Tennessee backs down on ag-gag law Monday, August 5, 2013 In June's Better Pork, we reported that lawmakers voted to make Tennessee the latest state to approve a so-called "ag-gag" law, a bill to make it illegal to record animal cruelty incidents on livestock farms without reporting them to the police right away.Just after we went to press, Tennessee Republican governor Bill Haslam vetoed the bill, following the opinion of his Democratic attorney general that it wouldn't pass a constitutional challenge, freedom of speech being nearly as important in that country as freedom to own a gun.According to Meatingplace.com, Haslam also cited concerns that the new law might take away reporters' rights to gather information for stories, and that it might be harder to prosecute legitimate animal cruelty cases "as an unintended consequence."As well, a number of Tennessee celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, among them songwriter Emmylou Harris, country music singer Carrie Underwood and even Priscilla Presley. The Humane Society of the United States sees it as a victory; the Animal Agriculture Alliance, which writes and speaks out against animal rights legislation, is not pleased. BP A Chinese takeover of Smithfields? The battle of the polls over gestation stalls
Pork producers applaud long-awaited EPA data decision Friday, November 6, 2026 For more than 20 years, hog and other livestock farmers have lived with uncertainty over what new federal permitting or reporting requirements could result from an emissions study conducted nearly two decades ago. In a regulatory win for pork producers and other farmers, the Environmental... Read this article online
Ag in the House: Oct. 26 – 30 Friday, November 6, 2026 On Oct. 26, Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald fielded a question from a fellow Liberal MP about how the federal government is supporting food security across Canada. Chi Nguyen, the Ontario MP for Spadina—Harbourfront, asked the minister to share how the government is going to invest... Read this article online
What is Struvite? Could it Help Farmers Stretch Phosphorus and Reduce Runoff Friday, November 6, 2026 Canadian researchers are exploring whether a fertilizer recovered from wastewater could become part of a more sustainable approach to phosphorus management on farms. Research from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) indicates that struvite, when used alongside conventional... Read this article online
NASA Uses Satellite Imagery to Assess Ukraine Harvests Friday, November 6, 2026 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 disrupted agricultural production and the country’s ability to monitor crop conditions. With winter wheat and rapeseed already planted before the conflict began, questions emerged about how much farmland farmers could access and... Read this article online
Kalon Armstrong joins Nofence as managing director for Canada Friday, November 6, 2026 Nofence has brought in an agtech professional with more than a decade of experience to lead its commercial launch in Canada. Kalon Armstrong, a co-founder of Enriched Ag, an Alberta-based data insight company focused on ranching and grazing management, is Nofence’s managing director for... Read this article online