Stewart Resnick is the biggest farmer in the United States, a fact he has tried to keep hidden while he has shaped what we eat, transformed California’s landscape, and ruled entire towns. But the one thing he can’t control is what he’s most dependent on — water. A little farmworker town in a far corner of Kern County called Lost Hills. This is where the biggest irrigated farmer in the world — the one whose mad plantings of almonds and pistachios have triggered California’s nut rush — keeps on growing, no matter drought or flood. He doesn’t live in Lost Hills. He lives in Beverly Hills. [node:read-more:link]

The owners of a boarding barn in Cuba, New York are blaming tainted horse feed for the deaths of six horses there. The barn and training facility houses 31 horses. All of them will likely eventually die from being exposed to the poisonous feed. [node:read-more:link]

Avocados have rapidly become a staple in many U.S. diets, with Americans consuming on average 7 pounds a year. To satisfy that surging popularity, imports from Mexico have skyrocketed. That's made a lot of farmers rich — but it's also drawn the attention of organized crime gangs. One town in Mexico has been able to fight off the gangs and keep the peace, and wealth, at home. It's Tancitaro, a small farming town of about 30,000 in western Michoacan state. Super Bowl Sunday is a big deal here. [node:read-more:link]

A star-studded affair with tractors, drones, milk pipe puzzles, and hay bales. Welcome to the Land O’ Lakes Farm Bowl.So what exactly is the Farm Bowl? Think of it like American Ninja Warrior except with farm equipment. Or maybe MTV’s The Challenge with agricultural education instead of drunken hookups. Six NFL athletes were paired with real life farmers to compete in four different stations in what has to be the world’s most unlikely pro-am ever. Especially since the pro athletes were the amateurs in this case. [node:read-more:link]

Dicamba-related off-target crop damage complaints will be consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis, according to an order issued Thursday by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL). Multiple lawsuits have been filed by farmers alleging off-target dicamba damage to crops in at least 24 states from dicamba-based products manufactured by Monsanto, BASF and DuPont. [node:read-more:link]

The White House is seeking a 72 percent cut to clean energy research. This move falls squarely under the huh? category even if Congress is unlikely to go along with the budget request. Texas is, by any measure, a fossil fuel state. It is a driver of the state’s economy. But even this state has embraced wind and solar energy generation. All of the above (except for coal) is a good strategy, and one this administration should follow. Congress should again reject this cut. [node:read-more:link]

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought against Wisconsin officials last year by an Ohio dairy no longer allowed to sell its butter in Wisconsin unless it complies with a state law requiring it to be graded.U.S. District Judge James Peterson wrote Monday that a state law requiring that butter sold in Wisconsin be state or federally graded does not violate the constitutional rights of Minerva Dairy, of Minerva, Ohio. [node:read-more:link]

Half a dozen agricultural companies in Tennessee were awarded big grants Monday aimed at helping businesses in rural counties grow. It is all part of the state's new Agriculture Enterprise Fund. This first year $400,000 was awarded. There was a presentation for the recipients at AgCentral Co-Op in Greenback. AgCentral Co-Op is one of the grant recipients. [node:read-more:link]

In an effort to save Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry and speed-up work on Herbert Hoover Dike, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida on Tuesday called on Senate leaders to include additional disaster assistance for Florida in a government spending bill the chamber is expected to take up this week. [node:read-more:link]

Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) filed for bankruptcy last week, pointing fingers and laying blame squarely on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a federal program that requires refiners to blend increasing amounts of ethanol and other biofuels. That may make for a provocative headline, but the public and PES’ 1,100 employees deserve to know the truth: PES has no one else to blame but itself. PES operates one of the nation’s oldest refineries, which is handicapped by hopelessly antiquated technology. [node:read-more:link]