Rural schools are less likely to participate in district-wide free lunch and breakfast programs despite the fact that rural families typically have more economic need for the nutrition program, according to a recent analysis from USDA’s Economic Research Service. The study of the USDA Community Eligibility Program found that only a third of eligible rural schools participated in the program, while 46% of eligible schools in urban areas did. [node:read-more:link]

Consumers should be able to know at a quick glance what type of product they’re purchasing for themselves and their families. Implementing clear and transparent food labels and claims is an issue I’ve made a high priority. We’ve outlined these goals in a new, multi-year Nutrition Innovation Strategy released earlier this year. [node:read-more:link]

Earlier this morning, Mark Albertson, Illinois Soybean Growers director of strategic market development, met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. This is the first time Díaz-Canel has visited the United States since taking office in April. After his visit, Albertson said: “We were honored to sit down and met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel during his first visit to the United States. We have been working on opening doors with Cuba since 2012 and value the opportunities trade with Cuba brings to our Illinois soybean producers. [node:read-more:link]

Canada and the U.S. ended weeks of intense bargaining Sunday with a last-minute trade deal that gives American farmers major new access to the dairy market here, but preserves a dispute-resolution system the United States wanted killed. [node:read-more:link]

The strained farm bill negotiations have erupted in partisan bickering amid darkening prospects for reaching an agreement by the end of the year to replace the 2014 law, which expired Sunday, Sept. 30.Conaway issued a statement on Friday blaming Senate negotiators for the impasse. “Right now, I don’t get the sense that getting something done has quite the sense of urgency with my Senate colleagues as it does with me,” he said.But a committee Democrat, Illinois Rep. [node:read-more:link]

As household incomes fell during the Great Recession, total food spending by U.S. households declined by 7 percent between 2007 and 2010, as many households cut back on eating out. Food spending by households in the middle-income quintile remained below pre-recession levels in 2016, and these households continued to allocate more of their food budgets to food at home rather than eating out. [node:read-more:link]

Targeting regions and practices that can most cost effectively reduce nutrient deliveries from cropland to the Gulf of Mexico would reduce the overall cost of achieving water quality objectives for the Gulf but also would increase costs and land-use adjustments for production regions closest to the Gulf. [node:read-more:link]

Every summer, a “hypoxic zone” in the Gulf of Mexico (dissolved oxygen too low for many aquatic species to survive) is fueled by nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) runoff from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB), most of which comes from agriculture. This report assesses the most cost-effective way of achieving a 45-percent reduction in cropland nutrient loads to the Gulf. [node:read-more:link]

Reducing tillage and increasing soil cover (through crop rotations and cover crops) can enhance soil health. To gauge the intensity of tillage over time, this report estimates the number of years no-till or strip-till are used over a 4-year period. Conservation tillage was used on 70 percent of soybean (2012), 65 percent of corn (2016), and 67 percent of wheat (2017) acres. [node:read-more:link]

It’s 6 p.m. on a Tuesday in August and residents who have climbed the City Hall steps learn that, once again, there will be no city council meeting. So once again, they will be unable to discuss with local officials the pollution that has been plaguing their small town for the better part of a decade. Uniontown has an inordinate number of polluters for a town of 2,300, and residents say city leaders often dodge their attempts to air their grievances. [node:read-more:link]