Germany- Day 18
We began the morning by visiting the second pig farm on the trip. We found this a little amusing because when you’re in a country that eats as much pork as the Germans, you think you might see a few more hog operations. This farm was another family operation that was well diversified in different ag ventures. They had 100 sows and 350 feeder pigs; the sows are only in crates for a short...
Read MoreRestaurant Prices Climb
Many restaurants are preparing to increase prices, cashing in on the fact that consumers have grown used to paying more for food at the grocery store. Dining out cost 2.6 percent more in September compared to the prior year; while food prices at supermarkets were 6.2 percent higher than one year ago, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The inflation rate for food...
Read MoreFood Prices Climb
The Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service projects that consumers will pay 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent more for food this year than they did in 2010. A revised increase in the cost of fruit is driving most of the gains. According to the ERS report, “Food CPI and Expenditures: CPI for Food Forecasts,” fresh fruit prices will climb 3 percent to 4 percent, a full percentage point...
Read MoreWeekly Links 10-28
Empty Fields Fill Urban Basins and Farmers’ Pockets New York Times They can continue to farm all their land, or they can stop farming some of it and earn more than $500 an acre — more than the market value of a crop like alfalfa in a given year — simply by not using the water required to nourish those crops. Critics say wild mustang panel won’t give horses a fair shake Great Falls...
Read MoreFunding Announced for Anaerobic Digester Projects
The Agriculture Department on Wednesday announced that USDA is funding anaerobic digester projects in eight states to encourage renewable energy production, reduce energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and farm-based pollution. Funding for the biodigesters is provided through USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program, which has created or saved an estimated 13.4 billion kilowatt hours...
Read MoreLegislative Tracking 2013
