Agribusiness
Scaling Up: Raising hogs has gotten less expensive, especially for big farms
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Technological innovation, specialization, increased farm size and policy decisions have driven down the cost of production.
Agribusiness
Scaling Up: Use of production contracts has become the norm
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Production contracts lock farmers into guaranteed prices and lower financial risk, but put meat companies in control of some aspects of the operation.
Graphic of the Week
Scaling Up: Pork producers are becoming more specialized
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So-called farrow-to-finish operations have become a smaller and smaller share of the hog industry as more specialized operations have taken over, according to a recent study published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
CAFO
Scaling Up: The weighty impact of hog farming’s evolution?
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Since the 1990s, hog farms have gotten bigger, more specialized and more productive, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Research Service.
AFBF
In Washington, agricultural policymakers circulate among Farm Bureau, USDA and industry
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Dozens of USDA leaders had Farm Bureau connections before joining the agency.
graphic of the week
GRAPHIC: As enrolled acres decline, CRP payment rates have increased
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Through the Conservation Reserve Program, the USDA pays farmers not to plant crops on land.
abortion
Big Ag companies largely silent in wake of Roe v. Wade reversal
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Over the past month, Investigate Midwest contacted 11 leading Big Ag companies about their health care policies regarding abortion. Only one answered our questions.
Graphic of the Week
GRAPHIC: Most American corn isn’t destined for the dinner table
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The majority of corn produced in the U.S. is used in animal feed and biofuel.
Labor
Her foot was crushed on the job. When she asked to be compensated for lost wages, ‘they said no.’
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In Michigan, workers who are undocumented and get injured on the job are being denied wage-loss benefits based “solely” on their immigration status, according to a lawsuit.
meatpacking
OSHA cites Seaboard Foods pork plant for failing to document worker injuries and illnesses
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In May, the agency forced Seaboard Foods to make changes to its Guymon, Oklahoma, facility to better protect workers.