By Ashley Ellixson
We made to September already! Hopefully your summer was great and are gearing up for Fall, despite the hot temperatures. To start your September off right, we have compiled what seemed to be an active week in ag news for you. Happy Fall!
Farm-To-Fork Frederick Continues Until September 7th-A dynamic 11-day culinary celebration of locally sourced foods. All participating restaurants will have a special Farm-to-Fork Frederick menu made using 60% Frederick County grown and raised farm foods. Savor the Local Flavors of Frederick County’s own farmers, and celebrate the chefs that bring them to you from these farms, to your fork! – See more at: http://www.farmtoforkfrederick.com
Thieves Steal Calves From Dairy Farm In California-Dairy farmers across the Central Valley are on alert right now after thieves hit one dairy– hard. 20 calves were stollen from a dairy in the Central Valley after 30 years in the business. The calves are worth $300-$500. The detectives have already alerted auction houses across the state, should the thieves try to take them there. To read the full story and keep up with the investigation visit http://www.kmph-kfre.com/story/29928729/thieves-steal-calves-from-dairy-farm
EPA Releases Report Chastising Delaware Department of Ag: This week, the EPA released a report highlighting struggles that the Delaware Department of Ag has had with animal feeding operation permits. The report is to evaluate how the Chesapeake Bay states are doing in implementing the Bay TMDL. Delaware has only issued 1 permit since 2010 and has a backlog of 440 farms. To read more about the issues found with Delaware, click over to the Delaware Business Daily (http://delawarebusinessdaily.com/2015/08/epa-says-state-ag-department-has-work-to-do-in-dealing-with-runoff-into-chesapeake-bay/). EPA found less issues with Maryland’s animal agriculture regulations and programs (http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/A0A4E8C0F82C10B885257EB20055C5FB).
Federal Court Strips Lesser Prairie Chicken of Federal Protection– This undated file photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a male lesser prairie chicken in southeastern New Mexico. A federal court in Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, has vacated Endangered Species Act protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a victory for oil and gas companies that argued conservation efforts are working. To read more visit http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/texas/article/Texas-court-strips-lesser-prairie-chicken-of-6481114.php?t=1b494120b2&cmpid=twitter-premium
Overview Article On “Big Data”: Our friend at Texas A&M, Tiffany Lashmet, is releasing a series of blog posts looking at big data in agriculture on the Texas Ag Law Blog. Take a moment to check out the first of the series on “What is Big Data?” (http://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2015/09/01/big-data-on-the-farm-part-i-what-is-it/). We also have some posts available at http://www.aglaw.umd.edu/blog/?tag=big+data.
Groups Petition USDA to Enforce the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act: A group of animal welfare groups have submitted a 38-page petition to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to properly enforce the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act, this act defines how animals should be slaughtered in commercial facilities. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the groups were able to highlight incidents when the act was not followed by meat processors with no enforcement actions brought by USDA. To read more about the petition, see Morning Ag Clips (https://www.morningagclips.com/coalition-wants-usda-to-enforce-law/?utm_content=articles).