by Dave Davies November 6, 2017 | Heard on Fresh Air The Moneyball author is writing a series of articles for Vanity Fair about President Trump’s picks to lead federal agencies — and the consequences of those appointments. Transcript: TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I’m Terry Gross. You might know our guest, journalist…

Ranch Group Files Summary Judgement Brief in COOL Case Spokane, Wash. – Last week, co-plaintiffs R-CALF USA and the Cattle Producers of Washington (CPoW) filed a brief for summary judgement in their country-of-origin labeling (COOL) case in the federal district court located in Spokane, Wash. The groups seek to reinstate that portion of the recently…

Friends, In response to Secretary Perdue’s October 17th announcement that he would withdraw the GIPSA Farmer Fair Practices Rules, Organization for Competitive Markets immediately called on President Trump to do by executive order what the Secretary was unwilling to do: implement the proposed GIPSA rules. Today, a coalition of more than 80 agricultural organizations including…

“A.M.” Writes to Jonas (The letter published below is written by A.M. Kinney, vice president of the Kansas Farmers Union, and former editor of this paper. Let us hope he writes letters to “Jonas” and that he lets us read the letters.) Hon. Jonas Slickery, M.C., House of Representative Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. Dear Jonas:…

By Greg Gunthorp / Photography By Grant Beachy | October 26, 2017 Editor’s note: We’re always curious to know what local farmers are thinking about. That’s why we invite farmers to reflect on their work and share what’s on their minds in our Diary of a Farmer department. For our Locavore issue, we asked Greg…

New Study Confirms High-Pesticide Produce Linked to Lower Fertility Rates By Dan Nosowitz, Modern Farmer 02 November 17 ews that there may be a correlation between exposure to pesticides and infertility is not new; studies have previously tied higher rates of exposure to decreased male fertility. But a new study, primarily from researchers at Harvard…

by Lisa Held | October 31, 2017 The Maine Congresswoman (and farmer) talks about her policy priorities leading up to the 2018 Farm Bill. United States Congresswoman Chellie Pingree has been an organic farmer in Maine since the 1970s, so it’s no surprise she’s also been pushing for food system change since she was elected…

Sonny’s killing of GIPSA not good · By Alan Guebert, Ag columnist A joke bouncing around the ag grapevine shines more light on where rural America’s politics are than where its funny bone actually is. The abridged version goes like this: My dog sleeps 20 hours out of 24, eats free food prepared for him…

by Pete Kennedy | October 26, 2017 This month the Maine Legislature held an emergency session, a move partly due to a threat from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to shut down Maine’s state meat inspection program. In June Governor Paul LePage signed into law Legislative Drawer (LD) 725, “An Act to Recognize…

By Nick Stumo-Langer | October 31, 2017 As local economies suffer from market concentration in economic sectors ranging from retail to banking, cooperatives across industries are helping to strengthen communities and keep resources local. This is nothing new; cooperatives have a long history of serving local needs. Today, the cooperative ownership structure continues to create…