The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has lowered gas prices by an average of 22 cents per gallon in recent years and saved the typical American household $250 annually, according to a study published by economist and energy policy expert Dr. Philip K. [node:read-more:link]

The National Pork Board released its latest findings from the comprehensive Insight to Action research, this time examining trends in consumer behavior related to dining out. [node:read-more:link]

The Trump administration made it easier for oil refineries to get waivers from the nation’s biofuel law at least four months before a 2017 court decision it often cites to justify the move to the corn lobby, and the move was motivated by a desire to save the oil industry money. The timing and motivation for the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy change, revealed through court documents and an interview with a former top agency official, have not been previously reported. [node:read-more:link]

The city is mulling a plan to outlaw the sale of farmed fur items and forbid making products with trapped fur. With New York a center of the fashion world, a fur ban would be a major blow to the industry.A similar measure is under consideration at the state level as well.The fur industry fears the loss of 1,100 jobs in New York City alone if the ban passes. [node:read-more:link]

Two sweeping health-care bills that would prevent patients from getting hit with surprise emergency room bills and protect Nevadans with pre-existing conditions were signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak. The move brings Sisolak one step closer to fulfilling the health-care agenda he touted on the campaign trail, including standing up to President Donald Trump on protections for people with pre-existing conditions and ending surprise emergency room bills. [node:read-more:link]

Tramping over a charred mountainside here one foggy morning, Matt Champa glowed with satisfaction. “Deer and elk will love this,” said the U.S. Forest Service “burn boss,” gesturing to a cluster of blackened trees that eventually will fall and create more space for forage plants. [node:read-more:link]

The population numbers since 2010 look bad for most rural Iowa counties: Pocahontas, down 7.8%; Sac, down 6.1%; Audubon, down 10%; Cass, down 7.3%; Adams, down 9.5%. A small sampling of isolated rural counties. They may have peaked in population in 1940 or before. The sad news is: Nothing is on the horizon to turn it around.This according to Iowa State University research economist Dave Swenson, who studies regional trade dynamics and population. “They’re not within driving distance of a market center,” he explains, as is much of the Great Plains. Too far from Omaha or even Sioux City. [node:read-more:link]

A new Rabobank report found that CBD has been entering food and beverage products — beer, coffee, cocktails, jelly beans and others — at an "astounding pace." However, the substance remains illegal in foods and beverages on a national level, and it may not be approved for several more years barring congressional action, according to the report.Meanwhile, the market appears poised for more CBD-infused products, and Rabobank said the demand is likely to continue. [node:read-more:link]

“We’re not suing them for the fact that their product causes cancer. We’re suing them because they didn’t tell people that it causes cancer.”Annually, for weeks at a time over his more than 30 years of farming, John Barton would spray a thousand gallons of Roundup every day to kill the weeds springing up among his cotton crop outside Bakersfield, California.Barton, now 70, retired from farming in 2010 and planned to move to northern Idaho with his wife. [node:read-more:link]

Name any Upper Midwest state and there’s a good chance widespread alfalfa winterkill is being discussed. Although no year is a good year to be looking at brown alfalfa fields in the spring, the timing for this year is especially bad with wet conditions severely delaying spring field activities and the dairy economy still reeling from an extended period of low milk prices.By now, most alfalfa growers have been able to assess the damage, which ranges from complete loss to only portions of fields. [node:read-more:link]