The Oregon Water Resources Department is facing two new lawsuits related to water rights, one from Klamath-area irrigators and the other from environmental groups opposed to a new dairy in the eastern part of the state. [node:read-more:link]
Cybersecurity in the United States is in a severe state of disrepair, leaving the country vulnerable to attack from hacking groups backed by its opponents, two witnesses testified in a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday. The witnesses told the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy that they believe a massive cyberattack is imminent unless the U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Opponents of a 30,000-cow dairy farm in Morrow County are pressuring state regulators to change their minds on a recently approved water pollution permit for the facility, or risk taking the matter to court. A coalition of groups has filed what’s known as a petition for reconsideration, asking the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Quality to take a closer look at Lost Valley Farm and either tighten protections or reject the dairy outright. Lost Valley Farm received its confined animal feeding operation permit on March 31. [node:read-more:link]
Rabobank analysts say when California dairy producers see clearly on their milk check that the majority of them are losing money in the state’s quota program, the tide will turn on support. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. exports of beef and pork moderated in April from March but were still significantly higher year over year, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. At 99,786 metric tons, valued at $550.4 million, beef exports were down 5.2 percent in volume and 6.4 percent in value from March. But they were up 13 percent in volume and 14 percent in value from April 2016.Pork exports, at 203,864 metric tons, were valued at $517.5 million and were down 10.9 percent in volume and 11.8 percent in value from record-breaking levels in March. [node:read-more:link]
California is an example of a state where climate change action has helped fuel the state’s recovery from the Great Recession. In 2006, California passed the country’s most comprehensive climate change law, adopting ambitious greenhouse gas reduction measures. But instead of lagging behind, California surged ahead thanks in large part to our action on climate change mitigation. Since those laws went into affect, the state’s GDP growth has significantly outpaced the national average, and California now leads the country in job growth. [node:read-more:link]
Last week, the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) released a new report indicating that changes to the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) made in the 2014 Farm Bill have been well-received by farmers and have led to a doubling of NAP applications – from 66,000 in 2014 to 138,000 in 2015. [node:read-more:link]
Just two years ago, U.S. farmers couldn’t keep up with consumer demand for organic milk. Now, production has outpaced the need. An organic milk surplus of 50 million gallons is anticipated for 2017, according to the most recent USDA Organic Dairy Market News report. This means some organic milk will be sold on the conventional market at conventional prices.The demand for organic dairy is still there. [node:read-more:link]
Called Undeniably Dairy, the website and campaign combine facts and features about all things dairy.Up to this point, the industry’s efforts to set the record straight have met with varying degrees of success.A new effort aims at improving that record.It’s called Undeniably Dairy and combines some new features and others that have been around for awhile that are upbeat and non-defensive. Some are informative, and others are just for fun. [node:read-more:link]
An Ohio Department of Agriculture spokesman has disputed an activist group’s claim that the state agency has for 15 years lacked legal authority to issue or enforce permits for more than 200 livestock facilities large enough to be classified as concentrated animal feeding operations. “ODA’s priority has and will continue to be to operate a thorough and reasonable permitting program that protects Ohio’s natural resources while allowing agriculture to remain productive,” spokesman Brett B. [node:read-more:link]
