In The News: Page 22
USDA To Spend $32 Million On Wetland Restoration
posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:54 PM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture is to spend $32 million this year on wetland preservation and restoration projects in seven states along the Mississippi River.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Tuesday...
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Government Taking New Steps To Combat Food Stamp Fraud
posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:51 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Food stamp recipients are ripping off the government for millions of dollars by illegally selling their benefit cards for cash — sometimes even in the open, on eBay or Craigslist — and then asking the...
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Sugar Fight Takes Another Bitter Turn
posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:48 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - What defines sugar? It's getting to be a stickier question.
The Sugar Association is accusing the makers of high fructose corn syrup of trying to candy-coat their image by calling their product a "sugar." The Corn Refiners...
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Small Dairies Go Under As Milk Prices Sink
posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:45 PM
PLAINFIELD, Vt. (AP) — The MacLaren brothers are third-generation dairy farmers, but they will likely be the last in their family.
After working all their lives on the hillside farm in Vermont that their grandfather bought in 1939,...
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US Ag Chief In Virginia Promoting Micro-Loans
posted on May 25, 2012 at 1:32 PM
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he's seeing more young people and even returning disabled veterans expressing an interest in farming, and he's rolling out a program to help them realize their dreams.
Vilsack was...
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U.S. Forecasters Say Heat Will Stay On This Summer
posted on May 18, 2012 at 1:18 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — And the heat goes on. Forecasters predict toasty temperatures will stretch through the summer in the U.S. And that's a bad sign for wildfires in the West.
The forecast for June through August calls for warmer-than-normal...
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Obama Announces $3 Billion in Private Sector Pledges to Help Feed Africa
posted on May 18, 2012 at 1:09 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Friday said the United States has a "moral imperative" to lead the fight against hunger and malnutrition in Africa despite shrinking national budgets around the world.
Obama announced $3 billion in...
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Vilsack Touts PSU Research, Stumps for Farm Bill
posted on May 18, 2012 at 1:03 PM
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sought Wednesday to raise the profile of agricultural research at universities like Penn State as Congress begins the arduous task of renewing the farm bill.
Penn State leads...
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Some Alabama Farmers Cut Back Crops, Citing Crackdown
posted on May 18, 2012 at 1:00 PM
ONEONTA, Ala. (AP) — Some Alabama farmers say they are planting less produce rather than risk having tomatoes and other crops rot in the fields a second straight year because of labor shortages linked to the state's crackdown on illegal...
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Report Says Female Farmworkers Suffer Sex Abuse
posted on May 18, 2012 at 12:57 PM
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Female farmworkers across the United States are commonly sexually harassed and assaulted, in part because their immigration status makes them fearful of calling police, according to a report being released Wednesday by...
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Agriculture Department Study Concludes Healthy Diet is Less Expensive Than Junk Food
posted on May 18, 2012 at 12:49 PM