Pig farms have been forced at great expense under animal welfare laws to reconfigure their pens to allow pigs to wander around, but when I visited a farm to see the animals enjoy their freedom I found them slumped on the ground: the removal of the pens, the farmer told me, had made no difference to their behaviour at all. According to a study by the animal behaviourist Jeff Downing, of Sydney University, it isn t battery cages that leave chickens feeling stressed but the wide open spaces...

Fearing huge losses to the poultry industry due to outbreak of bird flu in Manipur, National Egg Coordination Committee has asked the farmers in northern region not to be influenced by traders's demand of reduction in prices. The government had on July 25 confirmed detection of bird flu cases in Manipur and said 1.5 lakh birds will be culled to check its spread. NECC asks farmers not to reduce egg prices Jul. International Monetary Fund revises upward India's GDP growth rate by 0.6 per...

The prospect of using the combustible gas to cut greenhouse emissions and produce revenue is drawing interest from entrepreneurs and agricultural companies. That could create a "carbon" economy, giving value to cutting greenhouse emissions and creating a market for credits on such reductions. It does not address such issues as odor, ammonia emissions and other pollutants that have long been a problem on factory farms. Scott Subler, president of Environmental Credit corp., a...

Disaster Warning Unheeded Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS Posted: 2007-07-31 The report in this newspaper on July 28 issue titled State was warned and given fund for flu campaign 5 months ago , needs a serious consideration, now that the initial shock and din over the bird flu outbreak in Imphal has somewhat been subdued. Disaster Warning Unheeded Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS Posted: 2007-07-31 The report in this newspaper on July 28 issue titled State was warned and given fund for flu campaign 5...

The Walz amendment would require the secretary of agriculture, in consultation with the secretary of transportation, to complete the study within nine months after the farm bill is signed into law. Among other things, the provision requires that a report and recommendations be submitted to Congress concerning the adequacy of rail capacity, competition and service reliability in rural America, as well as the accessibility of rail customers to federal forums to resolve disputes with rail...