Latest Agriculture News

Missouri farmer ran one of the biggest frauds in US history

Jan. 17, 2020 1:01 AM EST

CHILLICOTHE, Mo. (AP) — Like all the best con artists, Randy Constant was a charmer, hard not to like. Big hearted. Good listener. You’d never have guessed that the father of three, grandfather of five was a liar, cheat and serial philanderer who masterminded one of the biggest and longest-running...

FILE - This Sept. 19, 2019, file photo, shows a spotted lanternfly at a vineyard in Kutztown, Pa. Penn State researchers estimate the spotted lanternfly is causing some $50 million in damage per year in the state’s hard-hit southeast. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Study: Spotted lanternfly costing Pennsylvania $50M annually

Jan. 16, 2020 5:41 PM EST

The spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest from Asia that is wreaking havoc on valuable trees and vines, is costing the Pennsylvania economy about $50 million and eliminating nearly 500 jobs each year, according to a Penn State study released Thursday. The study represents researchers’ first attempt to...

Foam cheesehead is hot when Packers do well

Jan. 16, 2020 5:26 PM EST

MILWAUKEE (AP) — There’s no milk, bacteria, fermentation or refrigeration at this Wisconsin cheese factory. That’s because they are making foam cheeseheads. Ralph Bruno invented the oversized yellow wedge hat in 1987 from his mother’s couch stuffing and it has since become a popular...

This photo from video provided by Rob Gensorek of Basin Tackle Charleston shows firefighters rescuing the crew from a capsized crab boat in the harbor at Coos Bay, Ore., late Tuesday evening, Jan. 14, 2020. Three men were in good condition early Wednesday after being cut from inside the hull of the capsized boat. The 38-foot (11-meter) Pacific Miner was flipped upside-down by large waves late Tuesday and then got caught on rocks in a jetty in Coos Bay as the tide went out. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter on a routine training mission spotted the vessel and launched a rescue, the agency said in a news release. (Rob Gensorek of Basin Tackle Charleston via AP)

Crab fishermen survive harrowing capsize off Oregon coast

Jan. 15, 2020 3:52 PM EST

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Three men were in good condition early Wednesday after being cut from inside the hull of a capsized crab boat off the Oregon coast. Their harrowing rescue was caught on video the night before. The 38-foot (11-meter) Pacific Miner was flipped upside-down by large waves in the middle...

Police: Mafia ripped off EU for millions in farm aid

Jan. 15, 2020 1:59 PM EST

ROME (AP) — Crime clans of the Sicilian Mafia working in cahoots with public officials defrauded the European Union of more than 10 million euros ($11 million) in agricultural aid, Italian authorities said Wednesday. Officers from Italy's paramilitary Carabinieri and financial police fanned out across...

FILE - In this Sept.2, 2019 file photo, shepherd Romain Jaurigueberry brings dead sheep to sub-prefecture of Bayonne, southwestern France, to protests against the rising bear attacks on sheep herds in Pyrenees mountains. Farmers who raise sheep for milk and meat high in the Pyrenees mountains are rejoicing after French President Emmanuel Macron promises them that he'll not authorize the release into the wild of any more bears responsible for increasingly deadly attacks on herders' flocks. (AP Photo Bob Edme, File)

Grrrrr! Angry herders secure bear ban from France's Macron

Jan. 15, 2020 1:23 PM EST

PARIS (AP) — The bears have cute names — Bubble, Feather, Snowflake and the like — and look so soft and huggable when caught on video by remote cameras that study their habits. But to herders high in the Pyrenees mountains of southwest France, the animals are stone-cold killers, ravaging...

FILE - In this April 23, 2018, file photo, Trevor Eubanks, plant manager for Big Top Farms, shovels dried hemp as branches hang drying in barn rafters overhead at their production facility near Sisters, Ore. Draft rules released by the United States Department of Agriculture for a new and booming agricultural hemp industry have alarmed farmers, processors and retailers across the country, who say the provisions will be crippling if they are not significantly overhauled before they become final. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

High anxiety: Proposed US hemp rules worry industry

Jan. 13, 2020 7:23 PM EST

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations. Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a...

President Donald Trump speaks about proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Trump to promote trade deals in Sunday speech to US farmers

Jan. 13, 2020 1:25 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will highlight his policies on trade and domestic energy in a speech to U.S. farmers next week, the White House announced Monday. Trump is scheduled to address the American Farm Bureau Federation's convention on Jan. 19 in Austin, Texas. It will be his third...

FILE - In this April 23, 2018, file photo, Trevor Eubanks, plant manager for Big Top Farms, readies a field for another hemp crop near Sisters, Ore. Draft rules released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a new and booming agricultural hemp industry have alarmed farmers, processors and retailers across the country, who say the provisions will be crippling if they are not significantly overhauled before they become final. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

High anxiety: Proposed US hemp rules worry industry

Jan. 13, 2020 1:06 PM EST

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations. Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a...

China's foreign minister arrives in Zimbabwe on Africa tour

Jan. 11, 2020 3:56 PM EST

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — China’s foreign minister has arrived in Zimbabwe Saturday as part of a five-nation tour of Africa that seeks to promote the Asian giant's economic and political interests on the continent. Wang Yi is set to visit a Zimbabwe tobacco farm and meet with President Emmerson...

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