‘Agriculture’

Sholom Rubashkin won’t be heading back to court to face 72 counts of immigration-related charges after all.

Iowa’s rural private drinking water wells “have several contaminant problems, some long-standing and some emerging,” according to the results of a two-year study released last week.

A jury in Sioux Falls, S.D., returned to the courtroom late Thursday afternoon and delivered judgment on former Agriprocessors manager Sholom M. Rubashkin: Guilty on 86 of 91 possible counts.

Rubashkin, who is the 50-year-old son of company founder and president A. Aaron Rubashkin, was convicted of all possible money laundering and mail, wire and bank fraud charges. He was also convicted on 15 out of 20 counts of failing to provide timely pay to livestock auctions and providers.

A new white paper released by The Iowa Policy Project focuses on the disparities at play when rural residents seek health care insurance.
“[This report] really highlights that the need for health reform that isn’t limited to people who are working outside their home — that it is a big issue for those who are self-employed [...]

Blogger Mike Stark, who has been asking congressional leaders who oppose health care reform on camera about the specific demographics of their own districts, caught up with U.S. Rep. Steve King, the Republican who represents Iowa’s 5th Congressional District.
When asked if how many people residing in his district were uninsured, King responded that the people [...]

An international team of scientists, funded with $10 million in grant money from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and supported by at least two Iowa entities, has completed the first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig — a scientific advance that holds promise for both future swine production and human medicine.
“Understanding [...]

A slaughtering company was ordered to immediately suspend operations today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Department of Agriculture following the results of an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States that appears to have documented animal abuse that federal inspectors did not correct.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius teamed with U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) on Tuesday to pitch health care reform as one of the few remaining ways to level the playing field for many Americans who reside in rural areas.

The steady decline in rural health care access can take a toll on patients’ health, but it can also impact the economic well-being of rural communities.

Expanding insurance coverage is important, experts say, but that is only half the battle. For many Americans, particularly in rural parts of the country, access to high quality health care services could remain elusive even after insurance becomes available.