News
Pilgrim's Pride Cutting 213 Jobs
April 13, 2010 5:23 am | CommentsPITTSBURG, Texas (AP) — Pilgrim's Pride Corp. said Monday it is eliminating 213 jobs by closing corporate offices in Texas and Georgia as part of the chicken producer's consolidation with JBS USA. The offices are expected to close within 60 days as most corporate functions move to JBS USA's headquarters in Greeley, Colo.
PepsiCo To Distribute New Line Of Drinks
April 13, 2010 5:22 am | CommentsPepsiCo Inc. will distribute a new line of fruit-flavored drinks from Tampico Beverages Inc. as part of a new distribution agreement and the company's move to widen its line of healthy offerings. The agreement to distribute Tampico Plus was announced Friday by Pepsi Beverages Company, the soft drink maker's beverage unit in North America.
States Use Less Regulation To Woo Dairymen
April 12, 2010 5:03 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of dairies in California has plummeted by more than 500 in the past decade, with many moving to other states enticing them with promises of lower costs and simpler regulations. Eight states, ranging from Idaho to Iowa, have been courting dairies from California, the nation's largest milk producer.
Canadian Officials Worried Over H1N1-Infected Pigs
April 12, 2010 5:02 am | CommentsOTTAWA (Canadian Press) — A herd of sick pigs was nothing to sneeze at for public-health officials. The federal government realized that how it handled a herd of pigs that caught swine flu could set a precedent in Canada and elsewhere, a new document shows. An outbreak of H1N1 on an Alberta farm last spring was the first-ever report of the new virus in pigs, and the source of the infection remains a mystery.
NM Dairy Industry Squares Off With Environment Department
April 12, 2010 5:01 am | CommentsALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Jana Hughes' problems began with flies and odors from dairies near her family's rural southeastern New Mexico home, but then she discovered dairies are linked to water pollution. Tests showed elevated levels of nitrates in her family's well near Hobbs. The well is not considered contaminated because nitrate levels fall below allowable limits, but "when we drink that water, we get ill," Hughes said.
Students Use Math Skills To Raise Fish
April 12, 2010 5:00 am | CommentsASHLAND, Wis. (AP) — There seemed to be no sentimental anguish over the loss of the young ones. "Maybe we could have a fish fry," Ashland Middle School seventh-grader Roy Turnquist said. "Just kind of ball them all up." The soon-to-be departed in question were between 150 and 200 small lake trout, reared in a large aquarium inside math teacher Kathy Sill's classroom.
Coca-Cola Gulps Innocent Drinks
April 12, 2010 4:58 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola will increase its stake of Innocent Drinks to take a majority ownership of the British fruit and smoothie drinks maker, although Innocent will retain control of the business. The increased stake announced Friday by the world's largest drink maker comes a year after Coca-Cola initially bought an 18 percent stake for 30 million pounds, or about $44 million.
Feds Cite Company Over Ammonia Leak
April 12, 2010 4:56 am | CommentsPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal work safety officials want to fine the company that owns a commercial Maine freezer that had an ammonia leak, which may have contaminated millions of pounds of food. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing fines of up to $9,000 for Americold Logistics because of a January leak in Portland caused when a refrigeration unit fell from the ceiling.
Mobile Slaughterhouse Sustains Farms
April 8, 2010 10:56 am | CommentsTACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Cheryl Ouellette has a dream about meat — real meat, local meat, and how meat can save the family farm. Known as the "Pig Lady" for the swine she nurtures at her Summit-area farm, Ouellette is the source and the force for the first mobile meat-processing unit in Pierce County.
Living High On The Hog
April 8, 2010 10:49 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowans may take it for granted that the state produces massive amounts of meat and grain to help feed the world. But the state's huge export business owes much to an Iowan who was in the Air Force in Japan 50 years ago. After a typhoon devastated Japan's hog farms in 1959, the airman suggested having hogs airlifted to Japan from his home state.
HSUS Releases More Undercover Videos
April 8, 2010 10:41 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Humane Society of the United States released videos Wednesday that they say show animal-welfare violations at four egg farms in Iowa, the nation's top egg-producing state. The videos, made secretly as part of the animal rights group's ongoing push to get egg-laying hens out of cramped cages, show chickens caught between wires and others being pulled dead from cages that sit above piles of manure.
Workers Sue Slim Jim Contractors
April 8, 2010 10:40 am | CommentsRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — About two dozen workers have sued accusing more than a dozen design, manufacturing and installation firms of negligence for a deadly explosion that ripped through a Slim Jim production plant in North Carolina last year. The lawsuit filed Tuesday also accuses inspectors for the town of Garner of failing to properly oversee the installation of a commercial water heater.
Biodynamic Farmers Connect To Earth's Rhythms
April 7, 2010 5:28 am | CommentsSAN JUAN BAUTISTA, Calif. (AP) — When vintner Randall Grahm chose the softly sloping hillside and time to plant his new pinot noir vines, he weighed all the things farmers usually consider: drainage, soil quality and weather. Then he considered less orthodox factors: the cosmic and seasonal rhythms at play and how they might be harnessed to help the clippings take root.
Bruce Foods Expanding Plant
April 7, 2010 5:27 am | CommentsNEW IBERIA, La. (AP) — Bruce Foods Corp., a specialty food manufacturer, will expand its New Iberia plant and boost its payroll under a state economic incentive deal announced Tuesday. State officials said privately held Bruce Foods will retain 380 jobs and create 43 new jobs, with a total payroll of $1.
Wheat Prices Surge On Prospect Of Improving Demand
April 7, 2010 5:26 am | CommentsDENVER (AP) — Wheat prices surged Tuesday as hopes grew that global demand for the grain was strengthening. Soybeans and corn also rose, while energy and metals prices ended the day mixed. Wheat prices have been battered for the past three months, trading down nearly 90 cents a bushel, on reports of abundant supplies and moderate weather.
Missouri Court Overturns Hog Farm Ruling
April 7, 2010 5:26 am | CommentsJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday overturned a ruling that blocked a proposed hog farm from expanding near Arrow Rock. A Cole County judge blocked the farm from expanding so near the historic central Missouri village, but a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District dismissed the case because the permit required to expand the farm expired more than a year ago.
Frugal U.S. Shoppers Good For Grocery Industry
April 7, 2010 5:25 am | CommentsHALIFAX (Canadian Press) — Frugal Americans who buy more frozen seafood for home cooking will bring about "modest increases" in U.S. sales for High Liner Foods Inc. this year, the Lunenburg, N.S.-based firm's chief executive predicts. The United States accounted for slightly more than half of the company's sales last year, with the remainder coming from mostly in Canada.
U.S. Aims To Resume Talks On Beef Exports To Japan
April 7, 2010 5:24 am | CommentsTOKYO (Kyodo) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack suggested Wednesday that restarting talks on U.S. beef imports, subject to prolonged restrictions because of concerns over mad cow disease, will take priority on his visit to Japan. Vilsack and Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu are scheduled to hold talks on Thursday.
