This is the final installment in a series about the recent dismantling and complete replacement underway of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) governing board. As the debate about South Florida’s water woes continues to grow almost as fast as the Florida population, farmers and ranchers around the state are starting to wonder what these abrupt changes at SFWMD …
South Florida Environmentalist Shares Concerns Amidst Growing Water-Quality Debate
A native of the Pacific Northwest and now a resident of St. Lucie County, Nyla Pipes began working in 2013 with those concerned about growing water-quality and related environmental issues in Florida. She’s been a driving force and is now executive director of the non-profit One Florida Foundation. Pipes gave an exclusive interview following the February meeting of the South …
NPPC Approves Resolutions On Important Issues
At the annual business meeting of the National Pork Producers Council – the National Pork Industry Forum held March 7-8 in Orlando, Fla. – NPPC delegates adopted several important resolutions, including those that call on NPPC to: Strengthen pork industry efforts to prevent foreign animal diseases (FADs) from entering the United States. Separate resolutions were adopted, directing NPPC to: work …
USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program Applications Being Accepted
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) is accepting grant applications for projects that enhance the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops in foreign and domestic markets. The application deadline for these specialty crop block grants through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is April 18, 2019, 5 p.m. CST. Specialty crops are defined by USDA as fruits and …
Annual Survey Finds 80% of Producers Believe Beef Checkoff Drives Beef Demand
Eighty percent of beef producers nationwide say the Beef Checkoff Program helps drive demand for beef. That is one major finding from a recent Producer Attitude Survey commissioned by the Checkoff – and conducted and reviewed by a third-party, independent research firm – to gauge beef producers’ awareness, overall sentiment and concerns about the program. Completed in January, the survey …
USDA and FDA Announce a Formal Agreement to Regulate Cell-Cultured Food Products from Cell Lines of Livestock and Poultry
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a formal agreement to jointly oversee the production of human food products derived from the cells of livestock and poultry. FSIS and FDA released a formal agreement to address the regulatory oversight …
Year-round E15 Rulemaking Moves Forward
The Environmental Protection Agency this week sent a draft rule to allow for year-round sales of E15 to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. This is the next step in the regulatory process and meeting expectations that the rulemaking can be completed when the summer driving season begins June first. In a statement, National Corn Growers …
Study Reveals Pigs Can Transmit FMD Prior to Signs of Sickness
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus spreads much more aggressively in pigs than previous research suggests, according to a new study by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. The study, recently published in Scientific Reports, shows that pigs infected with the FMD virus were highly contagious to other pigs just 24 hours after infection—long before showing any clinical signs of infection such as …
National Nutrition Month Advice: Eat More Fresh, Fewer Processed Foods
Nutrients from fresh foods give you “more bang for your nutritional buck,” says a registered dietitian with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “For every calorie, there’s also going to be a lot of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in that food that contribute to our health,” said Laura Acosta, also a lecturer in the UF/IFAS …
Young Farmers Conference Features Farm Tours
Overcast skies couldn’t keep the smiles off nearly 400 faces as they crisscrossed central and east Alabama during the 2019 Young Farmers Conference in Montgomery. The Alabama Farmers Federation’s annual conference was March 1-3. Farm tours, back by popular demand for the third consecutive year, showcased some of the state’s most impressive operations, lending invaluable insight to agriculture’s up-and-coming generation. …