Brubaker is far from the only dairy farmer in Virginia who struggled to make the business work amid falling milk prices, oversupply and growing trade pressure. In the first half of this year, dairy farms in the state closed at a rate of more than one a week.The industry has been struggling for years, but the past two years have been particularly bad, with the total number of licensed farms dropping 15 percent since 2016, leaving 552 as of June. [node:read-more:link]

The second quarter 2018 issue of Choices focused on the current trade war between the United States and China. The authors of this theme explained the state of the conflict at the time of publication (May 2018) and detailed some of the likely impacts of Chinese tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports levied in response to U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. Zheng et al. (2018); Taheripour and Tyner (2018); Hansen et al. (2018); Liu, Robinson, and Shurley (2018); and Countryman and Muhammad (2018) predicted dramatic effects for U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the 2017 "Pesticide Data Program (PDP) Annual Summary." The summary shows more than 99% of the samples tested had pesticide residues well below benchmark levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency. [node:read-more:link]

It’s been a year of ups and downs for the coal industry. Even while the White House considered different ways to extend a lifeline for coal plants and proposed a replacement for the Clean Power Plan that may soften emissions regulations, many generators still faced a difficult market. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected this month that 2018 will end with 14 gigawatts of coal retirements, second to only 2015. Earlier in the year, a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis suggested retirements would even surpass 2015, at 15.4 gigawatts. [node:read-more:link]

Philadelphia's pledge to run on 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 took a massive step forward on Tuesday afternoon.Mayor Jim Kenney has signed legislation that will enter the city into a power purchase agreement with a renewable energy developer to construct the state's largest solar facility in Adams County.Philadelphia will purchase all electricity produced at the 70-Megawatt site — about 22 percent of the city government's annual needs — for the next 20 years at a fixed rate competitive with conventional electricity prices, officials revealed. [node:read-more:link]

A coalition of nine Northeast and mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia have announced an agreement to work to impose regional limits on carbon emissions from transportation sources. [node:read-more:link]

Conservation practices recommended to reduce nutrient loss from fields are generally classified as in-field practices, edge-of-field practices, and land use change practices. Each practice has a different effectiveness for reducing nutrient loss as well as different associated costs and cost efficiencies. Beyond these important differences, there are several additional details about each practice — level of change required, stackability, and trackability — that are important to consider when weighing options to improve water quality. [node:read-more:link]

A Boston city ordinance banning major grocery store chains from providing plastic bags to customers went into effect Friday. The new law – enacted to help reduce pollution and clean up city streets – applies only to checkout bags, described in the ordinance as carryout bags with handles.

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California dairy farmers got their first glimpse of what the new Federal Milk Marketing Order will do for them this week. In Tulare in California’s Central Valley, it amounts to 36¢/cwt.“A switch to the Federal Milk Marketing Order means producers are seeing 36¢ (in Tulare) to 86¢ (in Los Angeles) more for their November milk,” says Geoff Vanden Heuvel, director of regulatory and economic affairs for the California Milk Producers Council.The announced Statistical Uniform Price for Tulare was $14.94/cwt and for Los Angeles, $15.44. [node:read-more:link]

President Trump announced that embattled Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will be leaving at the end of the year.  [node:read-more:link]