"Landscape Shifts Are Impacting Pheasant Hunting"
"SENECA, S.D. — Birds boiled out of the slough 30 yards ahead, brown streaks against a bright blue sky."
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/26/2013
Agriculture
"Big Food Companies Want To Call GMO Foods 'Natural'"
"Is genetically engineered food natural? The Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group representing some of the world’s biggest food and food-related companies, including ConAgra Foods, Bayer CropScience, and the Coca-Cola Company, thinks so. And it’s pressing the Food and Drug Administration to see things its way."
Source: Grist, 12/23/2013
"Grasslands Get Squeezed As Another 1.6 Million Acres Go Into Crops"
"Today's number: 1.6 million. That's 1.6 million acres — about the area of the state of Delaware. That's how much land was removed this year from the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, which pays farmers to keep land covered with native grasses or sometimes trees. Most of that land now will produce crops like corn or wheat.
Source: NPR, 12/23/2013
Reports Hit USDA for 'Serious Weaknesses' in Food Inspection Measures
"Recent salmonella outbreaks that sickened at least 523 people and sent dozens to the hospital underscore 'serious weaknesses' in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s oversight of poultry plants, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which also criticized the government’s failure to push more aggressively for recalls of contaminated meat."
Source: Wash Post, 12/19/2013
J-Groups Challenge Utah Ag-Gag Law on First Amendment Grounds
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 16 other journalism organizations, including the publishers of two major Utah newspapers, filed a friend-of-the-court brief December 10, 2013, arguing that Utah's ag-gag law infringes on constitutionally protected newsgathering rights.
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"In the Belly of the Beast"
"A small band of animal rights activists have been infiltrating the factory farms where animals are turned into meat under the most horrific circumstances. Now the agribusiness giants are trying to crush them."
Source: Rolling Stone, 12/13/2013
"Feds Join Battle on Citrus Disease"
"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The federal government is getting involved in the fight against citrus greening disease, in hopes of saving Florida's — and possibly the entire nation's — citrus crop."
Source: Miami Herald, 12/12/2013
Drug Companies Accept FDA Plan To Phase Out Some Animal Antibiotic Uses
"If drug companies follow guidance issued Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration, within three years it will be illegal to use medically important antibiotics to make farm animals grow faster or use feed more efficiently."
Source: NPR, 12/12/2013
Ugandan Farmers Face Climate Adaptation Challenges
Special Report: Part Five
By LISA MEERTS-BRANDSMA
Uganda’s fertile soils and mild climate not only support a rich diversity of flora and fauna, but also allow 80 percent of the country’s land to be under cultivation, and more than 80 percent of its citizens to live as farmers.
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"Renewable Debate Has EPA Over a Barrel"
"ARLINGTON, VA. — Scores of farmers, politicians, engineers and refiners on Thursday blasted the Obama administration's latest plan for renewable fuels, with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad accusing the White House of caving to Big Oil and turning its back on rural America."
Source: Hearst, 12/06/2013
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