Holstein Association USA pays tribute to dairy farmers from coast to coast during the premiere episode of Holstein America. The hour-long program, sponsored by Merck Animal Health, shines a spotlight on the nation’s Holstein producers — from California’s lush central valley to the fall treetops of Vermont.  [node:read-more:link]

The “non-GMO” label is no longer something that some consumers seek for only plant-based products. That label is now also being sought for animal-based products such as meat, poultry and dairy foods. She showed a picture of one milk carton on which the label promoted the message that GMO feeds were not used for their cattle, and that milk product was not found at a higher-end grocery store that focuses on “natural” foods. [node:read-more:link]

A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future found that, contrary to widely held assumptions, farmed fish and shrimp convert protein and calories in feed to edible seafood at rates similar to livestock (i.e., cattle, pigs, and chickens). The study contributes new insights into what is known as feed conversion efficiency – that is, the efficiency of the process by which feed is turned into meat – across species, and uses a new analysis to assess this efficiency. [node:read-more:link]

Over those 30 years, I have learned that most of what we thought we knew about addictions is wrong or, more accurately, woefully incomplete. This is important because how folks attempt to address the problem comes directly from how they think about it. What causes addictions and substance abuse? What keeps it going? Why does it affect certain people and not others? Why do people have a hard time stopping? We need to answer these questions to ever have a chance of getting a handle on addiction in rural regions like Appalachia where there are problems with addiction. [node:read-more:link]

But those speeds are not readily available in rural areas. The FCC is actually considering reducing the standard, which critics say may make the rural digital divide disappear on paper, but not in real life. Rural residents have few choices of internet service providers – or none at all. They pay higher prices for lower quality service, despite earning less than urban dwellers.A related issue is that fewer rural Americans are online: 39 percent of rural Americanslack home broadband access – in contrast to only 4 percent of urban Americans. [node:read-more:link]

Lackluster crop prices and signs of stress for agriculture have continued in 2018, as the United States Department of Agriculture predicts net U.S. farm profits to hit a 12-year low, according to a new report. The first USDA Farm Income Forecast of 2018, released on Wednesday, predicts a 6.7 percent decline in net farm income, in addition to the lowest average of net cash farm income since 2011. The 2018 net farm income is predicted to reach $59.5 billion, a $4.3 billion decrease from 2017. [node:read-more:link]

For dairy farms in New England, the outlook for milk prices is not good this year. The stress has been tied to suicides among dairy farmers. One effort to get them help is sparking some criticism.Will Rogers and his girlfriend, Heather, run a 75-cow dairy farm in Warren, Massachusetts. It's just the two of them, and sometimes, short-term, part-time workers."Other than that, it's seven days, 365, 14, 16 hours a day that we're at it," Rogers said."Financially, mentally, physically -- [it's] very very draining," he said. [node:read-more:link]

Minnesota bucked the national trend in solar energy employment in 2017, posting the second highest job growth by state. Nationwide, U.S. solar energy industry employment fell by 4 percent or 9,800 jobs, according to a report released Wednesday by The Solar Foundation. It was the first decline since The Solar Foundation began tracking jobs in 2010.Total U.S. solar employment was 250,271 last year, with the majority of those jobs in installation. [node:read-more:link]