Gov. Cuomo is offering New Yorkers a less costly way to spend Black Friday than shopping — visiting a state park. Cuomo announced Friday that state parks will have free admission on the day after Thanksgiving and will host various family friendly events and programs throughout the holiday weekend. [node:read-more:link]
The state of Florida may have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in treatment costs to as many as 20,000 sick inmates after a federal judge ruled that prison officials had failed to properly care for felons infected with the hepatitis C virus. The ruling, by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker, requires the Florida Department of Corrections to immediately treat a significant portion of the state’s 98,000 inmates who test positive for the viral infection with direct acting antiviral drugs, a 12-week treatment that now costs about $37,000 per patient. [node:read-more:link]
When Californians voted to legalize marijuana last year, they also voted to let people petition courts to reduce or hide convictions for past marijuana crimes. State residents can now petition courts to change some felonies to misdemeanors, change some misdemeanors to infractions, and wipe away convictions for possessing or growing small amounts of the drug. [node:read-more:link]
Case Farms has acknowledged that some of the bird handling standards at its Morganton, N.C., plant were not met, but the company is insisting that it has “a committed responsibility to ensure the well-being and humane handling of all animals in our care.” [node:read-more:link]
CS Beef Packers will use a $1.1 million state grant announced Friday to hire and train 701 new workers for full-time positions at the company’s new beef plant in Kuna, Idaho. CS Beef Packers, a joint venture between Texas-based Caviness Beef Packers and Idaho-based agribusiness J.R. Simplot Co., began operations at the 400,000-square-foot facility on May 30. [node:read-more:link]
After months of controversy that ultimately resulted in Tyson Foods Inc. abandoning plans to build a chicken complex in Kansas, the protein giant instead will construct the plant in Humboldt, Tenn. [node:read-more:link]
California released long-awaited rules that will govern the state's emerging legal marijuana industry, while potentially opening the way for larger-scale cultivation that some fear could strangle small-farm growers. The thicket of emergency regulations will allow the state to begin issuing temporary licenses for growers, distributors and sellers on Jan. [node:read-more:link]
Residents with verifiable medical conditions are being asked to submit their applications for the 2018 annual Pesticide Notification Registry. The registry enables individuals with verifiable medical conditions to be notified prior to a turf or ornamental application of pesticides on property that is adjacent to their primary residence. [node:read-more:link]
There are been a number of articles in the news recently discussing insurance and dicamba drift. Of course, drift damage is not covered by the damaged farmer’s crop insurance policy. Generally, injured producers look to the applicator’s liability insurance policy for compensation. Stories have reported that these claims have been denied for several reasons. First, claims may be denied if the insurance company determines that their applicator did nothing wrong. For example, if an applicator somehow violated the label by spraying with wind speeds that were too high or too low or using th [node:read-more:link]
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) has announced a new program aimed at increasing acres of cover crops in the state. Iowa farmers who plant cover crops this fall may be eligible for a five dollar per acre premium reduction on their crop insurance in 2018. [node:read-more:link]
