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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: farms

farms stories: 10 news summaries

 'Hobby Farms' Cropping Up 

USDA says small farms are becoming more popular even as large farms grow

Oct 5, 09 12:18 PM CDT
(AP) - Most evenings, Gary Mithoefer can be found at the end of a long gravel driveway off a busy highway, tending two garden plots filled with white sweet potatoes, squash, cabbages, and a dozen other vegetables still thriving in early fall. The 62-year-old, who gardens after his workday ends at his... More »

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agriculture • farming • farms • USDA • farmer • farm • sustainability • farmers • organic farming

Farmers Raise a Stink Over Fees for Flatulence

EPA brands livestock odor air pollution

Dec 5, 08 8:16 AM CST
(Newser) - Farmers' noses are out of joint over proposed regulations that would fine them for their  livestock's flatulence, reports AP. Operations with herds over a certain size would be charged per animal to offset the amount of greenhouse gasses contained in their rather voluminous belching and farting, according to the EPA... More »

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greenhouse gases • farms • Environmental Protection Agency • air pollution • carbon emissions

PETA Video Shows W.Va. Workers Abusing Turkeys

Animal-rights org files criminal complaint; W.Va. company vows to punish workers

Nov 19, 08 2:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Just ahead of Thanksgiving, workers at a West Virginia farm are shown stomping turkeys and twisting their necks to kill them in an undercover video released by PETA, AP reports. The employee who filmed the stomach-turning scenes says the birds are kept in overcrowded barns and that employees brag about... More »

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farms • animal cruelty • animal rights • PETA • West Virginia • Thanksgiving • poultry • Aviagen • Pilgrim's Pride

Vermont Begins Push
to Save Historic Barns

Historical preservation effort counts every chicken coop and corn crib

Oct 28, 08 4:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - To Vermonters, the aging barns dotting their landscape are as important to the state's character—and tourism—as maple syrup or skiing. But the cost of maintaining them and the decline in family farms have taken a heavy toll, the Boston Globe reports. Now the state is conducting a "... More »

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Vermont • farms • New England • preservation • barns

 Midwest Fights
 Weeds With Bugs 

Biological control takes a food-chain approach to invasive plants

Jul 2, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Officials in the Midwest are returning to a tried-and-true technique to fight invasive plants, the Chicago Tribune reports. Biological control uses natural enemies to rein in pests, and importing a tiny brown beetle in the 1990s brought under control a fast-spreading European weed, known as loosestrife, that was terrorizing agriculture.... More »

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agriculture • farms • plants • species • insects • predators • invasive species • biological control

House Passes Farm Bill
With Veto-Proof Margin

It now goes to Senate and is expected to become law

May 14, 08 5:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - The House today passed a $300 billion farm bill by a lopsided vote of 318-106, more than enough to override a threatened veto from President Bush, the New York Times reports. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass with even stronger support. Bush has... More »

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Congress • farms • farm bill • food stamps

Opposition Rejects Recount in Zimbabwe

High court to rule on election results tomorrow

Apr 6, 08 6:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Zimbabwe’s opposition leader today rejected a demand by President Robert Mugabe for a vote recount, the BBC reports. Morgan Tsvangirai, who has accused Mugabe of plotting a violence to maintain power, called a recount “illegal” and “impractical.” Meanwhile, a high court said it will rule tomorrow... More »

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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai • farms • runoff election • Zimbabwe elections • Zanu-PF • MDC • recount

Straw
Goes
Green

Eco-friendly building material branches out beyond fairy tales

Aug 20, 07 11:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - The newest surprise climate-saving tool is straw walls, and the Big Bad Wolf may have underestimated the First Little Pig’s shelter, the Washington Post reports. Instead of drywall or insulation, contractors stack the farm waste around buildings’ skeletons and then coat it with plaster. The eco-friendly result looks like... More »

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climate change • global warming • green building • environmentalism • construction • farms • ecology • straw

Foot-and-Mouth Turns Up at Second Farm

New suspicions that virus may have spread in floodwaters

Aug 7, 07 4:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - England is culling a second herd of cattle feared to have foot-and-mouth disease. The animals were showing symptoms on an unidentified farm within a restricted zone around the area southwest of London where the first outbreak occurred. Investigators were considering the possibility that a flood in July may have spread... More »

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cattle • health • farming • United Kingdom • England • farms • cows • infection • foot and mouth disease • farmer • outbreak

Police Nab
'Ninja' in Italy

Black-cloaked, bow-wielding bandit preyed on farmers 14th-century-style

Jun 13, 07 5:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A weeks-long manhunt in northern Italy for an elusive "ninja"-styled thief ended yesterday after cops pursued the robber as he fled through cornfields on a bicycle, the BBC reports. The culprit, his head wrapped in a black bandanna, had stolen onto several isolated farms at night and robbed... More »

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Russia • robbery • Italy • Robin Hood • Ninja • thief • farms

10 Stories


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