoor skates. [node:read-more:link]
