SMS database shows top 10% of the farms have a favorable trend line for death loss while the database as a whole has an unfavorable trend line. Overall death loss was actually lowered each year from 2006 to 2010 before it was steady until 2014 and then jumping up in 2015 to 8.6% and finishing 2016 at 10.2%. [node:read-more:link]
For three years, Leon and Donita Brush struggled to help their son Brian beat his opioid addiction. What began with a pill quickly spiraled out of control. A 20-year-old college student, Brian was reeling from a breakup when someone offered him Percocet to ease the emotional pain, his father said.“He just said, ‘Dad, there was no turning back. Once I started down that path, I wanted more,’” Mr. Brush said.The owner of a carpet and flooring store in this small city in southern West Virginia — in the heart of the opioid epidemic that kills hundreds annually in the state — Mr. [node:read-more:link]
The government of Japan has announced that rising imports of frozen beef in the first quarter of the Japanese fiscal year (April-June) have triggered a safeguard, resulting in an automatic increase to Japan's tariff rate under the WTO on imports of frozen beef from the United States. The increase, from 38.5 percent to 50 percent, will begin August 1, 2017 and last through March 31, 2018. The tariff would affect only exporters from countries, including the United States, which do not have free trade agreements with Japan currently in force. [node:read-more:link]
California’s almond boom has hit 1 million acres, covering a total area bigger than the state of Rhode Island. The Almond Board of California reported the state’s almond harvest is expected to hit a record 2.2 billion pounds this year.Surging demand for almond snacks in Asia has helped make almonds California’s richest agricultural export, passing wine grapes and other crops.The doubling of the state’s almond acreage since 2000 is controversial because the state has frequent droughts, and nut trees can’t be fallowed in a dry year.
Members of the Georgia House Rural Development Council said they were overwhelmed during a meeting at Bainbridge State College where they heard from rural health care leaders. Jimmy Lewis wanted a group of rural Georgia lawmakers to feel for themselves how he said rural hospital CEOs feel every day. [node:read-more:link]
Poultry farms in India are dosing their chickens with antibiotics at such high rates that 94 percent of meat chickens and 60 percent of laying hens tested in a new study harbored multi-drug-resistant bacteria that can cause grave human infections. In the study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers from Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Minnesota and several institutions in India interviewed farmers and collected samples on 18 farms in northern India. [node:read-more:link]
Wednesday, September 6th at Noon EDT. This webinar summarizes recent legislative developments and case law from around the country that impact agriculture and agribusiness. The status of the Waters of the United States Rule will be analyzed. Recent case law on exempt wells, water rights and regulatory takings, and other important topics will be discussed. The webinar will include an analysis of the possible impacts of Des Moines Water Works decision. Practical impacts for the producer and agricultural law will be emphasized throughout the webinar. [node:read-more:link]
On August 5, 2017, Secretary Perdue plans to announce an initiative that will increase access to business mentorships by farmers, ranchers and small business entrepreneurs. Please join us for this announcement and a panel discussion on supporting the next generation of farmers and ranchers! [node:read-more:link]
Today American Farmland Trust and Growing Food Connections announced the publication of GROWING LOCAL: A Community Guide to Planning for Agriculture and Food Systems. The national guide showcases ways communities can strengthen their food systems through planning, policy and public investment. It includes the most comprehensive collection of local policies ever assembled to support local farms and ranches, improve access to healthy food, and develop needed distribution and infrastructure. [node:read-more:link]
A bipartisan group of 37 senators, led by Sens. Thad Cochran (R., Miss.) and Mark Warner (D., Va.), wrote to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue calling for the swift reopening of the Chinese market after U.S. exports of chicken and turkey were banned in 2015. China instituted the ban in 2015 after the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a wild duck, and the ban continues to be enforced today, in contradiction to World Organization for Animal Health standards. ANd yet, China can ship poultry to U.S.? [node:read-more:link]
