Free Republic

In the 18th century, Catherine the Great invited German farmers to come to Russia and cultivate the land. Over two centuries later, the country is recruiting Teutonic pioneers once again to put vast tracts of fallow land to use. The land holds great opportunities for agricultural entrepreneurs -- provided they have strong nerves. Stefan Dürr, 47, is now the owner of more than 170,000 hectares (about 420,000 acres) of prime Russian farmland. He is cultivating fields in the Kursk, Voronezh, Orenburg, Novosibirsk and Kaluga regions. Through his holding company, EkoSem-Agrar, he employs 2,800 people in farming, owns a herd of...

The giant Black Tiger shrimp that Ron Pockrus caught off the Texas coast might be the biggest threat to the $700 million Gulf shrimp industry to come along in years, marine biologists said. Pockrus, the owner of a 13-vessel shrimp fleet operating out of Brownsville, caught the 12-inch, 13-ounce specimen last week. Pockrus said he’s been aware of the species for about three years but hadn’t seen one. Now, he has turned in two to marine and wildlife officials this season. “I have another boat coming in with one on it now,” Pockrus said. “That makes the third one we’ve...

A court in the northern German town of Osnabrück has ruled that a farmer is allowed to feed his pigs vast quantities of raw onions, despite complaints from neighbors about their eye-watering gaseous emissions. The farmer has been feeding his 1,500 pigs several cubic meters of onions every week for the past 14 years, but city authorities ordered him to stop, and threatened to fine him €2,500 (US$3,267), after locals complained of the resulting pungent porcine farts. The council justified its decision on the grounds that planning permission for the pigsty forbade “strong-smelling foods, e.g. kitchen waste.” But the court...

"Can we successfully grow more plants per acre as a future strategy for increasing our crop yields and food production? Sixty thousand corn plants per acre -- twice Iowa's current average -- could be one route to higher productivity. The world will need twice as much food in 2050, and we'll need to triple the crop yields on the best land. Doubling would be a very good start."

Shelly Mayer says she would never do anything to put her three children in harm's way on their family dairy farm, but she worries that proposed regulations could put an end to many jobs for farm kids. As Americans, Mayer says, we are too protective of our children when it comes to physical labor. "We have raised a generation of 'bubble-wrap' babies," she says. "Parents dote so much on kids, they practically need an oxygen mask to go outside. And we wonder why they can't function in society." Mayer and her husband, Dwight, have children ages 15, 13 and 8...

NOTE The following text is a quote: http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/alleged-terrorist-indicted-in-new-york-for-the-murder-of-five-american-soldiers Alleged Terrorist Indicted in New York for the Murder of Five American Soldiers U.S. Attorney’s Office December 09, 2011 Eastern District of New York NEW YORK—Today, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., returned an indictment charging Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, 38, aka “Faruk Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa,” “Sayfildin Tahir Sharif” and “Tahir Sharif Sayfildin,” with aiding in the murder of five American soldiers in a suicide-bomb attack in Iraq in April 2009. Specifically, he is charged with the murders of Staff Sergeant Gary L. Woods, 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.; Sergeant First...

- The U.S. Department of Labor announced Tuesday that it reached an agreement with the grain company Haasbach resolving 25 citations issued by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The agreement follows the fatal accidents of ...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — From tending cattle to driving tractors or ATVs, 15-year-old Taylor Muller and her three younger brothers have always done what they could to help the family's farming business. "Most kids my age don't even have jobs," said Taylor, who assists her father at one southwest Oklahoma farm and her grandparents at another. "We already know what hard work is." Many other young kids won't be allowed to do those kinds of chores if the U.S. Labor Department approves new rules on children working in agriculture. While the Mullers would likely be exempt because it's a family...

MADISON — Enjoy that Thanksgiving feast, taxpayers. Chances are, you’re going to pay for part of it twice. Federal taxpayer subsidies underwrite the costs in the production of some of the key commodities found on the traditional Thanksgiving table. The side dishes on the menu — the rolls and stuffing, the scalloped or cream-style corn, and the long-grain rice — all come from the five crops that remain heavily subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. Commodity kings Wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and cotton make up more than 90 percent of agriculture subsidies to farmers or investors, many of whom are drawing big...

Other professional groups are pitching in to help Perry. The Texas Medical Association’s political action committee recently endorsed him for president, and its members are helping him raise money and make connections with medical groups in other states. Dr. John Gill, a Dallas orthopedic surgeon, said helping Perry tap into medical associations in a state like Florida could help him in the GOP primary. “The medical community is well aware of what’s happening in Texas with tort reform” that strictly limited medical malpractice judgments, Gill said. “Most Republicans don’t like lawsuits and excessive litigation. … We’re trying to help him...

MAGNOLIA, WI — John Adams can’t see the nearly 3,000 cows on the dairy farm two miles from his Wisconsin home, but when the wind blows he can smell them. The stench gives him and his wife headaches. They blame the big farm for contaminating their air and polluting the groundwater well they use for drinking, bathing and watering their garden. They no longer feel safe eating the vegetables they grow. Adams also blames the state, which requires local governments to grant permits to large farms that meet certain limited criteria, even if there are additional environmental concerns. The rural...

John Place wanted to get in to the commercial milk business when he opened his dairy farm in 2007 in Moore Township but found it wouldn’t be worth it. Small-time farmers got so little back on the sale of milk that he wouldn’t be able to make ends meet. Place and his wife, Amanda, instead have developed a business selling raw milk, cheese and grass-fed beef from the Route 248 farm called Keepsake Farm & Dairy. The couple's raised awareness today to make national agriculture policy more equitable to small farmers like them. Farmers and their advocates in Bethlehem, Harrisburg...

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- What is the proper gift for a Pope on the Day for the Protection of Creation? According to the Italian agricultural group Coldiretti, it's about a half million bees.Italy's largest farming association gave Benedict XVI eight beehives containing more than 500,000 bees last Sunday.The beehives will be kept at the pontifical farm of Castel Gandolfo, where they will be used in pollination and the production of honey (some 617 pounds a year).Coldiretti explained that bees "play a vital role in the planet's ecosystem and their disappearance would have disastrous consequences for health and the...

I love farmers. Someday, I'd like to be one. I appreciate what the American agricultural community does, feeding our country and the world. Because of American agriculture, we have access to wholesome, delicious, affordable and plentiful food. We have a more secure food supply than any people at any time in the history of humankind. And thanks for that goes to the American farmer. I love farmers. But I love my country more. And I love my country's laws. And I believe that obedience to law is the duty of all citizens, and no excuses for lawlessness can be tolerated....

South African farmer Piet Kemp inspecting baby corn in Sartichala, Georgia A South African court on September 12 convicted Julius Malema, president of the African National Congress Youth League, of hate speech for singing "shoot the Boer, kill the Boer" at a rally last year. But some Boers (white South African farmers) say they have had enough of violence and racial tension in South Africa and are planning to move out. VOA's James Brooke visited one Afrikaner who started farming this year in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Piet Kemp's family farmed in southern Africa for four centuries. But...

Coyotes lurking in the woods in Massachusetts have been known to attack dogs, chickens, cats, and even, in rare instances, people. But a buffalo ?... A pack of coyotes entered a pen where his 14 buffalos grazed. When they were done, one was missing...“All that was left was skin and bone,” said Kimball, who was keeping watch over the pen today as the herd huddled together and grazed on grass. ... After the coyote attack, he vowed to be vigilant in protecting the animals – armed, if necessary. “I’m going to come out here with my gun, and if I...

Those raw milk proponents advocating "teach, teach, teach" may want to enroll Wisconsin Judge Patrick J. Fiedler in their first class--in the kindergarten section. In response to a request from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, the judge issued a clarification of his decision last week regarding his assessment of the constitutionality of food rights. The judge expanded on his original statement that such constitutional issues are "wholly without merit." He explained that the FTCLDF arguments were "extremely underdeveloped." As an example, he said the plaintiffs' use of the Roe v Wade abortion rights case as a precedent does "not explain...

When the FDA answered FTCLDF (Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund) in the interstate shipment of raw milk suit, they stated four fully repugnant things. That you have no right to, nor does your child have a right to any particular food, you have no right to bodily or physical health, that you have no right to contract, and that they are “rationally” fulfilling their public health mission. It appears that they forgot to include that you have no right to privacy or free association along with no right of contract. With the recent actions against Rawesome, sting operations against...

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- South Africa's minister of land reform says black farmers have resold nearly 30 percent of the white farmland bought for them by the government - often back to the previous white owners. Minister Gugile Nkwinti announced the startling indicator of failure at Wednesday's launch of a long-delayed government policy paper to revitalize plans to more equitably distribute agricultural land, redressing historical wrongs.

Big government isn’t just bad because it is so costly. Big government is toxic because it becomes an over reaching nanny state that tries to protect us from ourselves. Eventually, government reaches its tentacles into our lives and curbs our freedom. I am going to see this movie, Farmageddon. I am always interested in the plight of the family farmer. One of the reasons I enjoy going to Europe is to eat their fabulous raw milk cheeses. If you haven’t had one you are missing something. America could have a new vibrant industry of raw milk cheese making if we...

WASHINGTON -- After much delay, the White House has finally released a proposed rule that would update child labor regulations in agricultural work. Put forth by the Department of Labor last fall, the rule had been stuck in red tape at the White House for nine months, angering workplace safety advocates who said the regulations need to be modernized. Although the rule still has not been made public, public health officials believe it will restrict minors from engaging in certain dangerous work activities on farms and perhaps grain facilities. As reported last week by HuffPost, safety advocates claimed that recent...

Each summer, animal activists travel across the country to meet and discuss the latest topics of the animal rights movement. This year, animal agriculture was once again the focus. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) hosted its annual Taking Action for Animals Conference in Washington, D.C. on July 15-18, and Farm Animal Rights Movement’s Animal Rights 2011 Conference (AR 2011) was held two weeks later on July 21-25 in Los Angeles. Both events claimed to have “record-breaking” attendance, attracting a combined total of more than 1,600 activists from around the world, ranging in age from 20-60 years old....

Politics August 17, 2011 Obama Dismisses Farmer's Concerns About Regulations: 'Don't Always Believe What You Hear' Fire it up 94 Share During a town hall meeting at Wyffels Hybrids in Atkinson, Illinois, a farmer expressed concern to President Obama about forthcoming regulations. The man stated that people would rather be farming than "filling out forms and permits to do what we like to do." President Obama told the farmer "don't always believe what you hear" and blamed Washington for ginning up speculation. Obama added that, "Nobody is more interested in seeing our agricultural sector successful than I am, partly because...

The Texas drought, lasting since fall 2010, has cost $5.2 billion to agriculture, a report said. This is now the most expensive year of drought, according to Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service economists. Most of the losses accounted for in the report are higher costs and lost grazing land for livestock. To remain comparable with past reports, this one does not take into account losses to fruit and vegetable producers, horticultural and nursery crops, or other grain and row crops, according to a news release, making this a conservative estimate. A similar report released in May put the costs just...

A new rule being proposed by the federal Department of Transportation would require farmers to get commercial drivers licenses. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is a part of DOT, wants to adopt standards that would reclassify all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Motor Vehicles, officials said. Likewise, the proposal, if adopted, would require all farmers and everyone on the farm who operates any of the equipment to obtain a CDL, they added. The proposed rule change would mean that anyone who drives a tractor or operates any piece of motorized farming equipment would be required to pass...

…."I was burned out," he said. "In 1977, I didn't know what I wanted to do. And actually, was a little lost - as a person, both in my temporal life and my spiritual life, a little lost." So three days before his 27th birthday, the man who had owned the skies and commanded a crew was finally heading home, where he would live with his parents, Ray and Amelia, and work on the family farm. …..They formed JR Perry Farms in early 1978. And then it stopped raining. The green stalks wilted, and the ground began to crack. The...

National Farmers Union (NFU) submitted comments to Thomas Yager of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) about a possible reinterpretation of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935, the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984, and the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. The FMCSA is exploring the possibility of categorizing "implements of husbandry and other farm equipment" as commercial motor vehicles, thus requiring a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate. "Most farmers have little, if any, control or knowledge of the final destination of the commodities they produce," said NFU President Roger Johnson. "As such, it is inappropriate...

American Crystal Sugar threatens a lockout, which would be the company's first work stoppage since 1981. When the first sugar beets ripen and the Red River ... A lockout would affect three Minnesota plants -- in Moorhead, East Grand Forks and Crookston -- and mills in Hillsboro and Drayton, N.D. The last time American Crystal Sugar had a work stoppage was in 1981, when the union struck for almost a month. Union representatives say American Crystal Sugar's contract proposal would dismantle seniority rights and allow the company to contract out union jobs to outside firms. There also is disagreement over...

Where, exactly, does the U.S. Constitution authorize the federal government to create "sustainable communities" in order to: "... expand access to the capital necessary for economic growth, promote innovation, improve access to health care and education, and expand outdoor recreational activities on public lands." Clearly, the Constitution provides no such authority, and the Tenth Amendment prohibits the federal government from engaging in activity not explicitly enumerated and authorized in the Constitution. This fact meant nothing to Bill Clinton, who created the President's Council on Sustainable Development by executive order. Nor does this fact have meaning to Barack Hussein Obama. On...

In the Russell Senate Office Building Caucus Room, Fred McClure was watching the crowd. It was March 1978, and the American Agriculture Movement — a pressure group for government support of farm prices — was meeting with Texan congressmen. A legislative aide to Sen. John Tower (R.), McClure was leaning on a door when a rancher from Paint Creek, Texas, named Rick Perry walked past. Newly retired from the Air Force, Perry held a degree in animal science from Texas A&M. His class ring gave him away. Spotting the ring, McClure, a fellow Texas A&M grad, introduced himself, and the...

Jul 20, 2011 — Will the Texas governor elbow his way into the crowded presidential race? Longtime Perry watcher Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune talks about why he thinks Perry will run and what kind of candidate he'd be. [snip] We spoke with the Texas Tribune's Evan Smith about the man he has followed since the early 1990s. A former editor of Texas Monthly magazine, Smith says he's convinced Perry will make a run at the White House, and tells us why other Republican hopefuls should be worried.

An innovative, relatively young program provides active-duty soldiers and military veterans a jump start into civilian existence while bringing life to agriculture. One-sixth of the U.S. population is enlisted in the military, and 45 percent of that number is from rural farm communities, according to the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Farms need more hands, and veterans need work after service. So Michael O’Gorman founded the nonprofit Farmer-Veteran Coalition, based in Davis, California, to plow the hindrances and help reintegrate service men and women on a national scale. O’Gorman, a seasoned organic farmer, watched the...

Braden Janowski has never planted seeds or brought in a harvest. He doesn't even own overalls. Yet when 430 acres of Michigan cornfields was auctioned last summer, it was Janowski, a brash, 33-year-old software executive, who made the winning bid. It was so high -- $4 million, 25 percent above the next-highest -- that some farmers stood, shook their heads and walked out. And Janowski figures he got the land cheap. "Corn back then was around $4," he says from his office in Tulsa, Okla., stealing a glance at prices per bushel on his computer. Corn rose to almost $8...

(CBS News) The lightning-fast die-off of bats is being called the No. 1 crisis affecting mammals in this country. Scientists from more than 100 state and federal agencies are coordinating their efforts to learn why bats are dying. CBS News Correspondent Betty Nguyen noted on "The Early Show" that one of the consequences of the bats' deaths is more bugs. Wildlife officials now are pointing to a fungus they say is killing bats in unprecedented numbers. It's a desperate situation with no solution in sight. Nguyen reported bats often get a bad rap as creepy, blood-sucking night creatures. But farmers,...

And with that budget hit, the so-called “food safety” law can’t be implemented—and no money to approve Frankenfish! This is huge! Last week the House of Representatives passed the agriculture funding bill for fiscal year 2012, and the bill included a gigantic cut in FDA’s budget. This is particularly significant because they were tasked with implementing most of the provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act that Congress passed last year. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of implementing the Food Safety act would be $1.4 billion over five years. The whopping $285 million budget cut makes it...

Ran across this Web Site: http://vintageaerial.com/

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes and guarantees loans to approved socially disadvantaged applicants to buy and operate family-size farms and ranches. A socially disadvantaged (SDA) farmer, rancher, or agricultural producer is one of a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of his or her identity as a member of the group without regard to his or her individual qualities. SDA groups are women, African Americans, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=fmlp&topic=sfl

In one of the great American classic musicals “Little Shop of Horrors,� Audrey sings a paean to the American Dream of the twentieth century: “Somewhere That’s Green.� Living in Skid Row, she dreams of escape to life as it ought to be lived:A matchbox of our own A fence of real chain link, A grill out on the patio Disposal in the sink A washer and a dryer and an ironing machine In a tract house that we share Somewhere that’s green.This is the sound of the American Dream 2.o. You can listen to it here.The twentieth century incarnation of...

Senator Snowe said a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) limiting total servings of starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, green peas, and lima beans) to one cup per week and eliminating these vegetables from breakfast meals is not grounded in scientific data and does not make economic sense. In letters to First Lady Michelle Obama, founder of the Let’s Move campaign, and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Senator Snowe urged reevaluation of the nutritional and economic impacts of this proposal. Senator Snowe recently joined her colleagues in calling on President Obama to resolve a discrepancy within the Administration regarding...

The United Farm Workers Union is just a Jerry Brown autograph away from salvation.  The UFW which has seen its membership decline from more than 70,000 in the seventies to roughly 27,000 (including part time and seasonal workers) today is ready to fill its ranks and coffers through ‘card check.’   The Sacramento Bee reports that the California Assembly passed the ‘card check’ bill on Monday.  The measure, Senate Bill 104, cleared the Assembly by a vote of 51-26 with Republicans opposed.  It now goes to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not yet announced whether he will sign it. Proposed...

Is it possible that PETA, an organization which has equated the eating of animals to the lynching of black Americans, has something in common with the Tea Party? I wondered when I received an email from a fellow Tea Partier which had originated from the radical animal rights group. House File (HF) 1369 and Senate File (SF) 1118, which are currently making their way through the Minnesota State Legislature, could subject whistleblowers to criminal prosecution for their efforts to expose animal abuse on factory farms. If passed, these bills would penalize those who report and expose cruelty to animals and...

The scientists have successfully introduced human genes into 300 dairy cows to produce milk with the same properties as human breast milk. Human milk contains high quantities of key nutrients that can help to boost the immune system of babies and reduce the risk of infections. The scientists behind the research believe milk from herds of genetically modified cows could provide an alternative to human breast milk and formula milk for babies, which is often criticised as being an inferior substitute. They hope genetically modified dairy products from herds of similar cows could be sold in supermarkets. The research has...

There is not much to be happy about these days in Happy, Texas. Main Street is shuttered but for the Happy National Bank, slowly but inexorably disappearing into a High Plains wind that turns all to dust. The old Picture House, the cinema, has closed. Tumbleweed rolls into the still corners behind the grain elevators, soaring prairie cathedrals that spoke of prosperity before they were abandoned for lack of business.

The world's biggest farm has put up the for-sale sign, after being hit by a collapse in grain prices during the world financial crisis, and then by the droughts and the fires that raged across its territories last summer. Ivolga, a farming conglomerate which controls 1.5m hectares of land across Russia and Kazakhstan, is presently negotiating with Royal Bank of Scotland, which leads its creditors, to restructure a $300m loan it arranged in 2007. The company's immense holding, an area a third the size of Wales, easily outstrips that of El Tejar, the Argentine conglomerate which is the largest farm...

The “food versus fuel” debate being waged in the United States has been nothing more than a cleverly planned public relations campaign. A request for a public relations proposal put forth by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the media campaign response by the Glover Park Group prove that there has been a concerted effort to attack the ethanol industry. Both documents were recently made public by long-time ethanol advocate, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The GMA represents more than 300 food, beverage and consumer household goods companies in the United States. The association released a request for a public relations campaign...

One of the striking features of modern politics is the speed at which a candidate, or a cause, can topple from the pedestal to the doghouse. Just a few years ago the emergence of biofuels was considered so important to our country's drive for energy independence that Congress voted a fifty-one-cent-per-gallon subsidy for ethanol to help get this fledgling industry on its feet. Now ethanol and other biofuels are being blamed for everything from global warming, to increased pollution, to the sharp rise in food prices that have triggered riots in parts of Asia and Africa. My colleagues here at...

Here's an announcement to its customers that I'm told came directly from Sysco Foods. ALL OF OUR GROWERS HAVE INVOKED THE ACT OF GOD CLAUSE ON OUR CONTRACTS (Force majuere) DUE TO THE FOLLOWING RELEASE. WE WILL BE CONTACTING YOU PERSONALLY TO REVIEW HOW THIS WILL AFFECT OUR CONTRACTED ITEMS WITH YOU GOING FORWARD. THE DEVASTATING FREEZE IN MEXICO IS WORST FREEZE IN OVER 50 YEARS... THE EXTREME FREEZING TEMPERATURES HIT A VERY BROAD SECTION OF MAJOR GROWING REGIONS IN MEXICO, FROM HERMOSILLO IN THE NORTH ALL THE WAY SOUTH TO LOS MOCHIS AND EVEN SOUTH OF CULIACAN. THE EARLY...

The federal government has spent millions of dollars to help farmers nationwide buy greenhouse-like structures called high tunnels that can add valuable weeks and even months to their growing seasons by protecting produce from chilly temperatures. About $13 million has gone to more than 2,400 farmers in 43 states to help pay for the low-tech tunnels that look like a cross between Quonset huts and conventional greenhouses. The structures, also known as hoop houses, have been particularly beneficial in the north, where they allow farmers to plant as much as four weeks early and keep growing later in the fall....

Reason TV gives a report on the problems plaguing California’s Central Valley, once a breadbasket to the world, and now a government-created basket case of dust, unemployment, poverty, and now starvation. The short documentary focuses on two federal policies that heavily impact the farming region, the first water policy and environmentalism, and the second immigration: The crisis in the Central Valley comes directly from the application of the Endangered Species Act to the Delta smelt, one of a number of bait fish species indigenous to the area. The order by a federal judge relying on that law cut off irrigation...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ruling by the Obama administration allowing the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol is running into legal hurdles from trade groups opposing the plan. The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday over the decision to allow the sale of gasoline containing higher blends of corn-based ethanol, the second major group to protest the ruling. The Obama administration said in October that gas stations could start selling the ethanol blend for vehicles built since the 2007 model year, increasing it from the current blend of 10 percent ethanol.