DES MOINES, Iowa - The California egg law that kicked in on January 1st meant a lot of headaches for the egg industry.The law prescribed more space per laying hen than the industry standard, and if a particular operation doesn?t comply with the law, its eggs can?t be...
AMES, Iowa - Near dead and dying elms, in many of Iowa?s forests, lies this season?s unclaimed harvest of morel mushrooms.Mid-April marks the beginning of the morel mushroom season in Iowa, at least as it warms up in southern parts of the state. Over the next few...
DES MOINES, Iowa - Farmers themselves are just one component of progress that officials will look at in determining how well the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is being implemented.Surveys out now in rural Iowa are attempting to gauge exactly what farmers know about...
WASHINGTON - If Congress grants the president trade promotion authority, it will simplify the process of passing trade deals. However, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says the clock is ticking.Since the Ford Administration, Congress has granted trade promotion authority to...
PIERRE, S.D. - The first case of high pathogenic avian influenza in South Dakota has been reported in a 53,000-head turkey flock in west-central Beadle County.South Dakota State Veterinarian Dr. Dustin Oedekoven says the virus is carried by migratory birds and spread...
DES MOINES, Iowa - In the last nine years, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey has been to China six times.He returned this week from his most recent trip, as part of an Iowa Soybean Association delegation. He says each time he?s been in the past, he?s heard about...
ANKENY, Iowa - The discovery of an emerald ash borer larva in Clinton County in Eastern Iowa means that fully one of every five Iowa counties now has a confirmed infestation.Widespread emerald ash borer infestations are anticipated to have a price tag of more than two...
DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa farmers will enter the fields next month for the 2015 planting season, and weather is already on their minds.But State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says it?s a little early to be certain about anything weather-wise beyond the National Weather...
WASHINGTON - Farm subsidies are controversial, and even moreso when they?re going to people who don?t actually farm.On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a proposed rule under the 2014 farm bill to limit payments to people classified as farm...
WASHINGTON - To make an omelet, you need to crack a few eggs. To improve hen housing, you need to crack them all.That's the thrust of an amicus curiae or friend-of-the-court brief filed last week by the American Farm Bureau Federation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for...
