As farmland values soar, so do fears of a price bubble
Flush with cash, farmers and investors have driven up farmland values this year at breathtaking rates — a 12 percent gain nationwide and more than 20 percent in three Farm Belt states. “Given recent experiences with fluctuations in the broader economy and prior farmland price dynamics, many market participants express concern that the rapid increase in farmland prices is a signal of a speculative bubble,” said three economists.
In Newsom’s long-term water strategy, ag makes a fleeting appearance
Faced with the worst drought in 1,200 years and a dwindling water supply, Gov. Gavin Newsom outlined a new, long-term water strategy for California at a press conference on Thursday. His plan, he said, would prepare the state for a hotter, drier future.
Massachusetts delays hog welfare law for second time
Massachusetts officials will wait for a Supreme Court ruling on California’s Proposition 12 animal welfare rules before enforcing similar regulations that would ban the sale of pork from out-of-state farms that do not give hogs enough room to lie down, stand up, fully extend their legs, or turn around freely.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Few treatments for dicamba: Irrigation is the best remedy for soybean fields that have been damaged by the herbicide dicamba, but it is not likely to deliver full recovery of yields, researchers say. (Successful Farming)
Bird flu in California: Highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed in a backyard flock of birds in Sacramento County, making California the 39th state where the viral disease has been discovered since early February. (USDA)
‘Rewilding’ the U.S. West: Portions of federal land in 11 western states could become habitat for beavers and gray wolves, two keystone species, as part of an ecological restoration of the region, say biologists. (BioScience)
Canning comeback?: Only a handful of municipal canneries remain in operation today — there were 3,800 in 1945 — but groups such as the nonprofit Virginia Foodworks are trying to revive community canning by splitting time at the facilities between commercial production and canning for home use. (Daily Yonder)
