Survey Results at a Glance: The overall index sank to itslowestlevelsinceDecember 2016,and remained below growth neutral. For the 46th straight month, average farmland prices declined across the 10 state region. For the 49th straight month, the agriculture equipment sales index fell below growth neutral. As a result of falling farm income, more than 51 percent of bank CEOs, reported restructuring farm loans, and approximately 18.6 percent indicated increasing collateral requirements. Bank CEOs reported only a 2.1 percent increase in farm loan defaults over the past year [node:read-more:link]

Survey Results at a Glance: The overall index sank to itslowestlevelsinceDecember 2016,and remained below growth neutral. For the 46th straight month, average farmland prices declined across the 10 state region. For the 49th straight month, the agriculture equipment sales index fell below growth neutral. As a result of falling farm income, more than 51 percent of bank CEOs, reported restructuring farm loans, and approximately 18.6 percent indicated increasing collateral requirements. Bank CEOs reported only a 2.1 percent increase in farm loan defaults over the past year [node:read-more:link]

 A roundup of wild horses continued Monday in the desert of southwestern Wyoming after a judge declined to stop it during a lawsuit over how the animals are counted.As of Sunday, U.S. Bureau of Land Management contract workers had rounded up 1,367 adult horses and 350 foals.The agency could reach its goal of capturing 1,560 adults plus the foals of captured mares this week, bureau spokeswoman Kristen Lenhardt said.The roundup is going on amid a dispute between horse advocates and federal officials over whether the foals should be included in the total count.U.S. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. negotiators in recent days put forth a string of bold proposals -- on auto rules of origin, a sunset clause, government procurement, and gutting dispute panels seen by the other nations as core to the pact. The moves were long-signaled, as was Canadian and Mexican opposition to them.  The proposals have spurred public warnings from prominent U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law bill A.B. 485, making it illegal for pet stores to sell dogs, cats, and rabbits from any source other than a shelter or rescue group. The law will go into effect in 2019. Thirty-six cities in California, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, already had bans on mass breeding operations. [node:read-more:link]

More and more West Virginia children are being placed in foster care because of drug-related issues, and the state is struggling to retain enough child welfare workers to keep up with demand, the head of the Bureau for Children and Families told lawmakers Tuesday. As of Oct. 1, more than 6,100 West Virginia children are in foster care, acting BCF Commissioner Linda Watts told members of the Joint Committee on Children and Families. Watts said the number of children in foster care has risen even since she last spoke to the committee in August — mainly because of opioids. [node:read-more:link]

Farms in California’s iconic wine country are either picking up the pieces or counting their blessings as crews gain an upper hand on wildfires that devastated the area.Among those operations is Oak Hill Farm in Glen Ellen, Calif., whose 700 acres of produce and flowers nestled against the western slope of the Mayacamas Mountains sustained damage. Wiig has been trying to get the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department to allow farmer David Cooper and others access to the ranch to water the crops that weren’t burned, he said. [node:read-more:link]

With smaller budgets and fewer personnel, several rural law-enforcement agencies have managed to protect both free speech and public safety when white supremacists come to town. While metropolitan Charlottesville erupted, these places kept the peace. So far in 2017, white supremacy or neo-Confederate groups have staged events in small towns and rural areas throughout the South. More events are likely to come. White supremacists have shown a penchant for trying to recruit in these areas. [node:read-more:link]

Unsurprisingly, the session that left me with the most questions was one titled “The Mystery of Meat,” featuring speakers from Beyond Meat (plant-based burger company), Mosa Meat (cultured meat) and Memphis Meats (cultured meat). The speakers (aided by representatives in the audience from HSUS and The Good Food Institute, which is a spinoff of Mercy for Animals focused on promoting meat alternatives) pushed the term “clean meat” for their products. If you follow my blogs, you know I have a bone to pick with that word choice. [node:read-more:link]

Cities, it seems, are inevitable. Economies of scale make it difficult to maintain the essentials of living in rural places. For most of human history, transportation and information exchange have been arduous, time-consuming and expensive; even the Pony Express operated at a loss. The idea that everything is more efficient, and therefore cheaper, when done in bulk has helped encourage cities’ growth, said Geoffrey West, a theoretical physicist with the Santa Fe Institute. West is researching the relationship between economies of scale, growth and long-term sustainability. [node:read-more:link]