In rural America, however, economic conditions are considerably more challenging. Persistently low commodity prices have hurt U.S. agricultural producers, depressing farm income and eating into farmers’ working capital. There is continuing uncertainty about the direction the Trump administration will take with regard to NAFTA and other international trade agreements that are vitally important to agriculture. Rural utilities face growing pressure to consolidate in the face of high regulatory costs, technological change and the loss of population across many rural areas [node:read-more:link]

In politics, the rule of thumb has long been that negative campaigning generates traction. Conventional wisdom suggests that the more a candidate smears his or her opponent, the greater the impact on the voters. But in marketing consumer products, ad agencies have traditionally gone in the other direction: Sell the benefits of your product, create “good feelings” about the brand and avoid spending precious share of mind on trying to trash the competition. That’s changed in recent years, perhaps in tandem with the coarsening of political speech. [node:read-more:link]

 U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a steep tariff on imported solar panels on Tuesday, a move billed as a way to protect American jobs but which the solar industry said would lead to thousands of layoffs and raise consumer prices.But the solar industry countered that the move will raise the cost of installing panels, quash billions of dollars of investment, and kill tens of thousands of jobs, raising questions about whether Trump’s move will backfire by triggering mass layoffs.“We are not happy with this decision,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) rule is designed as a basic bookend system allowing animal health officials to trace a covered animal forward from the location where the animal was officially identified and back from the animal’s last location, which is often the termination point or slaughter plant. It may also include information on the animal’s interstate movements. The system was set up as a foundation framework to be expanded over time. [node:read-more:link]

Canada on Wednesday requested World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations with the United States over U.S. measures concerning anti-dumping and countervailing duty proceedings. Canada considers the measures relating to U.S. anti-dumping or countervailing duty investigations, reviews or other proceedings inconsistent with U.S. obligations under several WTO agreements, the organization said. The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO.“If the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

From South America to Asia, foreign nations doubled-down on subsidies and market manipulation in 2017 to give their agriculture sectors a huge leg up on the competition. [node:read-more:link]

Kenneth Feeley, the Smathers Chair of Tropical Tree Biology in the University of Miami’s Department of Biology, is an expert in studying the effects of climate change on tropical forests. From the mountains of Peru to the lowlands of the Amazon, Feeley examines the ramifications of climate change on the trees and other species that comprise the diverse forests of these regions. Yet, recently, Feeley shifted gears from studying tropical forests to examining the impacts of climate change in rural farming communities in Peru. [node:read-more:link]

The National School Lunch Program’s strict safety standards work, which is good news for millions of children who participate in the program daily, according to a new University of Connecticut study. The study, led by researchers from UConn and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), found that the food safety standards for ground beef supplied to the program are highly effective in keeping harmful bacteria out of school lunches nationwide. Researchers examined the National School Lunch Program because of its critical nature. [node:read-more:link]