34K Chickens Die in Farm Fires in North Carolina, Virginia
Investigators think up to 34,000 chickens were killed during two separate poultry farm fires in North Carolina and Virginia within a day of each other.
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farming
Wisconsin Governor Calls Special Session for Farm Aid Package
Wisconsin’s Democratic governor introduced a package of bills Thursday aimed at giving a hand to hurting farmers in America’s Dairyland, including measures to boost exports, create grant programs and provide enhanced mental illness resources for farmers burdened by bad times.
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French Oyster Farmers Fume as Norovirus Shuts Down Sales
Several oyster farmers along France’s Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts have been forced to halt sales since December after their sites were contaminated by the highly contagious norovirus, which they blame on overflowing sewage treatment plants.
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Rain Brings Joy to Suffering Australia
Drought-breaking storms dumped desperately needed rain on some bushfire-ravaged parts of eastern Australia on Friday, giving joy to many farmers who faced losing precious livestock and crops.
Read moreStruck by Lightning
An onion picker seeks punitive damages from Gillis Farms, of New Mexico, claiming it refused to let her leave the field during a thunderstorm and she was struck by lightning, then hospitalized for two weeks, in Doña Ana County Court.
Read moreItaly Arrests Dozens in Mafia Scam
Italian police said on Wednesday they had dismantled a massive Mafia operation in Sicily that had been defrauding the European Union of millions of euros in funds destined to farmers.
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Bird Flu Kills 25,000 Turkeys in Eastern Poland, Sparks Cull
Authorities in eastern Poland say bird flu is responsible for the deaths of at least 25,000 turkeys in poultry farms near the country’s borders with Ukraine and Belarus.
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Grown From Necessity: Vertical Farming Takes Off in Aging Japan
The nondescript building on an industrial site near Kyoto gives little hint to the productivity inside: 30,000 heads of lettuce grow here daily, under artificial light and with barely any human intervention.
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As NY Farmworkers Near Labor Rights, Agro Industry Cries Foul
Two Northeast farming groups brought a federal complaint Monday over a new law in New York, set to take effect Wednesday, that allows workers to unionize and earn overtime pay.
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Skepticism Reigns About China’s Supposed US Farm Purchases
From Beijing to America’s farm belt, skeptics are questioning just how much U.S. farm goods China has actually committed to buy — and whether U.S. farmers will be able anytime soon to export goods there in the outsize quantities about which President Trump has boasted.
Read morePig Slaughter
Farm Sanctuary et al. sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture in federal court, claiming a final regulation, the Slaughter Rule, will allow nearly all of the pigs slaughtered nationwide to be slaughtered quickly, with little federal oversight, posing risk to animal welfare, and consumer health and safety.
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Dutch Court Blocks Supermarket Protest Planned by Farmers
Dutch farmers can protest emissions cuts but they cannot block the country’s food supply ahead of Christmas, a court in the Netherlands ruled Tuesday.
Read moreCalifornia Water
A California almond grower claims the Solano Irrigation District’s mismanagement of an irrigation killed 24,000 to 35,000 almond trees by flooding, in Solano County Court.
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Flooded Farmers Face Distress in a Warming World
Frogs, carp and bugs thrived all summer in murky floodwaters where Gene Walter should have planted corn and soybeans. Last year’s ruined crop spilled from metal storage bins that burst nine months ago when the Missouri River surged through two levees near his southwest Iowa farm.
Read moreChicken Prices
Investors’ securities fraud complaint against Sanderson Farms was properly dismissed, the Second Circuit ruled. The investors claimed that an underlying antitrust conspiracy to manipulate chicken prices resulted in false and misleading filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission but they did not provide sufficient details about the underlying acts or misstatements.
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‘Lab in Field’ Study Reveals One Upside of Climate Change: Better Crop Yield
Increased temperatures in colder months as a result of climate change have one surprising upside – increased rapeseed crop yield, according to a study published Thursday.
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Little Prairies Could Save Bees From Late-Season Famine on Farms
Honeybees, indispensable powerhouses of American agriculture, often suffer high casualties in cold winters – a harsh fate that could be mitigated, according to research released Monday.
Read moreHelicopters
A federal judge has dismissed opposing motions for summary judgment in a lawsuit against Napa County by vineyard owners who say the county’s law prohibiting helicopter takeoffs and landings on their property hurts their ability to spray their crops. The lawsuit will move to trial.
Read moreCalifornia Water
A pistachio farm and a ranch sued a Southern California water district, a mining company and a dairy in Kern County Court, in a fight over the area’s depleted groundwater.
Read moreUS v. California Farms
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia sued California-based blueberry companies, Munger Bros. LLC, Crowne Cold Storage LLC, et al. in federal court, claiming they hired H-2A visa workers instead of U.S. citizens.
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