‘Agriculture’

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.

Although the net loss figures presented to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley by Iowa dairy families last Friday were shocking, the fact that the families wanted to discuss their non-existent revenues with an elected official was expected. The same couldn’t be said, however, for the subsequent discussion about comprehensive immigration reform.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign an agriculture appropriations bill this week that contains millions in direct aide to the nation’s dairy farmers.

Of the three big issues before Congress this year — health care, cap-and-trade and banking regulation reform — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said that cap-and-trade will be the most controversial.
“It just seems to me that the push for cap-and-trade has slowed down very dramatically since the [U.S.] House passed it on the Friday before the [...]

A video featuring Rosa Weiss, daughter of Sholom Rubashkin, is circulating throughout the Jewish community in an effort to raise funds to offset legal fees associated with the case that stemmed from the May 2008 Agriprocessors immigration raid.