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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new USDA initiatives to strengthen outreach and education resources at the local level to combat the rural opioid epidemic, including an expanded series of state-led opioid awareness events and increased access to information in USDA local offices. The effort begins on Monday, Sept. 19, coinciding with President Obama's designated Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week from Sept. [node:read-more:link]

Recently, the EPA released a draft Ecological Risk Assessment on atrazine, a popular herbicide used for weed control in growing the vast majority of corn, sorghum and sugarcane in the United States. Unfortunately, the federal agency is refusing to follow the law. Instead of using sound science in today’s review process, political activism is driving the re-registration of atrazine.  According to the latest assessment, EPA is recommending aquatic life level of concern (LOC) be set at 3.4 parts per billion (ppb) on a 60-day average. The EPA’s current LOC for atrazine is 10 ppb. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach, in consultation with an appointed committee, has approved a matrix designed to assist local officials in evaluating livestock siting applications. The development of the assessment matrix is a result of LB 106 which was passed by the Nebraska Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2015. Under the bill, NDA was directed to create the assessment matrix based on input from a committee appointed by the NDA director. [node:read-more:link]

Penn State researchers have found that eggs from small flocks of chickens are more likely to be contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis than eggs sold in grocery stores, which typically come from larger flocks.  That conclusion was drawn from a six-month study done last year in Pennsylvania. Researchers from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences collected and tested more than 6,000 eggs from more than 200 selling points across the state for the study. [node:read-more:link]

Glyphosate is likely not carcinogenic to humans, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, again, in an issue paper posted to a federal regulatory website.  The paper's release comes ahead of a scientific advisory panel meeting scheduled to run from Oct. 18 to Oct. 21 in Washington, D.C.  The paper, titled "Glyphosate Issue Paper: Evaluation of Carcinogenic Potential," is a 227-page document outlining the voluminous studies examined by EPA to this point on the cancer-causing potential of the herbicide. [node:read-more:link]

For some, there's a a glam factor attached to the vegan lifestyle. And these days, there seems to be a growing chorus singing the praises of the environmental and health benefits of a plant-centric diet.  Perhaps nowhere is the embrace of a vegetarian diet more on display than in Berlin, Germany, dubbed a global vegan mecca for its growing array of restaurants (think: vegan kebabs, pizza and ice cream) as well as vegan street festivals — and even a vegan butcher. [node:read-more:link]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has scheduled some must-see TV for farmers and other involved in the seed, biotechnology and chemical mergers.  Grassley released a witness list late Wednesday for the Sept. 20 hearing by his committee -- Consolidation and Competition in the U.S. Seed and Agrochemical Industry. [node:read-more:link]

We are proud to work with The Humane Society of the United States because of their expertise on illegal animal cruelty and fighting and frequent collaboration with law enforcement in pursuing those crimes.  The HSUS has provided free training to tens of thousands of law enforcement officials across the country on how to investigate illegal animal cruelty and its connection with crimes against people.
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Consumers prefer gene-disrupting “RNAi” biopesticides over genetically engineered crops, but they don’t much like either technology, according to a recent study.  Researchers from the University of Arkansas conducted the study by asking consumers about their “willingness to pay” for conventional rice sprayed with insecticides, rice that’s genetically modified to withstand pests and rice treated with an RNAi biopesticide. The biotech rice and RNAi biopesticide described to consumers aren’t commercially available, so those possibilities were hypothetical. [node:read-more:link]