Anheuser-Busch InBev has signed a deal to buy power produced by an Oklahoma wind farm as part of its global goal to have 100 percent of its purchased electricity come from renewable sources by 2025. A-B, its U.S. subsidiary based in St. Louis, announced a power purchase agreement with Italian renewable energy company Enel Green Power for a portion of the energy produced at Enel Green Power's Thunder Ranch wind farm located in Garfield, Kay and Noble counties in Oklahoma.Enel Green Power has been growing its footprint across the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Wildfires that are blackening the American West in one of the nation's worst fire seasons have ignited calls, including from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, to thin forests that have become so choked with trees that they are at "powder keg levels." The destruction has exposed old frictions between environmentalists and those who want to see logging accelerated, and it's triggered a push to reassess how lands should be managed to prevent severe wildfires.Zinke's directive Tuesday for department managers and superintendents to aggressively prevent wildfires was welcomed by Ed Waldron, fire man [node:read-more:link]

A shortage of labor caused by the national decline in migrant farmhands is being felt on farms around Michigan.As the flow of migrant workers into the United States has decreased, many farmers have turned to visa-purchasing programs to secure workers. But the solutions for farmers are not equal.“It is difficult for these guys to apply and get here to work,” she said. “It is near impossible. And we need these people.”Farmers like Martin typically hire workers who present green cards, in compliance with federal laws. [node:read-more:link]

Climate change may give a big boost to dairy farming in the Midwest, including Michigan and northern Wisconsin, a new study of the future for U.S. dairy farms reports. [node:read-more:link]

Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade and the Colorado Venture Capital Authority will allocate $9 million, and perhaps as much as $3 million more, to a rural economic development investment fund.   The agencies created the new fund to benefit innovation in rural areas that might not have access to other funding sources. Industries that could benefit include value-added agriculture, advanced manufacturing,  health and wellness, tourism and outdoor recreation, energy and natural resources, clean tech, technology and information. [node:read-more:link]

The Organic Trade Association has filed a lawsuit demanding that USDA officials “keep up with the industry and the consumer in setting organic standards,” the group said in a statement. The suit alleges that USDA violated the Organic Foods Production Act and illegally delayed the effective date of the final livestock standards that were developed by the industry in accordance with processes established by Congress. [node:read-more:link]

When the worst of Irma's fury had passed, Gene McAvoy hit the road to inspect citrus groves and vegetable fields. McAvoy is a specialist on vegetable farming at the University of Florida's extension office in the town of LaBelle, in the middle of one of the country's biggest concentrations of vegetable and citrus farms. It took a direct hit from the storm. "The eyewall came right over our main production area," McAvoy says.The groves of orange and grapefruit were approaching harvest. [node:read-more:link]

Despite action by Congress to address the opioid addiction epidemic, hard-hit areas of the country like this one in the Midwest are finding it difficult to keep up with the fallout from the unfolding situation.In July, here in Wisconsin’s Jackson County, for instance, 34 children who were taken out of their homes, many a result of a parent’s opioid addiction, remained in foster care. Those placements resulted in a $35,000 cost for the county that month.While down from a year high of 40 in January, the epidemic has presented serious cost concerns for the local health department. [node:read-more:link]

The number of people living in rural continues to slide, according to the latest population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. People have left rural America in decades past. The big difference now is that the number of births in rural areas isn't keeping pace with the number of deaths. The population in rural America (nonmetropolitan counties) has declined for a record-breaking sixth straight year.Population growth rates in rural counties have been significantly lower than in urban (metro) counties since the mid-1990s, and the gap widened considerably in recent years. [node:read-more:link]

More than one-third of Americans do not know that foods with no genetically modified ingredients contain genes, according to the new nationally representative Food Literacy and Engagement Poll we recently conducted at Michigan State University. For the record, all foods contain genes, and so do all people.  The majority of respondents who answered this question incorrectly were young and affluent, and also more likely than their peers to describe themselves as having a higher-than-average understanding of the global food system. The full survey revealed that much of the U.S. [node:read-more:link]