Agriculture

Time for Serious Deliberation: Medical Marijuana and the Benefits on Kentucky’s Failing Pension System

Time for Serious Deliberation: Medical Marijuana and the Benefits on Kentucky’s Failing Pension System

Beyond the ongoing moral debate surrounding medical marijuana, Kentucky now faces a major financial crisis that is affecting the state’s pension system. Keeping the state's financial struggles in mind, it is time for Kentucky representatives to put aside their party preference and deliberate about the benefits legalizing medical marijuana will have on the economy. 

The Modernization of Biotechnology Regulations: Will the Third Time be the Charm?

The Modernization of Biotechnology Regulations: Will the Third Time be the Charm?

Biotechnology in the agriculture industry has been around for decades and has been regulated by the federal government since 1986. Agricultural biotechnology is a variety of tools utilized by farmers to manage and optimize production. With decades old biotechnology regulations and new approaches in gene editing (e.g., CRISPR) taking over the scientific community by storm and proving to be a powerful tool for the agriculture industry, the agencies have made multiple attempts to modernize the regulations of biotechnology within the past decade.

GIPSA Withdraws Final Rule Leaving Small Farmers to Fend for Themselves

GIPSA Withdraws Final Rule Leaving Small Farmers to Fend for Themselves

In 2016, after years of discussion and debate, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) issued a final rule that would “make it easier for small contract farmers…to sue meat-packing or processing companies that engage in anticompetitive practices."  In October 2017, however, the USDA withdrew the rule.

USDA Should Strengthen Licensing Requirements for Exhibitors of Exotic Animals

USDA Should Strengthen Licensing Requirements for Exhibitors of Exotic Animals

As long as a USDA-licensed animal exhibitor fills out the correct paperwork on time, he or she can continue to exhibit exotic animals, despite recorded violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Unless an exhibitor is convicted of a violation, the USDA cannot revoke his or her license. The USDA took notice and comment on changing this regulation to make it more difficult to keep a license if an exhibitor is found violating animal welfare laws.

Agriculture’s Growing Drone Market

Agriculture’s Growing Drone Market

Drones are fast becoming big business.  Within the drone market, agriculture is one of the fastest growing areas.  One recent report predicts the agricultural drone market will increase to a $4.2 billion by 2022. Another prediction claims: "Drones will allow farming to become a highly data-driven industry, which eventually will lead to an increase in productivity and yields."

Addressing the Aging Farmer

Addressing the Aging Farmer

In the last thirty years, the average age of U.S. farmers has grown from 50.5 years to 58.3 years. Between 2007 and 2012, the number of farm operators fell by 90,000. America’s farmers are an economic asset in stimulating our rural economies and putting food on our tables. However, as American farmers retire, there is a concern that few emerging farmers will replace them.

Monsanto Faces Litigation Concerning New Dicamba Products

Monsanto Faces Litigation Concerning New Dicamba Products

When Monsanto introduced dicamba-resistant soybeans for the first time, 200 dicamba spraying complaints were lodged in Missouri, with a host of aggravation for farmers, businessmen, and scientists on both sides of the issues. In fact, —a dicamba dispute between two Arkansas farmers even led to one farmer’s death and a murder indictment for the other. Farmers from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have been deemed eligible to join a class-action lawsuit against Monsanto because of the alleged dicamba drift damage suffered byto their crops.

Agricultural Crisis: How Mass Deportations Hurt America

Agricultural Crisis: How Mass Deportations Hurt America

While some in Washington have rejected the idea of mass deportation, the President has continued to defer his decision for undocumented immigrants until after the border is secured. Should the President continue this trend of fulfilling campaign promises by implementing a mass-deportation styled immigration crackdown, it would surely spell disaster. One issue that should raise concerns across ideological-lines, is the impact that mass deportations would have on the domestic agricultural economy of the United States.