“This is the seventh straight month the overall index has moved below growth neutral. Recent declines are the result of lower agriculture and energy commodity prices and downturns in manufacturing. Since June of last year, prices for farm products have fallen by approximately 11 percent, and fuel by roughly 25 percent," said Ernie Goss,  at Creighton University's Heider College of Business. [node:read-more:link]

The analysis shows that animal agriculture increased gross national product by $123 billion in economic output, improved household earnings by more than $21 billion and added 645,629 jobs from 2004 to 2014.
According to the "Economic Analysis of Animal Agriculture," during 2014 alone, U.S. animal agriculture’s support of the national economy included $440.7 billion in economic output, $76.7 billion in earnings and $19.6 billion in income taxes.  [node:read-more:link]

Since the beginning of this year, China has spent about $84 billion in foreign mergers and acquisitions, though some estimates are even higher, according to Thomson Reuters. The country and its corporations are on pace to blow out of the water last year's record Chinese foreign purchases, which reached $109 billion. [node:read-more:link]

Located on a sprawling nine-acre lot in Santa Cruz, New Mexico, Camino de Paz is one of a kind. The solar-powered property boasts three greenhouses, an old barn, a commercial dairy, a fiber arts/marimba studio, and more.

Students spend the early mornings and late afternoons completing farm chores, rotating between the horticulture, dairy, animal, and indoor “crews” each semester. Time in between is spent in the mixed-grade classroom where lessons often relate to what’s going on at the farm. [node:read-more:link]

What’s it like to grow old in rural America?

When it comes to attention and medical resources, “we’re kind of underrepresented,” said Dr. Bill George, who practices at Beartooth Billings Clinic in Red Lodge. “People sometimes feel forgotten.”

The rural American population is older: About 15 percent of residents are 65 or older, compared with 12 percent in urban areas, largely because many people have left in search of education and jobs. [node:read-more:link]

any Georgians are surprised to learn that agriculture contributes approximately $75.35 billion to the state’s economy, according to University of Georgia Center for Agribusiness, which is the state’s top industry.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black was in Albany Tuesday to deliver an address to the Dougherty County Rotary Club about the plight of the state’s farmers and a new program called “Georgia Grown.” [node:read-more:link]

Aubrey Fletcher knew she wanted to work on a dairy farm ever since she was a little girl. So she and her husband's family collaborated to start Edgewood Creamery outside of Springfield, Mo., last August. They recently opened a storefront on the farm selling their milk and cheese. [node:read-more:link]

Rural America has long produced much of the nation’s energy. However, a majority of the nation’s energy is consumed in urban areas, where most of the nation’s people and infrastructure are located. This gap between energy production and consumption means that energy policy has very different implications for rural and urban communities. [node:read-more:link]

Most food, if we trace it back far enough, began as a seed. And the business of supplying those seeds to farmers has been transformed over the past half-century. Small-town companies have given way to global giants.

A new round of industry consolidation is now underway. Multibillion-dollar mergers are in progress, or under discussion, that could put more than half of global seed sales in the hands of three companies. [node:read-more:link]

For three years, Mary Lou Wesselhoeft, a 61-year-old Florida Panhandle dairy farmer, had been selling milk at nearby farmers markets and health food stores in an effort to keep her dairy farm afloat. The last thing she was trying to do was to dupe customers who went out of their way to score a cold bottle of her Ocheesee Creamery pasteurized skim milk.

But Florida authorities saw it differently. [node:read-more:link]