Authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act, the VMLRP helps qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of debt incurred while pursuing their veterinary medicine degrees in return for their service in designated high-priority veterinary shortage situations. [node:read-more:link]

The government faced an uphill battle in Wednesday’s argument in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. As noted in my preview, the case involves the “jurisdictional determinations” (JDs) that the United States Army Corps of Engineers issues under the Clean Water Act. [node:read-more:link]

Gaping deficits wrought by tumbling fossil fuel prices are forcing states like Alaska and Wyoming to slash spending, but little is being done – at least for now – to address politically unpopular, longer-term questions about new revenue models that would lessen their dependence on boom-and-bust industries.  [node:read-more:link]

The Senate on Thursday voted 56-42 to fail an amendment to block funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water of the United States rule in the energy and water appropriations bill. [node:read-more:link]

Merrin Macrae, Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada opened a conference sponsored by the Michigan Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society and Michigan State University Extension in East Lansing on March 4, A Matter of Balance: Systems Approaches to Managing the Great Lakes Landscapes. [node:read-more:link]

The House Appropriations Committee narrowly approved an amendment to funding legislation that would stop USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) from finalizing rules pertaining to how the Packers and Stockyards Act is interpreted and enforced. [node:read-more:link]

The crushing forces prevailing against the U.S. coal industry have triggered an unprecedented shakeout, sparking bankruptcies of the industry’s biggest players — such as last week's collapse of Peabody Energy — and battering jobs in Appalachia even as mines in the west weather the fallout. [node:read-more:link]

DuPont Pioneer announced plans to market the first crop that uses a type of precise genetic modification called CRISPR-Cas9.  DuPont . . . wants to see the product — a hybrid type of corn — in farmers’ fields as early as 2021. The US Department of Agriculture has said that it will not subject the CRISPR corn to the same rules as traditional GMOs. [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack described the depth of poverty in rural America at a Farm Foundation Forum Monday, while at a separate meeting, Lisa Mensah, his top assistant on rural development, called for increased access to broadband as a way to give an economic boost to underserved communities.

Vilsack, speaking at the National Press Club, stressed the importance of targeting USDA resources in rural counties that are persistently impoverished - where at least 20 percent of the county's population has been living in poverty for the last 30 years or more. [node:read-more:link]

With the most extensive food safety regulations in history set to take effect soon, state agriculture officials across the country are preparing to enforce the federal law, but say their ability to inspect farms and enforce the new standards depends on the receipt of promised federal funds. [node:read-more:link]