Month: December 2020

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year    …we are taking a holiday, returning on Jan 4th… Continue reading

Coronavirus package allots $13 billion for crop and livestock producers Row crop farmers would see payments of $20 an acre and livestock producers would be compensated for animals culled during the pandemic under the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill that was unexpectedly challenged by President Trump on Tuesday, a day… Continue reading

Abid for the USDA, not FDA, to regulate GE animals for food In a move celebrated by the hog industry, the Trump administration proposed on Monday to put the USDA in charge of regulating genetically engineered livestock and poultry, a duty now performed by the FDA. The Biden administration would… Continue reading

Biden links climate change, jobs and environmental justice Introducing his climate team, President-elect Biden said his administration would respond to the existential threat of climate change “by building a modern, climate-resilient infrastructure and a clean energy future” that would put millions of Americans to work. “And we are committed to… Continue reading

Covid cases in meatpacking counties were 10 times those in other rural counties During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, rural meatpacking counties had infection rates 10 times higher than rates in other rural counties, said the USDA on Thursday. And despite improvements, the Covid-19 rate in the 49… Continue reading

Ag and ethanol groups ask Biden for help at home and overseas The ethanol industry, which says it has lost $3.8 billion in sales since March, is looking to the Biden administration for relief at the same time that farm groups want the new president to resolve the trade war… Continue reading

Monarch butterflies are in peril but won’t go on U.S. endangered list The orange-and-black monarch butterfly, known for its 3,000-mile migration across North America and its plunging population, meets the criteria for listing as a threatened or endangered species, said the Interior Department on Tuesday. But it will be listed… Continue reading

FDA approves genetically modified pig for food and medical use For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration approved for food and human therapeutics on Monday a genomic alteration in domestic pigs that prevents them from producing a sugar that can cause allergic reactions in some people.   Meyer… Continue reading

Biden vows to pay farmers to plant cover crops and put land in conservation The government will help farmers mitigate climate change by paying them to “put their land in conservation” and plant cover crops, said President-elect Biden, providing some details on his campaign call to offset greenhouse gas emissions… Continue reading