USDA was not “arbitrary and capricious” in withdrawing an interim final rule that would have made it easier for farmers and ranchers to sue meatpackers on claims of unfair treatment in business contracts, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. [node:read-more:link]

For the umpteenth time, an urban commentator has suggested that small-town residents would be better off if they packed it in and moved to a big city. But Athens, Tennessee, a town of about 13,000 located between Chattanooga and Knoxville, has other ideas. And they live by them. These pieces usually unfold like this: Rural America is poorer, sicker, and less connected than the rest of the country, with fewer job opportunities and wealth to make us players in the global market. High rates of addiction and poverty make rural America beyond saving. [node:read-more:link]

Boris Calderon was not your typical medical student. At 45 years old, the Army veteran lived in Fayetteville and worked as a paramedic when he applied for only one medical school: a college of osteopathic medicine in Virginia. And when Calderon finished medical school and was looking for a post-graduate residency program in 2015, Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton was beginning its program for medical residents. He signed up and was part of the first graduating class earlier this year. Calderon found the residency at Southeastern to be extremely hands on. [node:read-more:link]

While farm groups are pleased with USDA’s new disclosure standard for bioengineered foods, others are not. [node:read-more:link]

When it came time to decorate the new Amish-built house on her 26-acre property near Lansing, Michigan, Danielle Raad went all out. She painted the interior walls a lustrous eggshell blue, and spent hours hand-stenciling one with an intricate pattern. She lined rooms with handmade art, including her own work and that of her kids. She brought in vintage objects such as a chandelier and a painted shelf. [node:read-more:link]

After seeing exports to China tumble, U.S. farmers and ranchers are now bracing for more losses in their next-biggest Asian market: Japan. On Dec. 30, Tokyo will begin cutting tariffs and easing quotas on products sold by some of American agriculture’s biggest competitors—including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Chile—as part of the new 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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On Dec. 20, members of Congress introduced H.R. 7330, the Agricultural Research Integrity Act of 2018, in the U.S. House of Representatives, which would block the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) moves to relocate the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and realign ERS under the chief economist. The proposed bill would amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 first announced in August by U.S. [node:read-more:link]

China’s agriculture ministry will ban pig farming in areas inhabited by wild boars to prevent the spread of highly contagious African swine fever. China, the world’s top pork producer, has reported more than 80 outbreaks of African swine fever across the country since early August, leading to the culling of hundreds of thousands of pigs.The ministry said last month a strain of the virus found in a wild boar was different from the one circulating among pigs, and it warned of the risks of an additional strain infecting its domestic herd. [node:read-more:link]

Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday that she has filled a wide range of cabinet members and department heads in preparation for her official swearing-in ceremony. That announcement included a familiar name for many in the Eastern Upper Peninsula as lifelong Rudyard resident Gary McDowell has been tapped to head the incoming administration’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.Gary, along with brothers, Bob and Ron, are the owners and operators of McDowell Brothers Farm and McDowell Hay, Inc. [node:read-more:link]