Agbites for Wednesday, 9/18/13 BRAZIL LEADER CANCELS U.S. VISIT AMID SPAT (Wall Street Journal, 9/18) – President Dilma Rousseff called off a U.S. state visit planned for October in reaction to allegations the Obama administration spied electronically on Brazilians, including the country’s leader. The allegations have strained American ties with Brazil. THREE CRASHED TANKERS HAULING CORN SYRUP SHOW SMALL LEAKS (GateHouse Media, Peoria Journal Star, 9/18) – A sticky situation is developing at the Spoon River near Seville. After a trestle bridge collapsed and dropped six tanker cars full of corn syrup in the river, the challenge now is removing the cars without spilling thousands of gallons of the corn syrup. Ralph Foster, senior emergency responder with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said it appeared that three of the six cars had leaks. A leak in one car has been plugged, but the other two had small drips. TWO FACE CHARGES IN CATERPILLAR THEFTS (PJS, Herald & Review, 9/18) – Piece by custom-built piece – some as small as a drill bit, none too large to carry away in a bag – two men allegedly stole more than $1 million in parts from Caterpillar Inc. The three-year scheme unraveled last week when John Peters and Eliot Wells were arrested for the thefts. Peters used to work for Caterpillar, while Wells is a current employee. Court documents show the stolen machinery was being sold on eBay. APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED UNTIL OCT. 1 FOR ASA DUPONT YOUNG LEADER PROGRAM (Quincy Herald-Whig, 9/17) – Applications will be accepted until Oct. 1 for the American Soybean Association DuPont Young Leader Program. The program, now in its 30th year, identifies and cultivates farmer leaders. ASA, its 26 state affiliates, and DuPont Pioneer will work together to identify the top producers to represent their state as part of the program. Applications and more information are available online at soygrowers. URBAN FARMING ON THE HORIZON (Galesburg Register Mail, 9/18) – The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday paved the way for a new breed of farming in Galesburg. Commission members approved a new ordinance that allows urban farming in some parts of the city. Urban farming is a burgeoning industry that uses commercial buildings and rooftops to grow small yields of vegetables and other plants. Under the new ordinance, commercial buildings will be allowed to house aquaponic farming (growing food fish or other marine foods), hydroponic farming (a method of growing plants without water) and rooftop farming.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 20:13:21 +0000