A freelance cartoonist says he was fired for drawing an editorial cartoon that bemoaned Iowa farmers' dwindling profits while CEOs at large agricultural corporations earn millions of dollars. [node:read-more:link]
Consumer demand is helping many start-ups pull off a successful launch, even in an industry notoriously difficult to crack because of competition from large retailers. Take Thrive Market, a Los Angeles start-up that sells specialty organic food and beauty products. The online grocer garnered $10 million in sales after just 17 months from its launch - a stunning rate of growth - that has surprised its founders and investors, as well as execs across the food industry. [node:read-more:link]
The Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project won preliminary approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday, paving the way for the $3 billion expansion of the Transco system to move forward as environmentalists simultaneously filed a federal lawsuit objecting to the pipeline. FERC released its draft environmental impact statement, concluding the environmental impact would not be significant. [node:read-more:link]
As California looks to get half its electricity from renewables by 2030, energy regulators in the state have never been busier. [node:read-more:link]
Setting a new lopsided quarterly record, renewable sources outpaced — in fact, swamped — natural gas by a factor of more than 70:1 for new electrical generating capacity placed in-service during the first three months of calendar year 2016. According to the latest just-released monthly "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Office of Energy Projects, nine new "units" of wind provided 707 MW, followed by 44 units of solar (522 MW), 9 units of biomass (33 MW), and one unit of hydropower (29 MW). [node:read-more:link]
A Stark County judge ordered the state to return 10 exotic animals seized. [node:read-more:link]
State veterinarians across the nation are reviewing a recently proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that eliminates the approval of outdoor porches for hens from the National Organic Program, instead requiring direct exposure of hens to the outdoors. Recently, California state veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones expressed concern with the rule in a comment to USDA.
Jones urged USDA and its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to reconsider this proposed rule, especially the outdoor access requirements that may pose serious animal health and food safety concerns. [node:read-more:link]
Landowners have won some important legislative and court battles [node:read-more:link]
Kevin Glanz doesn't believe his crop insurance policy should be put in jeopardy because he's following a cover-cropping practice approved by USDA's Risk Management Agency.
Yet Glanz has already been told his corn crop will face a quality control audit this growing season by Des Moines-based Rain and Hail LLC after Glanz informed his insurance agent that he plans to interseed a cover-crop mix into his standing corn crop this year. [node:read-more:link]
