Free Republic

PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. (AP) -- Cows stand patiently in a tent-like chamber at a research farm in western Wisconsin, waiting for their breath to be tested. Outside, corrals have been set up with equipment to measure gas wafting from the ground. A nearby corn field contains tools that allow researchers to assess the effects of manure spread as fertilizer. Scientists based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have started a slew of studies to determine how dairy farms can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. They will look at what animals eat, how their waste is handled and the effects on...

German claiming to be great niece of Konrad Kujau, who forged the Hitler Diaries, put his signature on fakes of his masterpiece copiesHe is known as the man behind what was arguably the most masterly forgery of the 20th century, the Hitler diaries. Now almost three decades after investigators rumbled Konrad Kujau's multimillion pound ruse, a woman falsely claiming to be his great niece has been convicted of forging Kujau forgeries and selling them to unwitting collectors. The bizarre tale, details of which unfolded in a Dresden courtroom during a two-year long trial, centred on 300 paintings obtained by...

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/February/10-at-182.html NOTE: The following text SNIPPET is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Department of Justice and USDA Workshops to Explore Competition and Regulatory Issues in the Agriculture Industry to Begin March 12 in Iowa Initial Workshop to Be Held in Ankeny, Iowa, at Des Moines Area Community College, FFA Enrichment Center WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the agenda and panelists for the first joint public workshop, which will be held on March 12, 2010, in Ankeny, Iowa, to explore competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture...

Six Colorado dairies have filed for bankruptcy protection this year amid banking problems and low milk prices. Four of the banks had loans from Greeley-based New Frontier Bank, which collapsed in April... Bob Winter, a member of the Colorado Farm Bureau, says he believes more Colorado dairies are preparing to file for bankruptcy protection

The one bit of encouraging news for small dairies has been the growing market among health-conscious consumers for unpasteurized milk and dairy products like yogurt, butter and cream... Small dairies have rushed to meet this need via a completely new business model. Instead of selling milk in bulk to processors who offer take-it-or-leave-it prices of $1.50 to $2 a gallon, some small dairies sell directly to consumers at whatever price the market will bear, typically from $5 a gallon to as much as $10 a gallon. At those prices, dairy farmers actually begin thinking in terms of a long-forgotten word:...

FALLON, Nev. (AP) -- Two dairy farms have dumped milk after the discovery of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope in 25 nearby drinking water wells. Officials from Sorensen's Dairy and Oasis Dairy said they will stop selling milk until it is tested for the isotope, polonium-210, by the Food and Drug Administration. Officials said there's no known health risk at this time. A study released Friday by the U.S. Geological Survey found the radioactive isotope in 24 private wells and one public well around Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. Polonium-210 is known to cause cancer in humans. All...

Tulare County supervisors approved a permit Tuesday to build a pair of mammoth dairies next to a state historic park devoted to black settlers, but a deal was in the works to keep the farms far from the monument to a freed slave. The plan to put more than 12,000 cows within two miles of Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park pitted Sam Etchegaray against environmentalists and park supporters who said the dairies would be an offensive neighbor, bringing stink, flies and pollution to the black utopia founded in 1908 by the former Army chaplain. Supervisors said they believe an environmental...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Air regulators said Monday that dairies are the number one source of smog-producing pollution in the San Joaquin Valley, producing more than even cars and light trucks. In a much-disputed report released Monday, the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District determined that a cow annually emits 19.3 pounds of volatile organic compounds, the gases that contribute to smog. That's 50 percent more than currently thought. At that new rate, dairies in the San Joaquin Valley produce more than 50 tons of VOCs a day, exceeding the amount released by cars and light trucks in the...

The relationship between dairies and the Central Valley's polluted air changed dramatically Wednesday morning when a UC Davis researcher reported that dairies produce far less pollution than previously believed. Frank Mitloehner, who has been running a "bovine bubble" experiment to measure gases coming from cows, said his study found cows create only half the pollutant amounts previously counted by air regulators. What's more, most harmful gases come from a cow's belches -- not its manure, he found. The burgeoning dairy industry in the Central Valley has been targeted by environmental groups that have accused dairymen of contributing to the already-dirty...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The California Pollution Control Financing Authority voted Tuesday to temporarily halt funding dairy projects and to adopt standards to ensure that future funds improve air and water quality. The 90-day moratorium puts applications for $25.6 million on hold for five San Joaquin Valley dairies as the authority looks into how $65.9 million in low-interest loans were issued for 18 dairy projects that may have led to expansions and created more pollution. "We want to be improving the environment, not harming it," said Treasurer Phil Angelides, chairman of the authority. "It's very clear that there are air quality...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nearly $70 million in state bond money earmarked for reducing pollution was used by California dairies to expand their operations, which resulted in more air pollution, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. The result, the newspaper said, is that the air in California's dairy-rich San Joaquin Valley is now among the dirtiest in the nation, recording more eight-hour ozone level violations than Los Angeles. State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who as head of the Pollution Control Financing Authority approved the loans, now says the money was misspent. The environmental impact of large dairies should have been studied...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - More than a dozen dairies in California are building contraptions to turn one of their least-valued products - the gases that rise from decomposing manure - into one of the state's most sought-after commodities - energy. The state's 1.72 million dairy cows, clustered heavily in the Central Valley, have made California the country's top dairy state. Their milk and cream sell for more than $4 billion a year, and the industry brings jobs and tax revenue to counties with double-digit unemployment. But according to air officials, the state's cows also contribute about 10 percent of the...