Report says agribusiness a ‘roadblock’ to clean water
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — A new report calls agribusinesses a roadblock to clean water. The report released Thursday by Environment America says 10 large agriculture interests gave $35 million to congressional candidates over the past decade, led by the American Farm Bureau, which gave $16 million.
And, it blames them for derailing a Chesapeake Bay restoration bill last year in Congress.

The report comes amid growing discord among farm and environmental groups. In January, American Farm Bureau delegates urged Congress to closely watch the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which it says is impeding economic growth. The group has also sued over the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay restoration strategy.

Buggy flips in Kentucky creek, killing four Amish children
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — The flash flood warning went out via electronic channels the Amish typically eschew: TVs, radios and computers. About an hour after the National Weather Service alert, four children were swept away as their family tried to ford a rain-swollen creek in a horse-drawn buggy.

Whether the family was aware of the warning for their Kentucky county, they knew it was raining hard Thursday night. And when they reached the normally tiny creek, it was more like a fast-moving river. Within moments, the covered buggy tipped, tossing the four children into the torrent.

Amid the darkness, searchers were summoned. By early Friday, rescuers had recovered the bodies of three of the children. They later found the fourth.
“We’re trying to give the family some time by themselves right now to grieve,” Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said. “There’s no doubt that this was just a terrible accident.”

The night had begun when Emanuel Wagler had packed his wife and children into the buggy for the short trip to his brother’s house.

CSX opens National Gateway terminal in NW Ohio
NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio — CSX Corp. recently launched operations at its new Northwest Ohio Terminal, which serves as the cornerstone of the National Gateway, a double-stack intermodal corridor designed to connect East Coast ports and Midwest markets.

During the next several months, CSX will gradually transition shipments through the new terminal located near North Baltimore. After all the transitions are complete, the facility is expected to handle about two million containers annually, according to a prepared statement.

The $842 million National Gateway calls for establishing a double-stack corridor by upgrading three rail corridors running through six states and the District of Columbia, and building and expanding intermodal terminals. The public-private partnership initiative is designed to shorten transit times and expand shippers’ access to rail services, as well as reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel usage.

Appeals court overturns sugar beet injunction
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental groups failed to show that seed plants for sugar beets genetically modified to withstand the popular weed killer Roundup would cause irreparable harm, a federal appeals court said Friday in overturning an injunction that called for the destruction of the plants.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco disagreed with a federal district court decision last fall granting the injunction against the planting of the seed plants, also called stecklings. The decision was the latest in the ongoing dispute over the genetically altered sugar beets, which were developed by Monsanto.

The federal appeals court stayed the injunction pending appeal until Feb. 28. Earlier last month, the USDA partially deregulated the genetically modified sugar beets. It continues to work on completing an environmental impact statement called for in last summer’s decision.

DTN outlook index down slightly from November

OMAHA, Neb. — As the 2011 farm season kicks off, outlook among American agribusinesses has dipped slightly since farmers and ranchers were last surveyed in November 2010, according to the latest DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agribusiness Confidence Index.

The agribusiness index now stands at 113.2, down from the last survey in November, which came in at 120. Both scores, however, are a significant increase from the initial survey in August 2010, which was set at 100 to serve as the baseline for future reference.

The Present Situation Index, which reflects current sentiment regarding sales to farmers and ranchers and current profitability, is 109.6, or 9.6 points above that August baseline. The Expectations Index, which measures sentiment on business activity 12 months from now, is 116.

The beginning of the year DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agribusiness Confidence Index is still positive, at 113. Rising corn and soybean prices and weather that favored a quick harvest meant farmers had the cash to spend and the opportunity to complete fall fieldwork, such as anhydrous applications, unlike a year ago when there were delays in many parts of the country.