Diet and dietary practices differentially affect mental health in young adults versus older adults, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. Lina Begdache, assistant professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University, along with fellow Binghamton researchers, conducted an anonymous internet survey, asking people around the world to complete the Food-Mood Questionnaire (FMQ), which includes questions on food groups that have been associated with neurochemistry and neurobiology. [node:read-more:link]

The topic of net neutrality provides an opportunity to talk about potentially contentious issues without triggering our fight or flight response. Perhaps there’s a lesson here all of us could apply to other public discussions. [node:read-more:link]

A new survey of young farmers finds these entrepreneurs have plenty of energy and ambition, but not nearly enough capital. Access to land, student debt, costs of labor and healthcare raise big questions for the next generation of farmers. [node:read-more:link]

One of the world’s biggest financial services companies is both dumping investments and ending insurance for controversial US oil pipelines, taking fossil fuel divestment to a new level.Axa is also quadrupling its divestment from coal businesses and increasing its green investments fivefold by 2020. [node:read-more:link]

Nutrient pollution refers to water quality damages caused to water resources by various forms of nitrogen and phosphorous,which are essential nutrients for living organisms. Water pollution problems occur when the concentrations of these nutrients are elevated to harmful levels by human activity. Examples of this activity include densely populated urban areas, intensive agricultural production, and substantial energy
production from fossil fuels. [node:read-more:link]

The $23bn US bread market is facing a crisis as low-protein levels in this year’s winter wheat crop have given rise to higher costs. The US wheat industry has endured a poor harvest for the past two years, resulting in a scarcity of high-protein hard wheat. [node:read-more:link]

Increasingly savvy shoppers who are well-versed in food production and nutrition are turning the tables on the farm-to-fork marketing model that once educated them and inuenced what they consumed to create a fork-tofarm model that requires producers, manufacturers and retailers to meet their continuously changing preferences for new products and increased quality, according to Rabobank analysts. [node:read-more:link]

The 2017 Iowa State University Land Value Survey was released on Tuesday, and showed that farmland values climbed 2% this year to $7326 an acre the first increase after three years of decline.“Limited land supply is driving this year’s increase in farmland values, not an improvement in the overall farm economy, said Zhang, who leads ISU’s annual survey.” [node:read-more:link]

The Organization for Competitive Markets which advocates for family farming interests, is suing the US Dept. of Agriculture for withdrawing a rule intended to protect family farmers when selling live animals to large agribusiness companies and meat processors.The lawsuit brought by OCM intends to reinstate the rule to “prohibit major meat and poultry producers who contract with farmers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices.”The Farmer Fair Practice Rule was under the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) of the USDA. [node:read-more:link]

Various farmers, ranchers and agricultural companies are likely to see a wide variation in benefits — and in costs. The vast majority of farms are structured as pass-throughs, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited liability companies, or LLCs, whose owners pay taxes on profits through the individual code. These pass-throughs account for 85 percent of U.S. agricultural production. It would increase deductions or passthroughs. It would repeal the Section 199 deduction Co-ops use. [node:read-more:link]