October 8, 2017 | Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico’s farms. Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Ricardo Fernández of Puerto Rico Farm Credit about what happened and how farmers are recovering from the storm. Transcript: LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: Before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is on the cusp of an agricultural renaissance. Local…
by Deena Shanker | September 21, 2018 Animal welfare advocates call the practice of using gestation crates cruel and inhumane. Companies pledge to stop. Consumers are increasingly turning to organic, antibiotic-free and “natural” animal food products to opt out of a system they see as cruel or incompatible with their values. For busy adults trying…
by Andrew Wasley, Ben Stockton, Natalie Jones and Alexandra Heal | September 19, 2018 Tests at meat packing plants show no reduction in drugs, a year after new rules to clamp down on overuse Antibiotics crucial to human medicine are still being used in “unacceptable” quantities on US livestock farms, despite rules brought in last…
by H. Claire Brown | September 20th, 2018 It’s not easy to talk about, but it’s a very real part of the disaster recovery process. Now, federal agencies are encouraging farmers to compost their carcasses. By Thursday afternoon, state estimates for the total number of North Carolina farm animal lives lost during Hurricane Florence and…
by Staff Report | September 20, 2018 The Organization for Competitive Markets reports that the Eighth Circuit will hear the case regarding the USDA pulling the GIPSA updates, on September 26 at 9 a.m. in St. Louis, Mo. According to OCM, The Farmer Fair Practices Rule (GIPSA Rule) would have allowed farmers to hold agribusinesses…
by Ricardo Salvador, Director, Food & Environment Program | September 19, 2018 At the Union of Concerned Scientists, we have long advocated agricultural systems that are productive and better for the environment, the economy, farmers, farmworkers and eaters than the dominant industrial system. We refer to such a system as our Healthy Farm vision. Based…
by H. Claire Brown | September 18th, 2018 Aerial photos show livestock operations in various stages of inundation. Here’s what you need to know about this developing story. By Tuesday afternoon, the remains of Hurricane Florence had migrated up to New England, tapering off as the clouds prepared to drift from the East Coast into…
by John Murawski | September 18, 2018 The number of hogs and poultry killed in Hurricane Florence flooding is already double the casualties from Matthew in 2016, and the losses are expected to mount this week as new information comes in from farmers as they gain access to their properties. Meanwhile, the number of hog…
by MICHAEL BIESECKER | September 18, 2018 About 1.7 million chickens have been killed in flooding from Florence as rising North Carolina rivers swamped at least 60 farm buildings where the animals were being raised for market, according to a major poultry producer. Sanderson Farms said Tuesday the losses occurred at independent farms that supply…
by David Muraskin, Attorney, Public Justice | September 17, 2018 Editor’s note: The following commentary is in response to “HSUS, R-CALF, OCM: Guilt by Association?”, a commentary by Kate Miller, published by Drovers. The opinions in the commentary below are those of David Muraskin. The Drovers piece written by Kate Miller—that attacks me, my organization…