Federal task force struggling to fund antibiotics farm study
A joint task force of three federal health agencies are finalizing plans to launch one of the most extensive on-farm site studies ever to investigate the use of antimicrobial drugs in food animals.
Illinois SWCD backers fear cuts will invite EPA scrutiny
Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) are in danger of closing if a state budget is not passed, warns SWCD managers, including Laura DeOrnellas, in charge of the Macon County conservation program.
USDA releases $8.8 million for disadvantaged farmers, ranchers
The USDA has announced it will be provide $8.8 million to assist the next generation of farmers and ranchers through a series of grants to universities and organizations.
Syrian civil war resulting in first request for Norway bank seeds
An organization working to save seeds threatened by Syria’s ongoing civil war has asked the world’s largest seed vault in Norway for access to some of the genetic materials it has stored there.
Tractor Supply selling ‘paper clovers’ to raise funding for 4-H
Customers of Tractor Supply Co. stores nationwide again have an opportunity to donate to 4-H programs, after a record was set for the campaign with nearly $1 million raised in the spring.
The wet spring that farmers endured didn’t just hamper corn and soybeans. Nestlé, which cans pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling under the Libby’s Pumpkin label, says its contract growers have had a difficult year.
In the food desert of Indianapolis, an urban agricultural program called Growing Places Indy has vowed to serve the parched community by planting food in the sand.
Committing to committees a fool’s errand, achieving little
I’ve never joined a fraternal club like Rotary or The Elks because I was afraid I’d leave the room for a bio-break and in my absence I’d be put on a committee.
