Wind farm dedicated in northern Indiana
BROOKSTON, Ind. (AP) — A wind farm capable of generating enough power to light 60,000 average homes was dedicated last week in northwestern Indiana.

State and local officials took part Thursday in Horizon Wind Energy’s ribbon-cutting to commemorate Meadow Lake Wind Farm’s start of operations near the town of Brookston. The wind farm, about 15 miles north of Lafayette, is owned and operated by Horizon. Its 121 wind turbines give it a capacity to generate 200 megawatts of power.

The wind farm is the first of a three-phase project planned by Horizon. Phase two is under construction and has a proposed capacity of 99 megawatts. Horizon Wind Energy has more than 20 wind farms across the nation.

Evacuation of 6 homes over after chemical leak in Iowa
GREENE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an evacuation in the northern Iowa town of Greene is over after an anhydrous ammonia leak.
Six homes were evacuated Nov. 17 because of the chemical leak at a farmer co-op just north of the Floyd/Butler counties line. The Butler County sheriff’s office reported the following day that the evacuation had ended. No injuries were reported.

The Waterloo Hazmat Team was called in as fire crews from Greene, Allison, and Marble Rock hauled in water by tanker truck. Floyd County Emergency Management Coordinator Bridgett Moe said with an anhydrous leak, emergency workers have to dump water on the chemicals and contain it where it flows to prevent contamination.

Vandalism suspected in NW Iowa pig deaths

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities suspect vandals caused 3,800 pigs to suffocate in a building at a hog confinement operation near Hull in northwestern Iowa.

The Sioux County sheriff’s office said the owner of the operation called authorities Nov. 13 to report the incident. The sheriff’s office said Todd Hasche of rural Rock Rapids told authorities that sometime during the night the controls to the building’s airflow system had been tampered with, causing the pigs to suffocate.
The loss is expected to be more than $200,000. The sheriff’s office last week reported the case remains under investigation.

Kudzu-munching bug also threatens bean crops
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) — Researchers recently found an insect in northern Georgia that has never before been reported in the Western Hemisphere, and its arrival could be both a blessing and a curse.

The good news is the bug eats kudzu, the invasive vine that drapes much of the South. The bad news is it also eats soybeans and other legumes. As of Nov. 12, the insect had been reported in nine northern Georgia counties. Experts aren’t sure how fast or wide it could spread or how much crop damage it might cause.

With cooler temperatures killing many of the plants it eats, the insects have been seeking shelter for the winter, holing up in attics or cracks in wood siding. But researchers are preparing to keep tabs on them when they reappear in the spring.

Job prospects drawing students to ag schools
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Enrollment at the nation’s largest agriculture schools is increasing, but most of the graduates seem focused more on science and environmental issues than harvesting crops.

A survey by the USDA shows enrollment in bachelor’s degree programs in agriculture grew by nearly 22 percent from 2005-08. Last year, more than 70,000 students nationwide were enrolled in such programs.

Educators say many students choose agriculture majors because of an interest in science and strong job prospects at companies producing seeds and chemicals for farmers. Companies such as agribusiness giant Monsanto say they can’t hire enough. Monsanto spokesman Darren Wallis said the company has openings for 100 researchers at its St. Louis headquarters.

Disaster declaration for farm losses in 5 states
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Federal agriculture authorities have declared disaster areas in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee because of crop losses, from a combination of severe spring and fall flooding and summer drought.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said the declaration will “provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses to a wide variety of crops.”

The declaration qualifies many farmers in the designated areas for low interest emergency loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The primary disaster areas are in 79 Mississippi counties and contiguous counties and parishes in the other states.

N.C. Congressman protests pork putdown by police
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina Congressman said police got their facts wrong when they denied a messy Capitol Hill protest against corporate hog farms out of concern about spreading swine flu.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Nov. 18 that U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge scolded the reasoning of U.S. Capitol Police after they blocked the protest by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA wanted to fill thousands of buckets with pig waste to give politicians a whiff of what it’s like near sprawling hog operations.

When police said the protest could spread swine flu, Etheridge squealed. The part-time Democrat farmer, from the nation’s number-two pork-producing state, said hog growers are hurting from the mistaken belief that pigs or their meat spread swine flu.