Society’s focus on petroleum for fuel and other products has, in Taylor’s view, unfairly drawn focus away from homegrown, locally produced, renewable corn. “The reality is that just about anything petroleum can be refined into, corn can be.” Corn is being used by today’s innovators to create more sustainable products – from construction materials to medical supplies. Increasingly it’s also a petrochemical substitute in tires, sneakers, cups, cutlery, bags and more. [node:read-more:link]

A variety of camelina that’s gene-edited to increase oil content can be grown without undergoing the USDA’s regulatory process for biotech crops. The agency has determined the camelina cultivar doesn’t pose a plant pest risk, which means it’s outside the USDA’s regulatory jurisdiction over genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. [node:read-more:link]

The second generation GMO Innate potato has received regulatory approval in Canada.Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have authorized J.R. Simplot’s Co. second generation GMO Innate potato to be imported, planted and sold in Canada. The OK comes after the Canadian agencies completed a comprehensive safety assessment, and follows last year’s regulatory approval of three varieties of first-generation GMO Innate potatoes, according to a news release. [node:read-more:link]

The property tax reforms that Ohio farmers and farm groups sought over the past three years are just a few weeks from taking effect. The law itself becomes effective Sept. 30, and the reforms will be phased in over the next six years of assessments. [node:read-more:link]

The first legal crop of marijuana has started to grow in Maryland. And industry officials say products should be available in medical marijuana dispensaries by 2018. [node:read-more:link]

The food labeling craze coupled with banner headlines about the dangers of gluten, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and hormones are leading to increasingly absurd results. For example, you can now buy “premium” water that’s not only free of GMOs and gluten but certified kosher and organic. Never mind that not a single drop of water anywhere contains either property or is altered in any way by those designations. [node:read-more:link]

In response to strong consumer demand for chicken, Tyson Foods announced plans to build a $320 million poultry complex in eastern Kansas. The company will construct a processing plant, hatchery and feed mill near the city of Tonganoxie, in Leavenworth County, Kansas, which will employ about 1,600 people and contract with northeast Kansas farmers and ranchers to raise chickens. The operation, scheduled to begin production in mid-2019, will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores nationwide. [node:read-more:link]

When Freddie Botur, 45, whose ranch spans 72,000 acres outside of Pinedale, Wyoming, first heard about a program that was paying ranchers to let water run down the river instead of irrigating with it, he was skeptical. [node:read-more:link]

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) adjusted inspection coverage at catfish slaughter facilities on Sept. 1, the same day an 18-month transition period ended. The transition period’s end marks the full transfer of responsibility for inspecting domestic and imported catfish to FSIS from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FSIS confirmed it was adjusting inspection coverage in a Sept. 1 announcement published in the Federal Register. The agency accepted comments on the change earlier in the summer. [node:read-more:link]

With the fall comes opening day of several popular hunting seasons across the state.  For Texas landowners, this often means entering into hunting lease agreements that generate added income for the operation.  Under Texas law, a landowner leasing private property for hunting in return for any type of compensation is required to obtain a Hunting Lease License from Texas Parks and Wildlife  (“TPW”).  Note, this is separate from a hunting license that the hunter must possess. [node:read-more:link]