USDA Announces Grants for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs
Organic Certification Cost Share Program Available for Missouri Farmers
Transparent Turkeys
Scott and Michelle Ramsey have raised Cargill turkeys for 20 years on 250 acres in Summers, Ark. The hen raising operation consists of one brooding house with 17,000 poults and two grow-out houses with another 17,000 hens staying for a total of 12 to 13 weeks. Scott clearly remembers March 1989, when Arkansas was hit with a serious winter storm and he helped to save brood birds from being destroyed on property he was to purchase six years later. Scott said, “I worked all night for chocolate chip cookies, but they were worth it.”
Putting Food Safety First
Dave and Pat Sargent retired from dairy farming in 1990. At that time Dave decided to raise vegetables on 1/2 acre of their 40 acres outside of Prairie Grove, Ark., for personal use and “for something to do.”
Carving a Life from the Land
“There are some dates in life you remember, February 5, 2008, is one of them for us.” The story of Dan and Patricia Stewart of Mountain View, Ark., doesn’t start on that ominous date, but their road in life does take a turn at that moment in history. “We use that tornado as a time post in our lives, pre-tornado and post-tornado.”
Are Egg Regulations Costing You?
In January, the price of eggs exploded in California. USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) says in October, the price of eggs in Southern California was 12 cents above the price in New York City; by early January, the spread had widened to $1. ERS said the likely reason was California’s chicken cage size regulations, which took effect at the start of this year. Adopted by voters in 2008, it was amended in 2010 by the state legislature so the requirement would cover all eggs sold in California, including those brought in from other states.