A U.S. Copyright Office report says it no longer wants to review exemptions to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act every three years. Industry-by-industry reviews have led to a patchwork of exemptions where “some technology repairs and modifications are allowed and some aren’t.” The office wants Congress to pass laws that give consumers a permanent “right-to-repair.” The issue …
Specialty Crop Farmers Weigh in on NAFTA
The House Ag Committee held a 2018 Farm Bill hearing last weekend in Florida. Farm groups and producers attended the session hoping to influence legislators as they put the new bill together. A Pork Network Dot Com article says the top of mind concerns included the farm safety net, agricultural research, and marketing. The upcoming renegotiation of the North American …
Farmland Market Trend Hard to Define
The Farmers National Company recently released a semi-annual market update on farmland prices and it’s hard to nail down just what the trend is. A Pro Farmer report says the best description may be “steady, with exceptions.” The report says the reason trends are hard to figure out is some farmland sells at better prices than expected while other farmland …
Farm Bill Number Crunching
It looks like lawmakers will have $130 billion less to write the upcoming farm bill than they did for the past one. The Congressional Budget Office made that announcement when it published its 10-year baseline projections. The C.B.O. predicts that both farm and nutrition programs would cost roughly $822 billion over the next ten years. That breaks down to $679 …
UF/IFAS Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center Wins Prestigious Prudential Award
by James Beverly, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences When the staff at the University of Florida IFAS Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center decided to transform the facility’s farm, their only thought was helping local growers to succeed. Little did they know that their efforts would exceed all of their expectations. The UF/IFAS Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center, …
New UF Center Updating Research on Southeastern Agricultural Health and Safety
by Ricky Telg, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Data about the safety and health of agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers in Florida is severely outdated, according to the director of a newly formed agricultural health and safety center, and is a major reason the new Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (SCCAHS) was established. SCCAHS …
Rural Broadband Improvements will be Costly
The president promised to improve broadband service to rural areas as part of his nationwide infrastructure plan. Bloomberg says it would take roughly $80 billion to expand broadband to all rural areas in America that need it. However, Trump’s most recent spending proposals only set aside $25 million over the next ten years on rural infrastructure needs. Only 55 percent …
41 PEDV Sites Confirmed in Manitoba
The Manitoba Pork Council confirms 41 sites in the province have tested positive in a Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus outbreak. The southeast part of the province is where the outbreak is centered. A National Hog Farmer Dot Com article says officials have confirmed PEDV on 18 operations representing over 54,000 sows. It’s also been confirmed on seven nurseries representing over …
Sugar Deal Sparks Twitter Debate
One of the less incendiary tweets sent out last week by President Trump had to do with the American sugar industry, making corn and sugar lobbyists happy. Trump tweeted, “New sugar deal negotiated with Mexico is a good one for both Mexico and the U.S. Had no deal for many years, which hurt U.S. badly.” The deal announced last month …
Trump Talks Trade with South Korea
President Donald Trump met with the new President of South Korea on Friday and opened up the session with tough trade talk. An L.A. Times article says Trump announced he will be renegotiating a trade agreement with South Korea that’s already been in place for five years. The agreement is a co-legacy for both Presidents Bush and Obama and it …