Wisconsin, New York officials step into milk trade dispute MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin and New York state officials have asked the USDA to take action to help dairy farmers in their states who’ve been hurt by Canada’s decision to impose duties on imports of a product called ultra-filtered milk. Shipments of ultra-filtered milk, which is used in cheese-making, had been duty-free until recently, after Canadian milk producers objected. Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Ben Brancel and New York Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball wrote to USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael Young on Friday. They’re asking the USDA to create a market by buying surplus cheese and butter, and distributing them through the school lunch and other food aid programs. Canada’s decision leaves about 75 Wisconsin dairy farmers with no market. The letter didn’t say how many New York producers are affected. North Carolina lawmakers seek to stifle hog lawsuits RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers are taking steps to protect the world’s largest pork producer from lawsuits accusing its subsidiaries of creating unbearable animal waste odor. The 2014 lawsuits by about 500 rural neighbors of massive hog farms allege that clouds of flies and intense smells remain a problem nearly a quarter-century since industrial-scale hog farming took off. Legislation would protect hog farms or other ag operations accused of creating a nuisance for neighbors by limiting the liability of an operation to the lost property value plaintiffs can prove was the result of the nuisance. The state House on Thursday gave its preliminary approval to the legislation. The federal lawsuits primarily target Murphy-Brown LLC, the North Carolina-based hog production division of Virginia’s Smithfield Foods. Smithfield was bought in 2013 by a division of China-based WH Group, the world’s largest pork producer. The Chinese company’s subsidiaries need protection from the ongoing lawsuits, or others that might follow, because the companies that own the animals are inextricably linked to their network of contract farmers who raise them, said Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Republican and former hog and turkey grower who represents the heart of the state’s swine country. Malodorous swine smells are rare, said Dixon. He blamed the latest legal attack against the industry’s disposal methods on money-grubbing lawyers looking for a big payday, academics, urbanites and animal-rights activists who “hear these squeaking wheels that want to put us out of business.” Hogs were a $21 billion industry nationwide in 2015, with North Carolina operations racking up $2.3 billion of that, according to the USDA. Don Webb of Stantonsburg, a former hog farmer, opposes limiting the liability of the hog farms because that would shut out people who can’t afford lawyers to advocate for them. “I’m a human being and I’m an American. And Americans should not have to smell someone else’s feces and urine. And that’s what they want to force me (to do) with this bill,” said Webb, who is among the plaintiffs. State Senate passes less speedy rural broadband bill NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state Senate last week passed a bill that could make it easier for rural areas in Tennessee to get access to high-speed internet; however, a last-minute amendment tacked on to the bill would not require the internet to be so speedy. The bill, named the Broadband Accessibility Act of 2017, was pushed by Gov. Bill Haslam as a way to help the economic woes of people living in the country. Under current law, nonprofit electric coops are banned from providing internet to customers. The bill clears the way for them to sell internet and video service in rural areas and it would give them financial incentives to do it. The measure would give $30 million in grants and an additional $15 million in tax credits to private service providers to upgrade their equipment to give rural folks speedier internet. A last-minute amendment tacked on to the bill by Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) dropped the internet speed requirements for grant eligibility from download speeds from 25 megabits per second to 10; the Federal Communications Commission defines broadband as 25. Boxwood blight declared a nuisance in Illinois SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — After a public hearing at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Director Raymond Poe signed a declaration to affirm boxwood blight a nuisance in Illinois. Boxwood blight (calonectria pseudonaviculata) is a fungus affecting boxwood plants, which are commonly used in landscape designs throughout the state. Defoliation, stem cankers and leaf spots, which occur as light or dark brown circular lesions surrounded by a yellow ring, are the main symptoms. Defoliation is usually the final symptom. To prevent further spread of this fungal disease, interstate transport of known affected or suspect plants or material is discouraged, along with increased attention to sanitation of equipment and tools. Thus far, boxwood blight has been detected in three Illinois counties (Cook, Lake, and Clinton). More information regarding boxwood blight is available online through www.agr.state.il.us/boxwoodblight and www.illinoisgreen.net Second solar farm being built near Peru in northern Indiana PERU, Ind. (AP) — A second solar farm is being built near the northern Indiana city of Peru. The Wabash Valley Power cooperative expects the farm’s 2,000 panels will begin producing electricity this fall when work is completed near the intersection of U.S. highways 31 and 24. Wabash Valley spokeswoman Lisa Richardson told The Kokomo Tribune the Peru project is the first since its board decided last year to spend $6 million on solar energy production. The Indianapolis-based nonprofit services 23 electric co-ops in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, including the Miami-Cass REMC in the Peru area. The Indiana Municipal Power Agency finished a nearly 12,000 solar-panel farm in Peru in 2015. |
