American farmers no longer have to stoically face all that nature and the economy can dish out. ...more

November 25, 2007

Cargill Inc. said it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the second time in less than a month that it voluntarily has recalled beef that may have been tainted. ...more

November 4, 2007

SEBRING — Here's the upshot from Friday morning's citrus crop estimate: USDA experts don't expect a repeat of the 230 million box bumper crop of the 2001-02 season. But unless there's a disaster, 2007-08 will be way better than the 129 million boxes Florida farmers eked out last season. "We're excited to see the estimate of 168 million boxes this season," said Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president of Florida Citrus Mutual, a grower's association. Raymond Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association, thinks the agriculture department's prediction of 30 percent larger than last year is neither too positive or too negative. "It's right about where I believe, and many of our growers probably thought we would be," Royce said. ...more

October 13, 2007

Topps Meat Co. on Friday said it was closing its business, six days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and 67 years after it first opened its doors. ...more

October 6, 2007

The Agriculture Department on Thursday defended its decision to wait 18 days before seeking the recall of millions of pounds of ground beef after initial tests showed E. coli contamination, saying it was following standard policy to rule out other factors. ...more

October 5, 2007