TheRepublic.com - Agriculture and the environment News

Nebraska landowners can enroll in flood program

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:46:20 -0400

LINCOLN, Nebraska - Eligible landowners are being urged to enroll cropland affected by the 2011 Missouri River flood into two federal land conservation programs to take advantage of flood habitat recovery funds.

Montana investigates bison deaths near Yellowstone

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:08:08 -0400

MISSOULA, Montana - State veterinarians in Montana have been sent to examine bison carcasses north of Yellowstone National Park amid fears the bison might have acquired a deadly disease from domestic sheep.

Rising consumer demands aids organic industry sway

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:54:18 -0400

WASHINGTON - The organic food industry is gaining influence on Capitol Hill, prompted by its entry into traditional farm states and by increasing consumer demand.

Pa. officials probe possible pollution from farm

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:52:10 -0400

JERSEY SHORE, Pennsylvania - Environmental regulators are investigating reports of slaughterhouse waste in a Susquehanna River tributary in Lycoming County.

Conservation Reserve Program signup begins Monday

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:07:47 -0400

DES MOINES, Iowa - The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers can sign up for the Conservation Reserve Program beginning Monday.

Top Ind. wind farm drafts bat-protection plans

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:50:53 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS - The operators of Indiana's largest wind farm are proposing changing the nighttime operations of the farm's 300-plus wind turbines to protect endangered Indiana bats from being killed by the turbines' spinning blades.

Franklin farmers upset by wildflower protection

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:47:31 -0400

PASCO, Washington - Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to hire a lawyer to look into suing the Fish and Wildlife Service over plans to designate critical habitat for an endangered wildflower, the White Bluffs bladderpod.

USDA revokes Collins Zoo exhibitor license

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:01:08 -0400

COLLINS, Mississippi - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has revoked the exhibitor license from the Collins Zoo.

Proposal allows groups to manage wild horses

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:38:42 -0400

CARSON CITY, Nevada - Horse advocates and state officials urged members of a Nevada Senate committee Tuesday to adopt an amendment that would allow the state to enter agreements with advocacy groups to manage wild horses in the state.

Idaho spud giant bets on biotech potatoes

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:26:08 -0400

BOISE, Idaho - A dozen years after a customer revolt forced Monsanto to ditch its genetically engineered potato, an Idaho company aims to resurrect high-tech spuds.

Feds: Budget cuts to make wildfire season tougher

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:00:15 -0400

BOISE, Idaho - After another dry winter across much of the West, fire officials are poised for a tough wildfire season that will be even more challenging because federal budget cuts mean fewer firefighters on the ground, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Monday.

UN: Eat more insects; good for you, good for world

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:14:08 -0400

ROME - The latest weapon in the U.N.'s fight against hunger, global warming and pollution might be flying by you right now.

UN says: why not eat more insects?

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:10:05 -0400

ROME - The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution, and they might be crawling or flying near you right now: edible insects.

SD seeking applications for clean water grants

Mon, 13 May 2013 05:28:17 -0400

PIERRE, South Dakota - The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources is accepting applications for grants to support projects aimed at improving water quality.

Woman, 100, remembers Pa. farm now part of park

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:11:27 -0400

SOMERSET, Pennsylvania - Leona Shaffer remembers more than 90 years ago, back when her family ran a farm, raising Jersey and Guernsey cattle and growing and harvesting hay and crops with little mechanical help.

Record nitrate levels from farm runoff in rivers

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:24:38 -0400

DES MOINES, Iowa - Last year's drought combined with the wettest April in Iowa in more than 140 years is significantly washing fertilizer out of farmland and into rivers used by many cities for drinking water.

UW wins federal grant to study greenhouse gases

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:23:17 -0400

MADISON, Wisconsin - The University of Wisconsin-Madison will lead new research on reducing greenhouse gases emitted from dairy farms.

Land trusts pooling money to pay for court battles

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:16:46 -0400

RENO, Nevada - A national conservation that helps local, nonprofit land trusts buy up property to protect natural resources is creating a first-of-its-kind liability insurance company to help them cover the costs of legal battles with developers.

Project aims to restore western Lake Erie wetlands

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:11:10 -0400

TOLEDO, Ohio - A project restoring 2,500 acres into wetlands along western Lake Erie is a small but important step toward creating a new home for wildlife and cleaning water runoff from farm fields that feeds harmful algae, conservation organizations say.

Vt. gives $220K in first working lands grants

Thu, 02 May 2013 16:34:02 -0400

MONTPELIER, Vermont - After a sip of her grandmother's switchel - a concoction of apple cider vinegar, water and maple syrup - Susan Alexander vowed she'd bottle it someday.

New beetles to battle hemlock pest in Smokies

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:09:08 -0400

GATLINBURG, Tennessee - Biologists will release two new predatory beetle species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to battle a pest that has devastated hemlock forests.

Farmers: Birds hurting rice crops

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:40:28 -0400

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana - South Louisiana farmers have been struggling this year to fight off birds feasting on newly planted rice seed.

Well fluid spills into NE Pa. horse farm, basement

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:57:23 -0400

TUNKHANNOCK, Pennsylvania - State environmental officials say briny waste fluid spilled from a natural gas well site in northeastern Pennsylvania and into a miniature horse farm and farmhouse basement and garage.

SD DENR: Belle Fourche pollutants shouldn't alarm

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:37:37 -0400

BELLE FOURCHE, South Dakota - South Dakota environmental officials say excessive levels of E. coli, ammonia and chloride in water samples from the Belle Fourche River watershed in Wyoming shouldn't cause alarm in South Dakota.

Judge: W.Va. farmer's EPA lawsuit will be heard

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:43:36 -0400

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still exerting a permit power that chicken growers contend it doesn't have, so a federal judge said he won't dismiss a lawsuit by a West Virginia farmer the agency had accused of polluting the Chesapeake Bay watershed.