Carl Houghton sprayed endosulfan on his animals at his farm at Waimauku and failed to notify the processing plant when the animals went for slaughter. He says while the sentence was the absolute minimum, it highlighted the need to send a very clear message to the farming community. Beef exports to seven other markets were also potentially affected. He says there was still a major problem concerning farmers' attitudes towards agricultural chemicals. The farmer's actions also caused the...

Mahoney, who sold his Highlands County cattle ranch two months ago, said the compromise was that cattle producers will not have to keep any additional records. House Agriculture Committee approved a compromise provision that implements mandatory country-of-origin labeling, also known as COOL, for beef, pork, lamb and goat. However, many small producers - such as his ranch, which produced 100 or so calves a year - don't keep records on animals' births but soon will be required to do so. and...

Before long, the cattle were fat and flourishing on the bunchgrass range, and with his share of the profits Bowe was able to purchase Phil Grinders half of the ranch. But the Alkali Lake Ranch continues to carry on the tradition of cattle ranching and can claim the dual honour of being the first cattle ranch and the longest continually operating ranch in the province. During the 1870s, when markets for beef dwindled, Bowe took a new business partner, John Koster, to help with the ranch and...

It is now widely accepted that the future of ethanol is cellulosic: Rather than distilling corn for ethanol to fuel our cars, accepted wisdom is now that we will be able to replace a large fraction of our current fuel consumption with ethanol distilled from agricultural and forestry waste, as well as dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass and hybrid poplar. It is now widely accepted that the future of ethanol is cellulosic: Rather than distilling corn for ethanol to fuel our cars,...

Exports of high-tech goods such as computers and semiconductors grew by 10 percent nationally last year to $220 billion, with companies based in Florida helping to lead the way. Exports of communications equipment, such as telephone gear, grew by 13 percent, while semiconductor exports grew by 11 percent. It is the sixth-biggest for industrial electronics, such as factory robots, production counters and meters, navigational devices and other electronic measuring equipment. Fiala said the...