Veterinarians’ role in prescription-drug monitoring [node:read-more:link]

The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it is reimbursing states, tribes and local governments about $1 million for their costs after the agency accidentally triggered a massive wastewater spill from a Colorado mine.

The EPA said the money is being paid to Colorado, New Mexico and Utah state governments, the Navajo Nation and Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and Colorado counties and towns. [node:read-more:link]

The Australian government said Friday that the deal for China's Dakang Australia to take control of the Kidman beef company is "contrary to the national interest."

Dakang has until Tuesday to respond to the government's concerns, but the announcement means the deal is likely to be blocked. [node:read-more:link]

Recognizing that GM development of alfalfa and other crop kinds will continue, the Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA) agreed to facilitate a value chain process to develop a coexistence plan for conventional, organic and GM alfalfa production, first in Eastern Canada in 2013, and now in Western Canada. [node:read-more:link]

The levels of multidrug resistant strains of salmonella in raw chicken and turkey products that consumers purchase at the grocery store have declined since 2011, the FDA said Thursday in a report based on samples taken from January 2014 to June 2015. Twenty percent of the chicken the agency tested contained salmonella resistant to more than one antibiotic, compared to 45 percent in 2011, while the rate of antibiotic resistant bacteria in turkey has fallen from 50 percent to 36 percent during the same time frame. [node:read-more:link]

Several agricultural organizations have gotten language included in the pending fiscal year 2017 House Agricultural Appropriations Bill asking USDA to exempt research and promotion boards funded by grower checkoff fees from federal public records law.

USDA currently fills records requests, subject to certain exemptions, on behalf of the boards under the federal Freedom of Information Act. USDA bills the boards to cover its oversight, including time spent on records requests. [node:read-more:link]

The Alberta government recognized Earth Day April 22 by announcing $15 million to be available annually, over the next five years, for public and private land conservation projects.

The funds were allocated in the recent budget and will support the Land Trust Grant Program and the Land Purchase Program, according to an Alberta Environment news release.

The two programs are used to promote voluntary conservation of private land and to buy land the province considers to be of high conservation value. [node:read-more:link]

A federal judge in California has dismissed, with prejudice, a lawsuit filed against Whole Foods by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, alleging that the high-end “natural” and organic food retailer is deceiving consumers with its claims of “humane” treatment of the animals from which Whole Foods derives its meat products. [node:read-more:link]

In early March, a resident of the small Colorado towns of Drake and Glen Haven — situated within northern Colorado’s Big Thompson River Canyon — reported noticing funky gray water in a side creek of the river and a murder of crows picking at a few dead fish. A few days later, March 7, a large plume of more cloudy water ran down the Big Thompson, leaving behind a massive fish kill. [node:read-more:link]

A Montana wind energy project plans to make use of existing infrastructure built for coal.

In large part, the existing electrical grid was built around hydropower, nuclear and coal and natural gas power plants. Those existing long-distance power lines are either filled to capacity with conventionally-generated electrons, or they just aren’t there, leaving vast swaths of the West — often the best places to build a wind or solar plant — without a way to get that power to the people who need it. [node:read-more:link]