Erica Hunzinger NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 Esther Honig Sat, 11 Sep 2021 16:18:15 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Esther Honig CBD is a key part of a drug that’s used to treat epilepsy in children. A small pilot study by Colorado State University suggests the hemp-derived oil may do the same for dogs suffering from seizures. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/hemp-cbd-could-help-dogs-epilepsy-researchers-say-more-studies-are-needed 731 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Tue, 28 May 2019 19:47:15 +0000 Hemp CBD Could Help Dogs With Epilepsy, But Researchers Say More Studies Are Needed Esther Honig For every crop in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency carries out a rigorous set of tests to determine which pesticides are safest. How and when a pesticide is used can depend on how that crop is consumed by the average person — is it ingested, inhaled or applied topically? It’s a precise science that aims to keep consumers safe from potentially toxic residues. But, like most federal regulations, none of it applies to the marijuana industry. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/without-federal-regulations-states-are-their-own-enforce-safety-marijuana-industry 710 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 15 May 2019 09:00:00 +0000 Without Federal Regulations, States Are On Their Own To Enforce Safety In Marijuana Industry Esther Honig A group of Midwestern feedlot operations have filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging that several major meatpacking companies, including JBS, Cargill and Tyson, broke antitrust laws by conspiring to lower the prices paid to ranchers. In the past few years, price-fixing allegations have been leveled against poultry and pork industries. And it’s not clear whether any of the lawsuits for any type of meat producers will bring about reforms. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/cattle-price-fixing-allegations-leveled-lawsuit-hard-say-if-reforms-will-follow 708 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 03 May 2019 17:49:40 +0000 Cattle Price-Fixing Allegations Leveled In Lawsuit, But Hard To Say If Reforms Will Follow Esther Honig Douglas rattles around a collection of glass jars in the storage closet of his Denver apartment. They’re filled with a small grain, like barley, and covered in a soft white fungus — a mushroom spawn. Soon, he’ll transplant it in large plastic bins filled nutrients like dried manure and coconut fiber. Over the course of two weeks, mushrooms that naturally contain psilocybin, a psychoactive ingredient, will sprout. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/growing-movement-wants-loosen-laws-around-psilocybin-treat-mushrooms-medicine 705 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 29 Apr 2019 16:39:36 +0000 A Growing Movement Wants To Loosen Laws Around Psilocybin, Treat Mushrooms As Medicine It’s been five years since the last ag census. Since 2012, the U.S. has lost about 70,000 farms, saw the average age of farmers go up and prices for certain commodities go down. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/numbers-what-usda-s-latest-census-tells-us-about-american-agriculture 698 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 11 Apr 2019 21:11:04 +0000 By The Numbers: What The USDA’s Latest Census Tells Us About American Agriculture Esther Honig Like many of the refugees who have resettled in Greeley, Colorado, 35-year-old Abul Basar is employed by JBS. It’s a massive meatpacking plant that processes thousands of cattle per day and employs over 3,000 people. After a year of working on the plant’s processing line, where he disembowel cow carcasses with a large electric knife, Basar injured his right hand. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/trump-administration-s-refugee-limits-leave-meatpacking-plants-struggling-find-enough-workers 683 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 15 Mar 2019 15:40:50 +0000 Trump Administration’s Refugee Limits Leave Meatpacking Plants Struggling To Find Enough Workers Farm income has taken a long, hard fall, dropping 50 percent since hitting a high point in 2013. Add to that near-record levels of farm debt, and you have a recipe for financial stress. But while economists say they can see storm clouds building, it’s not a full-blown crisis. That’s because relatively few farms have been pushed past the breaking point into Chapter 12 bankruptcy — or, worse, into losing the farm entirely. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-dig-deep-weather-slumping-ag-economy-don-t-call-it-crisis 682 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 13 Mar 2019 19:55:59 +0000 Farmers Dig Deep To Weather Slumping Ag Economy, But Don’t Call It A Crisis Esther Honig One out of five seafood samples taken from across the country, including Kansas, Missouri and Colorado, are mislabeled. That’s according to a study by Oceana, a nonprofit organization that promotes marine conservation. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/study-imported-seafood-continues-be-mislabeled-despite-federal-oversight 680 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 08 Mar 2019 20:34:37 +0000 Study: Imported Seafood Continues To Be Mislabeled Despite Federal Oversight Esther Honig U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said this week that that a long-anticipated program for dairy farmers will be available June 17, with payments possibly coming as soon as early July. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-says-relief-dairy-farmers-its-way 674 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 01 Mar 2019 18:15:33 +0000 USDA Says Relief For Dairy Farmers Is On Its Way Esther Honig At her desk in Greeley, Colorado, Shelly Woods pulls out three thick stacks of manila folders. These files represent dozens of local farmers who’ve applied for safety-net programs, including tariff relief through the Farm Service Agency. While Woods and about 800,000 federal colleagues were furloughed for 35 days, the work piled up. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/their-first-week-back-job-federal-workers-play-catch-aid-farmers 665 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:13:05 +0000 In Their First Week Back On The Job, Federal Workers Play Catch Up To Aid Farmers Esther Honig More than 240,000 guestworkers, many from Mexico, work on U.S. farms for several months each year as a part of the federal H-2A visa program. This year, farmers and industry associations worry the ongoing government shutdown could impede the workers’ arrival. But the visa program, which is overseen by no fewer than three U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security, is unimpeded. That’s according to officials from the Office of Foreign Labor Certification and United States Citizen and Immigration Services. Both of those agencies are fully funded. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/government-says-shutdown-unlikely-delay-guestworker-visas-farmers-still-unsure 659 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:33:53 +0000 Government Says Shutdown Unlikely To Delay Guestworker Visas, But Farmers Still Unsure Esther Honig This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture determined that only foods containing detectable genetic material should be considered as bioengineered or genetically modified (GMO). The USDA was tasked with deciding if refined products, like soybean oil and corn sweeteners, should be considered a GMO food. It said they are not, which is a victory for sugar beet farmers. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usdas-new-rule-gmo-labeling-boon-sugar-beet-farmers 648 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 21 Dec 2018 22:48:59 +0000 USDA's New Rule For GMO Labeling A Boon For Sugar Beet Farmers Esther Honig Compared to the 89 millions acres of soybean in the U.S., the hemp industry is still meager at 25,000 acres , but experts expect that will quickly change now that President Donald Trump has signed the 2018 farm bill. That’s because after nearly a century of heavy state and federal restrictions, hemp has been removed from the list of controlled substance and reclassified as an agricultural commodity — one that a burgeoning market has its eyes on. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/cbd-industry-poised-go-grassroots-big-league-2019-legalized-hemp 646 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 21 Dec 2018 21:48:27 +0000 CBD Industry Poised To Go From Grassroots To Big League In 2019 With Legalized Hemp Updated at 3 p.m. Dec. 20 with Trump signing legislation — The long-awaited final version of the farm bill was unveiled Monday night, and it hews somewhat closely to the previous piece of massive legislation — aside from legalizing hemp on a national level. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/final-farm-bill-shows-hemps-food-aid-work-requirements-are-out 630 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 20 Dec 2018 20:04:01 +0000 Final Farm Bill Shows Hemp's In, Food-Aid Work Requirements Are Out Esther Honig Back in 2010, there were high hopes in Colorado that locally grown hops, the plant that gives beer a bitter or citrusy flavor, would help feed the then booming craft beer market. In just six years, the industry sprouted from almost nothing to 200 acres, according to the trade association Hop Growers of America. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/slowing-craft-beer-market-shrinks-demand-locally-grown-hops 634 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 10 Dec 2018 21:29:19 +0000 A Slowing Craft Beer Market Shrinks Demand For Locally Grown Hops A changing climate has major implications for farmers and ranchers across the U.S., according to a federal report. Here’s a select breakdown of the agriculture section of the fourth National Climate Assessment , which was released last week. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/climate-report-says-us-cattle-and-crops-will-be-stressed-hotter-wetter-weather 629 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 29 Nov 2018 19:42:07 +0000 Climate Report Says U.S. Cattle And Crops Will Be Stressed By Hotter, Wetter Weather Esther Honig Eating crickets might improve the microbiome — the good bacteria found in the gut that wards off illness, according to a recent six-week study at Colorado State University. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/thanksgiving-don-t-forget-pass-cricket-pie 622 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 19 Nov 2018 22:57:32 +0000 This Thanksgiving, Don’t Forget To Pass The Cricket Pie? Esther Honig After 10 years of consistent gains, the number of immigrant families enrolled in SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, fell by 10 percent in 2018. New, preliminary research presented this month at the American Public Health Association conference showed the drop was highest for for families who had been in the U.S for fewer than five years. It’s a reflection of what Harvest Public Media and other outlets reported earlier this year: that some families are choosing not to participate in federal benefit programs out of fear it could impact their immigration status. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/study-fewer-immigrant-families-signing-federal-food-assistance 621 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 19 Nov 2018 16:01:56 +0000 Study: Fewer Immigrant Families Signing Up For Federal Food Assistance Esther Honig Brad Churchill, a slaughter operations manager at Cargill Meat Solutions, has worked in the cattle industry for more than 30 years. He’s seen many employees injured by cattle. “A young man did nothing to provoke this 1,600-pound angus steer who turned on him in an instant,” Churchill said of one incident last year. The man crawled through an escape hatch and only had a dislocated shoulder and few fractured ribs. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/cargills-new-robot-herds-cattle-so-workers-dont-have 617 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 09 Nov 2018 20:32:55 +0000 Cargill's New Robot Herds Cattle So Workers Don't Have To Esther Honig The high-desert town of Palisade, Colorado, is synonymous with fresh, locally grown peaches. Years ago, thousands of migrant workers would flock here each year in August to harvest the fuzzy fruit. But today, on its narrow dirt roads, Bruce Talbott drives a truck loaded down with 9 tons of wine grapes. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-are-seeking-more-temporary-h-2a-workers-and-keeping-them-longer 615 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 05 Nov 2018 20:42:52 +0000 Farmers Are Seeking More Temporary H-2A Workers, And Keeping Them Longer