(AG Insider) The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse passing over North America on April 8 is a rare occurrence that brings excitement and some amazing changes to the weather over the course of about four hours. Besides the obvious change in daylight, the temperature could drop, humidity could rise, and wind patterns may change. These brief but extreme fluctuations in our local weather may lead you to wonder, how will the eclipse affect agriculture? With total eclipses being so rare, there has been little research on how they affect agriculture. However, they are known to affect animal behavior. More int ..read more

USDA: Test for bird flu before interstate transport of cattle Michigan officials said the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected three additional dairy herds in the state, just as the USDA recommended farmers test their herds for the virus before moving cattle between states. The tests should both give us more information and should mitigate further state-to-state spread between herds,” said the USDA’s animal health agency. Rivals trim soy oil’s lead among biomass-based diesel feedstocks With the explosion in production of renewable diesel, yellow grease and corn oil are cutting into soybean oil’s p ..read more

Food insecurity twice as high in U.S. military as among civilians A quarter of the U.S. military experienced food insecurity in recent years, more than twice the civilian rate of 10 percent, said a USDA report on Thursday. Rates were highest among active-duty personnel under the age of 25 who were members of a minority group and whose spouses were unemployed. Drought imperils production of corn, a vital food, in southern Africa Hot and dry weather has reduced corn yields throughout southern Africa, “threatening food security for millions of households depending on this key staple for a signifi ..read more

HPAI found in dairy cows in seventh state The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a dairy herd in North Carolina, said state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler on Wednesday, making it the seventh state in a little over two weeks to report infected cattle. “We have spent years developing ways to handle HPAI in poultry, but this is new, and we are working with our state and federal partners to develop protocols to handle this situation,” he said. Brazil, an agricultural giant, could expand cropland by 35 percent Already a major soybean, corn, and cotton grower, Brazil could expand its crop ..read more

GOP senators call for higher crop insurance subsidies Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee proposed a $4 billion injection into the crop insurance program so that the government would pay a larger share of the premiums on policies offering the highest levels of coverage. “We need more farm in the farm bill to get it passed,” said Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, the lead sponsor, on Tuesday. USDA announces update of WIC food packages The USDA has completed a months-long update of the foods available through the Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) to reflect the latest nutrit ..read more

Farm bill odds growing longer There is little reason for optimism that Congress will pass the new farm bill this year, wrote farm policy expert Jonathan Coppess on Thursday as part of an analysis showing that farm program payments favor Southern growers. “The chances of farm bill reauthorization in 2024 grow more dim with each passing day,” he said. Bird flu infects two more dairy herds Dairy herds in Kansas and New Mexico are infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, raising the U.S. total to 15 herds in six states, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. Texas has the most infected herds ..read more

CDC: Bird flu virus lacks changes to make it a greater threat to people Samples of the H5N1 bird flu virus that has infected dairy cattle and a dairy worker retain avian genetic characteristics and “for the most part lack changes that would make them better able to infect mammals,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a technical update. “The overall risk to human health associated with the ongoing HPAI A(H5) outbreaks in poultry and detections in wild birds and cattle remains low,” said the CDC. Brazil and Colombia sharply reduce forest loss With new leaders in office, Brazi ..read more

USDA confirms bird flu in 12th dairy herd, is testing more USDA scientists confirmed the bird flu virus in a dairy herd in Idaho on Tuesday — the 12th herd in five states — with Ohio appearing for the first time on the list of states with “presumptive positive” results that will be double-checked. Meanwhile, officials said a Texas egg farm suffered the largest U.S. outbreak of bird flu in four months. Carbon injection discussions involve many farmers More farmers and landowners are involved in discussions of carbon capture utilization and storage on farmland than in leasing land for solar pane ..read more

Bird flu spreads from cattle to human in Texas A Texas patient tested positive for the bird flu virus after exposure to dairy cattle believed to be carrying the disease — the first known instance of cattle-to-human transmission in the United States, said public health officials on Monday. The patient reported eye redness, consistent with conjunctivitis, as the only symptom and was recovering, said the Centers for Disease Control. House conservatives would rewrite farm supports in Trump’s name Congress would cut off crop subsidies to wealthy farmers and require growers to pay at least half of t ..read more

Bird flu found in dairy herds in five states Bird flu, which killed more than 82 million birds in U.S. domestic flocks in the past two years, has appeared in dairy herds in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas, said federal officials. The outbreaks, affecting a relatively small number of cattle, are not expected to affect milk supply or prices at the grocery store. EPA calls for lower-polluting buses and heavy trucks Manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks and buses will be required to produce vehicles that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 60 percent by model year 2032 under ..read more