Government & Policy

Market to Market (September 17, 2021)

Sep 17, 2021

27 min

A tax overhaul may leave some rural policies alone. A war of words and finger pointing over inflationary pressures. Advancements in tracking insects and diseases threatening crops. Market analysis with Sue Martin.

US: Wolves may need protections after states expand hunting

Sep 17, 2021

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday that federal protections may need to be restored for gray wolves in the western U.S. after Republican-backed state laws made it much easier to kill the predators. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initial determination that the region's wolves could again be in peril — after decades spent restoring them — will kick off a year-long...

Plant to pretreat animal fats for renewable fuel industry

Sep 17, 2021

DAKOTA CITY, Nebraska (AP) — Construction is starting on a Nebraska plant that will pretreat animal fat for eventual conversion into renewable diesel fuel. The JST Global facility is a joint venture between Tyson Foods' and Jacob Stern & Sons. It will be built on 6.5 acres (2.63 hectares) next to Tyson's flagship beef plant in Dakota City and will complement a similar JST plant in Houston,...

Biden, world leaders try to hammer out next steps on climate

Sep 17, 2021

Washington (AP) — President Joe Biden tried to hammer out the world's next steps against rapidly worsening climate change in a private, virtual session with a small group of other global leaders Friday, and announced a new U.S.-European pledge to cut climate-wrecking methane leaks. Ever-grimmer findings from scientists this year that the world is nearing the point where the level of climate...

Enbridge ordered to pay $3M for Line 3 groundwater leak

Sep 17, 2021

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota regulators have ordered Enbridge to pay more than $3 million for allegedly violating state environmental law by piercing a groundwater aquifer during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline. The state Department of Natural Resources said Enbridge, while working near Clearbrook in January, dug too deeply into the ground and pierced an artesian aquifer, which...

Illegal marijuana farms take West's scarce water

Sep 17, 2021

LA PINE, Ore. (AP) — Jack Dwyer pursued a dream of getting back to the land by moving in 1972 to an idyllic, tree-studded parcel in Oregon with a creek running through it. "We were going to grow our own food. We were going to live righteously. We were going to grow organic," Dwyer said. Over the decades that followed, he and his family did just that. But now, Deer Creek has run dry after several...

Railroad execs hope CP-KCS merger could be done by late 2022

Sep 17, 2021

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Canadian Pacific hopes to complete its $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad before the end of next year. Shareholders of both companies are likely to vote on the deal sometime in December, and then Mexican and American regulators will have to sign off on the combination before the two railroads can merge. Officials from both railroads provided an update...

Congress looks at tax changes

Sep 17, 2021

2 min

If death and taxes are inevitable - combining the two is a constant concern for those actively engaged in farming and planning for the next chapter in the family farm. This week, Congress proceeded with a tax plan as farmers and ranchers held their collective breaths on the transfer tax and step-up in basis language of the plan. Peter Tubbs has more. Democrats have reportedly abandoned attempts...

Meat Packing Industry pushes back at the Biden Administration

Sep 17, 2021

1 min

A five-alarm fire Sunday night at a JBS plant in Grand Island, Nebraska sparked flashbacks to a 2019 blaze at a Kansas Tyson facility. The disruption at JBS was minimal in comparison but did come at a time when the large meat packers are under attack from the Biden Administration. John Torpy has more. The meat processing industry pushed back against the Biden Administration this week in reaction...

Feds Improve Tools for Tracking Plant Threats

Sep 17, 2021

7 min

Insects can range in scale from nuisance to crop killing. The fight to reduce the spread of either takes on different strategies - including the use of data from around the globe. Colleen Bradford Krantz explains in our Cover Story. This locust infestation in East Africa was already unusually large in 2019. Weather conditions continued to be ideal for the short-horned grasshoppers and their...