The Florida legislative session is in its final week, and the Senate president and House speaker stepped in Sunday afternoon to take over budget negotiations as lawmakers have been working to meet a Tuesday deadline to finish work on a nearly $83 billion spending plan. According to a story from the News Service of Florida, while agreements on spending levels …
Time to Celebrate a Year-Round, Healthy Snack – the Strawberry
by Brad Buck, University of Florida/IFAS May is National Strawberry Month, a time to reflect on the history of this sweet, nutrition-packed fruit that grows well in Florida – and to extol its health benefits. Strawberries originally grew in Europe. In France, people regarded them as the highest-quality aphrodisiac. People believed Alpine strawberries provided various medicinal benefits. While some used the leaves, …
If Weeds Could Talk, What Would They Tell Us?
If the weeds in our garden could talk and why we shouldn’t ignore them. Cathy Isom fills us in on what different weeds may be saying coming up on “This Land of Ours.” In our lawns and gardens, weeds come and go, grow, get pulled or cut down and then pop up and grow again. But if we paid …
Tight Fuel Ethanol Supplies in Brazil Boost U.S. Exports
U.S. Fuel Ethanol exports are up sharply in the current marketing year, thanks in part to tighter fuel supplies in Brazil, which are resulting in higher U.S. imports. The change can be traced to an increase in the price of sugar in Brazil, which comes from stronger export demand for Brazilian sugar products. As a result of that higher demand, …
Florida Teacher Calls Ag Students “Murderers”
A Florida teacher is on the verge of losing his job after bullying and harassing FFA students that were raising livestock to be sold for slaughter. An Associated Press article says Thomas Allison, Jr., who teaches middle school at the Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks, has been placed on unpaid leave. A Marion County School District letter documenting the case …
Perdue Convinces Trump Not to Terminate NAFTA
The new secretary of agriculture played a big part in convincing President Trump to not pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He had a little help from the secretary of commerce in doing so. Daily Caller Dot Com reports that just days after taking office, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue persuaded the president to change his mind after …
Farmer Opinions on Trump’s First 100-Days
A new Farm Journal poll offers farmer perspective on Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. In fact, Farm Journal has tracked farmer opinions on Trump since 2015. Several polls conducted in 2015 and 2016 showed Trump was the clear favorite candidate within the ag sector. The most recent Farm Journal poll wanted to know if farmers were still happy …
Trump Threatens to Terminate ‘KORUS’
In a recent interview, President Donald Trump threatened to terminate a trade agreement with South Korea, which he referred to as a “horrible deal that’s left America destroyed.” A Washington Post article says Trump sharply criticized the U.S. free trade agreement with South Korea, known as “KORUS,” which was most recently ratified in 2011. “It’s a Hillary Clinton disaster, a …
Most Wisconsin Dairy Farmers Find Milk Buyers
It appears most Wisconsin dairy farmers caught up in the trade dispute with Canada have found new buyers for their milk. This good news allows them to stay in business and literally comes days before they may have had to shut their doors for good. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says 58 farms had been in danger of closing. The farm sizes …
Agri View: Importing Lemons
Everett Griner talks about the actual cost of importing lemons from Argentina in today’s Agri View. Alright, the next time you buy lemons, check to see who grew them. We are now importing lemons from Argentina. One question: Why? The only reason I can think of is they are cheaper. But saving you a few cents on a …