Free Republic

I can’t run a farm on 5 percent’.. In the Netherlands, dairy farmer Martin Neppelenbroek is near the end of the line. New environmental regulations will require him to slash his livestock numbers by 95 percent. He thinks he will have to sell his family farm. “I can’t run a farm on 5 percent. For me, it’s over and done with,” he said in a July 7 interview with The Epoch Times. “In view of the regulations, I can’t sell it to anybody. Nobody wants to buy it. [But] the government wants to buy it. And that’s why they [have]...

“As a producer of grass-fed beef, I am familiar with some of the difficulties small farmers face when marketing fresh food directly to consumers. Our bills would make it easier for families to buy wholesome milk directly from farmers by reversing the criminalization of dairy farmers who offer raw milk,” said Rep. Massie. “The federal government should not punish farmers for providing customers the foods they want, and states should be free to set their own laws regulating food safety.” Representative Pingree says this legislation supports small farmers. “Many consumers want to buy fresh, unpasteurized milk and regulations shouldn’t get...

A Wantage dairy farmer has become the first Sussex County farmer -- and only the fourth ever from New Jersey -- to be named a winner in the 49th annual National Outstanding Young Farmer competition. He also is the first dairy farmer in New Jersey to win the award, said Lynne Richmond, a spokeswoman with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. "The recognition means a lot to me. I was just happy to be there," said Jeff VanderGroef, who operates the 337-acre Havendale Farm, one of the largest dairy farms in New Jersey. VanderGroef, 37, received the New Jersey 2005...

Sunday morning at around 11:15 a wounded man came panting up to a New York National Guard unit near the Iraqi town of Belad, about 30 miles south of Tikrit. The man said he was an American: Thomas Hamill, a contractor kidnapped last month after insurgents ambushed a convoy in which he'd been driving. He said he'd heard the US patrol pass the building in which he was being held, so he'd pried a door open and chased them half a mile up the road. Other than an old gunshot wound to the arm, Mr. Hamill seemed fine, so the...