Posts Tagged ‘Agriculture’
CSA farms get creative to stand out from the crowd
The local food scene has exploded in recent years, which means there’s a lot more local produce on dinner tables. It also means that during the spring season as small farms start ramping back up, they have to work a bit harder to attract new customers.
Read MoreA new plan for climate change, from the USDA
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a new plan that offers incentives to farmers who volunteer to take steps that would help cut agriculture’s contribution to climate change. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking to an audience at Michigan State University, said the proposal will give farmers, ranchers, and foresters the technical support and financial incentive to implement more conservation measures on their land and in their operations.
Read MoreHow redefining ‘farmers’ could change a farm-subsidy loophole
Big farms are collecting taxpayer dollars that they haven’t necessarily earned by taking advantage of a loophole in government subsidy rules, according to regulators, members of Congress and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking aim at what is known as the “actively engaged” loophole, which has been gaping for nearly three decades, by changing the qualifications for some subsidy payments. But many watchdog groups say a proposed fix fails to address the problem.
Read MoreWhat Dropping The Cuban Trade Embargo Could Mean For U.S. Farmers
When President Obama announced in late 2014 that he would work toward ending the embargo on trade with Cuba, it wasn’t just tourists perking up their ears. Midwest farmers and ranchers see communist Cuba as an untapped market for goods from the American Heartland.
Read More5 things you should know about the WHO, Roundup and Cancer
As you’ve probably heard, a well-respected group of World Health Organization scientists said glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s wildly popular Roundup herbicide and its generic cousins, is probably capable of causing cancer in humans. Here are five things you should know: 1. What the report said: Roundup could cause cancer in humans. The International Agency…
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