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| News from Around the Farm World - April 1, 2009 |
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Body discovered in Kentucky
that of missing woman
VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say remains found in central Kentucky belong to a woman reported missing last fall.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the last contact anyone had with 65-year-old Patricia Last, who ran a horse farm in Woodford County, was in October. The remains were found March 26 wrapped in a tarp in a rural area of Woodford County, about six miles south of Versailles.
The newspaper reports that a former employee at the horse farm, 42-year-old Richard Kincaid of Salvisa, was indicted in February on charges of possessing stolen property that belonged to Last. The newspaper says police have questioned Kincaid about Last’s disappearance.
Illinois hog cooperative
files for bankruptcy
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois hog-farming cooperative that opened with hopes that it could transform an industry has filed for bankruptcy; Meadowbrook Farms filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy March 20 in East St. Louis.
The Belleville-based cooperative last year stopped paying the farmers who raise hogs for its plant in the east-central Illinois community of Rantoul. The now-closed plant, which had about 600 workers, was one of the town’s largest employers.
Court documents filed in the bankruptcy case list $28.4 million worth of assets and $44 million in debts. Meadowbrook claims in the bankruptcy filing that it is owed $2.4 million by 14 of its members for failure to deliver hogs to the plant.
Officials from the cooperative blame much of their trouble on a Chicago-based company they say backed out of a contract to buy antibiotic-free pork. Meadowbrook has sued the company, Triad Foods, which denies the accusation.
Meadowbrook farmers have long complained they were being paid below-market prices for their hogs.
Illinois governor says
he’ll reopen historic sites
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn says shuttered historic sites could reopen by summer.
The Chicago Democrat says he is committed to opening them by June 30, though his proposed budget calls for leaving them closed. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich closed a dozen historic sites and state parks last year to help fill a budget deficit.
After Quinn became governor, he reopened the parks and said he would do the same for the historic sites, including the farm owned by Abraham Lincoln’s family. Quinn now says money for reopening them will come from merging the agencies that oversee natural resources and historic sites.
Montana man to head
conservation agency
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — A veteran agriculture official who led Montana’s conservation service for six years has been named chief of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Dave White, 56, was Montana state conservationist from 2002-08. He has been acting head of the national agency since January.
“Dave’s expertise and advice will be particularly valuable as we implement the 2008 farm bill and work to achieve President Obama’s goal for renewing America and combating global change,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
Tom France, regional director in Missoula for the National Wildlife Federation, also praised White’s appointment. “While he was in Montana he built programs that were good for farmers and ranchers and good for fish and wildlife, too,” France said. “I think he’ll bring the same qualities as head of the national NRCS.”
NRCS, an arm of the USDA, is the nation’s leading agency in conserving natural resources on private lands. White, a Missouri native and University of Missouri graduate, has worked for NRCS for 30 years, serving in Missouri, South Carolina and at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., before taking the Montana job in 2002.
W. Nebraska native Berge
named to USDA post
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The former state campaign director for President Obama has been named White House Liaison to the USDA. John Berge’s appointment was announced March 24 by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Berge is a Gering native who also has worked as executive director of the Western Nebraska Community College Foundation in Scottsbluff. He previously worked on the staffs of U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and former Nebraska U.S. senators James Exon and Bob Kerrey. |
| 4/2/2009 |
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