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To erode small-town culture is to erode the culture of the nation. Small towns have always risked losing young people for good, but especially after the Great Recession, the American economy has conspired against returners. Economic and agricultural concentration, declining industries, and lower wages aren’t giving younger people much reason to go home. Many small towns are becoming older, poorer, less educated.  Small towns and rural areas send a disproportionate number of their children into the military. America’s food is grown around small towns. [node:read-more:link]

Much of the Midwest is dominated by farming: rows and rows of soybeans and corn, with bare soil between the rows. But before farming took over, the dominant ecosystem was prairie. [node:read-more:link]

New research from the University of Delaware concludes that food labels such as “organic” and “fair trade” can stigmatize foods produced with conventional processes even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm or that products are compositionally different. Such process claims often are not based on science and can cause consumers to misinterpret these labels and misalign their personal preferences and food purchases, the researchers said. [node:read-more:link]

Dairy farmers in Massachusetts struggle to make good-quality feed, make ends meet when milk prices are low and push the limit on cow numbers to keep their farms afloat. At least that’s what a contingent from Wisconsin learned Oct. 9 when they visited the Jordan Dairy Farm near Rutland, Mass. [node:read-more:link]

The bill was passed by the Senate on May 23rd by a unanimous vote of 62-0. The Assembly version of the bill, A464B, sponsored by Assemblywoman Paulin, was passed on June 6th by a vote of 56-6, and is now set to be delivered to Governor Cuomo. [node:read-more:link]

he U.S Food and Drug Administration is announcing public meetings to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Francisco, California, regarding its Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative. Congress appropriated $3 million to fund this initiative, which calls upon the FDA to work with USDA to provide education and outreach to the public on agricultural biotechnology and food and animal feed ingredients derived from biotechnology. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it will override Maine’s ability to run its own meat inspection program unless the state clarifies the law. Maine’s Department of Agriculture is concerned that the law would keep it from inspecting any meat slaughtered and processed in a town that is food sovereign, negating an agreement it has with the USDA to meet federal standards. The prospect that meat-processing facilities like Bisson’s could close, even temporarily, has sent food producers across Maine into a state of near panic and confusion. [node:read-more:link]

The World Health Organization’s cancer agency dismissed and edited findings from a draft of its review of the weedkiller glyphosate that were at odds with its final conclusion that the chemical probably causes cancer. [node:read-more:link]

Lending at agricultural banks appeared to stabilize in the third quarter of 2017, but risks in the sector have remained alongside a persistently weak agricultural economy. After declining in the winter months, the volume of loans used to finance non-real estate farm purchases rebounded in the third quarter to a level similar to a year ago. Despite the rebound in lending activity, however, risk ratings on new farm loans have increased somewhat, interest rates have edged higher and loan-to-deposit ratios—a key measure of bank liquidity—also have increased. [node:read-more:link]

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law bill A.B. 485, making it illegal for pet stores to sell dogs, cats, and rabbits from any source other than a shelter or rescue group. The law will go into effect in 2019. Thirty-six cities in California, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, already had bans on mass breeding operations. [node:read-more:link]