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Dean Foods seeks to get back money paid to dairy farmers before bankruptcy | Successful Farming

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Dean Foods seeks to get back money paid to dairy farmers before bankruptcy | Successful Farming

Hundreds of dairy farmers nationwide fear they could owe substantial sums to the bankrupt dairy processor Dean Foods after the company sent out letters attempting to claw back payments made to farmers in the months preceding the company’s Chapter 11 filing last year. Dean’s actions have been harshly criticized by farm groups and, for some, underscore the dangers of a heavily consolidated dairy industry that leaves farmers with few processing options.

Dean, once the largest milk processor in the country, filed for bankruptcy last November. Farmers began receiving letters from Dean representatives in late November of this year demanding that they return money that had been paid to them by Dean in the three months preceding the company’s bankruptcy filing. Some farmers were ordered to pay as much as 1 $50,000 by mid-December or face litigation.

NPR

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Pennsylvania Turns To Man’s Best Friend To Sniff Out Spotted Lanternfly Infestation : NPR

Spotted lanternflies are easy enough to spot, with ruby red streaks beneath black-and-white wings that blend like an abstract expressionist painting.

But six years after the first sightings of them, Pennsylvanians have been told to squash them on sight. They exact a huge toll on agriculture. The insects feed off 70 plant species, including fruit trees and grapevines, and they could cost Pennsylvania $324 million per year in lost crops and 2,800 agricultural jobs if left unchecked.

Squashing the adults won't solve the problem, however. Their eggs are odorless to humans and hard to find, tucked into wheel wells, tree trunks, pots and crates.

US EPA confirms widespread emission tampering in diesel pickups

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news: US EPA confirms widespread emission tampering in diesel pickups

The report includes state- and county-level results based on a review of over 150,000 unique invoices containing delete tuning or hardware. These invoices cover sales of delete parts in all 50 states and approximately 83% of counties in the United States. The collected evidence also shows that approximately 50% of tampering occurs when vehicles are three years of age or less, and over 85% of tampering occurs by the time vehicles are eight years old.

The report focuses on delete tuners installed in Class 2b and 3 heavy pickup trucks, such as the Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram 2500. However, such devices have been also installed in other types of vehicles. The EPA believes that this conduct occurs within most or all categories of vehicles and engines, including commercial trucks, passenger vehicles, pickup trucks, motorcycles, forestry equipment and agricultural equipment.

People tamper vehicles and engines for a variety of reasons. Some remove emissions controls to avoid the cost and time required to maintain emissions controls, while others tamper to increase fuel economy or power, or to customize their vehicle. Emission tampering devices are commonly available from many, usually smaller size, suppliers.