Voting, farm bills among 7 vetoed by N Carolina governor

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed seven bills just before a Monday night deadline, deciding to block Republican proposals to alter early in-person voting and restrict nuisance litigation that neighbors of big livestock operations could file in North Carolina. Faced with acting on nearly four dozen measures on his desk before a 10-day window in the constitution expired at midnight, Cooper signed 32 of the bills.

Kansas Farmer Outlines Costly Toll Of Overregulation At Congressional Hearing

KANSAS FARMER OUTLINES COSTLY TOLL OF OVERREGULATION AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING Jun. 25, 2018 Source: American Farm Bureau news release America's farmers and ranchers are facing an economic storm. With farm income levels that have been slashed by half since 2013, a continued slump in crop prices and export markets in serious peril, the hit farmers are taking from costly regulations only intensifies the storm, according to Kansas farmer Glenn Brunkow.

Agri Star Meat And Poultry LLC Recalls Beef Pastrami Products

Agri Star Meat and Poultry LLC, a Postville, Iowa establishment, is recalling approximately 3,592 pounds of ready-to-eat beef pastrami products due to processing deviations that may have led to underprocessing of products and resulted in inadequate curing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Thursday. The RTE beef pastrami items were produced on April 3 and April 4, 2018.

Threshold for harmful chemicals in drinking water lower than thought, study shows

A government study found that chemicals found in drinking water around the country could pose risks to human health at lower levels than the government currently recognizes, potentially opening the door for more states to begin cleaning up or regulating the chemical. The report released Wednesday by a branch of Health and Human Services examined a category of chemicals commonly called PFAS that have been used to make non-stick products, firefighting foam and water-repellant coatings.

Charter School Breaks Ground for Expansion

A year from now, The Academy of Moore County will have even more to celebrate than burgeoning enrollment and the 10-year anniversary of its campus on U.S. 15-501 south of Aberdeen. Teachers, parents, students and board members marked the start of construction on a new building, the first major expansion on the Academy's campus, on Wednesday.

Fourth-generation farmer named FSA administratorAlso, herea s what to…

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced the appointment of Richard Fordyce to serve as administrator of the USDA Farm Service Agency . In his role, Fordyce will provide leadership for FSA and its mission to support agricultural production across America through a network of over 2,100 county and 50 state offices.

Farm bill passes House with welfare-to-work reforms

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the 2018 farm bill Thursday, called for a second time after it failed in May. It sets in place more comprehensive work requirements for recipients of federal food assistance. Able-bodied recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that aren't pregnant or caring for children would need to either work at least 20 hours per week or spend that time in job training.

Meat 2.0? Clean meat? Spat shows the power of food wording

That question has yet to be decided by regulators, but for the moment it's pitting animal rights advocates and others against cattle ranchers in a war of words. Supporters of the science are embracing "clean meat" to describe meat grown by replicating animal cells.

House will vote on farm bill and immigration measures Thursday

The House of Representatives on Thursday will take up the 2018 farm bill, alongside immigration reform bills authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which would include a measure aimed at fixing the controversial family separation policy.

Slaughter farm hit with 2-week shutdown over abuse

After a Blood Farm employee was seen allegedly hitting a pig destined for slaughter in the head, a federal Food Service Inspection Service inspector warned him the abuse was unacceptable. The USDA, however, as well as the family that has run the business for generations, felt otherwise.

Scientists Report Significant Progress In Cleaning Chesapeake Bay

SCIENTISTS REPORT SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN CLEANING CHESAPEAKE BAY Jun. 18, 2018 Washington Post reports: For the first time in the 33 years that scientists have assessed the health of the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary showed improvement in every region, a likely sign that a massive federal cleanup plan is working. The bay's most important species - blue crabs and striped bass, which support commercial and recreational fisheries, and anchovies, the foundation of its food chain - earned top scores in a report card released Friday.

Ag Sec’y Perdue Says Trade Agreement With Mexico Sooner Than With Canada

AG SEC'Y PERDUE SAYS TRADE AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO SOONER THAN WITH CANADA Jun. 18, 2018 Agri-Pulse reports: From here on out you expect the U.S. to split its efforts on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement between talks with Mexico and separate talks with Canada. That's according to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, who on Friday said he expects the talks with Mexico to go much quicker and hopefully wrap up before Mexico's presidential election on July 1. "We feel more optimistic in a Mexican agreement sooner than Canada," Perdue explained during a trip to Canada where he spent the day with Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

China tariffs hit Trump heartland where it hurts – in American agriculture and energy

The world's largest commodities consumer said on Friday that it would levy a first round of tariffs on US$34 billion worth of US agriculture products, as well as cars, starting on July 6. Another US$16 billion in goods, including coal and oil, will be subject to tariffs later. The escalating dispute sent the prices of everything from soybeans to copper lower and hit the shares of US coal producers while boosting the prospects for alternative suppliers like Brazil.