Supplying food for the National School Lunch Program is about to see tighter safety regulations. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in an attempt to tie tighter regulations and higher standards around meat products being consumed by children in school lunch programs. At issue is the frequency with which meat products are tested before they are included in cafeteria lunches. Read More…
Who owns the water in Montana?
December 28th, 2009
It all comes down to water.
In Montana, water, or at least access to it, is the center of a debate between ranch owners and residential real estate developers. Six ranch owners are seeking the help of the Department of Natural Resources in limiting the water use rights they feel are being doled out carelessly, thanks to a loophole in the law, to supply new subdivisions with water that is sorely needed for agribusiness use.
Are you late to the crop dance?
December 9th, 2009
It’s unusual to say the least. Corn harvest figures for the week of December 9, 2009 showed that there was still much work to be done. Ninety-one percent of the Indiana’s corn harvest had been completed at that point, making it one of the longest periods between planting and harvest since 1972. In Wisconsin, 23 percent of the state’s corn-for-grain crop remained in the fields, the delay blamed on a wet year, late crops, and now snow. In Nebraska, that figure stands at 12 percent. In North Dakota, half the state’s corn crops sit in the field – that’s 785,000 acres of untouched corn. Nationwide, 12 percent of all corn crops are yet to be harvested. Some farmers are expecting to lose part of the remaining crops.
Agribusiness and Health Care-Sharing Ministries
December 1st, 2009
The influence of the Bible Belt on the farming community has been significant, but now farmers can turn to their churches for health care. For agribusiness owners, health care costs have been a large detriment to the bottom line. But by teaming with other worshippers in their ministries, farmers are able to establish more affordable health care options.
Health care-sharing ministries, as they’re known, are religious-based health care options that work in a unique way. Instead of premium payments going toward a policy, members send premiums directly to other members who need the money to pay medical expenses. Current estimates show that around 100,000 people are currently enrolled in this type of plan. The members send more than $60,000,000 annually to each other for health care expenses. Those who belong to such faith-based health care groups say it’s working.
Bringing Rural Broadband to the Farm
November 18th, 2009
What does having broadband coverage in the nation’s farm belt mean? Plenty according to both the US Department of Agriculture and those residents who have applied for broadband coverage. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service and the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration are positioned to dole out a cool $7.2 billion to support projects to expand broadband, with $4.7 billion of it aimed at projects located in the nation’s heartland.
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