Agriculture briefs: Ripon man dies following tractor rollover

TOWN OF BROOKLYN, WI

Ripon man dies following tractor rollover

Robert C. Kallio, 61, of Ripon, is dead following a tractor rollover Monday night in the town of Brooklyn.

Authorities responded to the incident after 6:20 p.m. on Brooklyn G Road near Spaulding Hill Road in the town of Brooklyn, according to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

First responders determined Kallio was dead shortly after arriving on scene.

Officials said early investigation suggested Kallio, who lived at the farm, was working on the tractor when it rolled, trapping him underneath.

PULASKI, WI

Wife says WI brothers' disappearance a 'nightmare'

The wife of one of two Wisconsin brothers who went missing in Missouri and are presumed dead says their disappearance is horrific.

Lisa Diemel told the Kansas City Star that her husband and brother-in-law's disappearance is a nightmare they'll live with for the rest of their lives.

Her husband, 35-year-old Nicholas Diemel, and his 24-year-old brother, Justin, were reported missing July 21.

Garland Nelson is in jail without bail on charges of tampering with a rental truck the brothers used during their Missouri trip.

Nelson is accused of driving the truck from a farm near Braymer visited by the brothers during a business trip for their cattle operation in Wisconsin. The truck was found abandoned July 22.

Police found human remains on the farm but have not yet identified them.

FRANKLIN, WI

Equity firm buys majority of Franklin meatpacker Strauss

A private equity firm has purchased a majority stake in Strauss Brands LLC, a specialty meatpacker in Franklin that employs about 300 people and plans to build a new processing plant.

Insight Equity Holdings LLC of Southlake, Texas, bought the majority share of Strauss. 

Strauss Brands, 9775 S. 60th St., plans to spend $58 million to develop a 175,000-square-foot plant on 30 acres near West Ryan and West Loomis roads.

In a statement, Randy Strauss said the company had outgrown its production facility because of growth in its grass-fed and organic beef lines, as well as in the firm’s core veal and lamb business.

DOWNERS GROVE, IL

European Commission grants grain import approval

Syngenta announced it has received import approval for the Agrisure Duracade® trait (event 5307) from the European Commission.

The trait features a unique mode of action that controls corn rootworm (CRW) differently than other traits on the market.

The approval covers corn grain and its derived products for food and feed use within the countries of the European Union (EU).

TOPEKA, KA

Brothers who sold deadly cantaloupe face charges

Two brothers from Colorado whose contaminated cantaloupe killed 33 people and hospitalized many more in 2011 are facing drug charges in Kansas related to an industrial hemp shipment.

Eric and Ryan Jensen grow industrial hemp at a farm run by Eric's son in Holly, Colorado, where industrial hemp is legal. They are accused of attempting to ship industrial hemp by FedEx through Kansas, where the crop is illegal, The Wichita Eagle reported.

The Jensens pleaded guilty in 2013 to causing a nationwide outbreak of listeria through infected cantaloupe grown at their farm. They were sentenced to home detention and ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution.

NEWFIELDS, N.H.

Farm loses about 400 chickens in recent extreme heat

A New Hampshire farm says it lost about 400 chickens due to the recent extreme heat.

The Vernon Family Farm in Newfields said the birds died of heatstroke last Saturday.

Owner Jeremiah Vernon tells WMUR-TV the farm has about 6,000 chickens and about 35,000 in pasture. He said the chickens that died were the oldest on the farm and they were set to be processed on Monday. He estimates the wholesale value of the 400 chickens at around $7,000.

Vernon said workers had taken measures to prevent the heat stress, but they didn't work. He said the farm is spending money on generators and fans for the pens.

INDEPENDENCE, MO

Property owners sue to stop proposed cattle farm expansion

Property owners near a cattle farm in northwest Missouri are suing to stop a major expansion of the operation.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday by 141 property owners contends the Valley Oaks Steak Co.'s farm already has brought noise, odors and pests to the area near Lone Jack, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Kansas City.

The lawsuit contends the problems will only get worse if Valley Oaks' proposal to expand from fewer than 999 cattle to 6,999 cattle is granted.

The landowners and Powell Gardens, a botanical garden about 3 miles from Valley Oaks, have opposed the expansion. In January, a Jackson County judge granted a preliminary injunction that put the expansion plans on hold.

Valley Oaks officials have said the operation will be among the most environmentally friendly concentrated animal feeding operations in the country.