A roundup of news, reports, and research on agribusiness and related issues.
- USDA gives final approval for faster hog processing line speeds| NewFoodEconomy.com
The new rule allows slaughterhouses to opt in to the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (inexplicably, NSIS), a “modernized” system that eliminates maximum line speeds and shifts some of the responsibility for removing sick animals from the processing line from USDA inspectors to plant employees.
The chemical was introduced to commercial agriculture in 1974. But the Roundup revolution took off in 1996, when Monsanto started selling genetically modified seeds that produced crops resistant to the herbicide’s attack on weeds.
- Fainting and freezing in the fields: Alleged labor trafficking victim tells of mistreatment in Wisconsin and Georgia | WisconsinWatch.org
As they headed to Wisconsin, the men were given fake names and IDs. There, they lived two men to a bed in a motel, and were not allowed to leave without an escort or speak to outsiders, according to court documents.
- Farmers and ranchers sign on to support the green new deal| CivilEats.com
“Today, tens of thousands of young people with the Sunrise Movement are linking arms with the tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers in this historic coalition to demand a Green New Deal that reinvests in our family farms and empowers them to be the heroes we need them to be to stop the climate crisis.”
- Down on the smart farm| Thefern.org
Because farmers equipped with precision ag know exactly where problems exist, they can also use less water and limit their application of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers to the plants that need them most, subsequently reducing their reliance on these chemicals. And it translates to less time and mileage crisscrossing fields in a diesel-fueled tractor that’s spewing carbon emissions from its tailpipe.
