Farmers and ranchers in eastern Texas and western Louisiana were coping with continued torrential downpours on Wednesday even as floodwaters receded in other areas of Texas hit by Tropical Storm Harvey. The Texas Farm Bureau on Wednesday created a relief fund focusing on agricultural producers in southeast Texas hit by the storm that first struck Texas as a Category 4 hurricane. "One hundred percent of everything we collect will go to them and we are setting up the infrastructure for implementing that right now," said Gene Hall, a spokesman for the Texas Farm Bureau. [node:read-more:link]

The 54 Texas counties declared a disaster area due to Hurricane Harvey contain over 1.2 million beef cows, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture inventory report.“That’s 27 percent of the state’s cowherd,” said David Anderson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service livestock economist in College Station. “That’s a conservative estimate of beef cow numbers because 14 of those counties only have cattle inventory estimates.”Anderson noted since it is late August, a lot of calves in the affected areas are either close or ready to be marketed. [node:read-more:link]

Today, the FDA announced the availability of guidance for food facilities that explains how to establish and implement a heat treatment, such as baking or cooking, to prevent contamination by disease-causing bacteria. [node:read-more:link]

DuPont has charted Delaware's direction for more than 200 years. As the Wilmington-based corporation matured from a small gunpowder manufacturer on the banks of the Brandywine into a $71 billion company, Delaware grew with it. DuPont gave the state a luxury hotel, country clubs and a theater. Family members linked New Castle and Sussex counties by financing DuPont Highway's construction. They built more than 100 schools and even a well-known children's hospital. Now, DuPont is entering its final days as a stand-alone company. [node:read-more:link]

There’s something happening in Alaska’s small agriculture industry. It’s little noticed by most, but there are signs. Farmers are selling all they produce. Many think they can sell more.“If farmers sell out, they’ll grow more,” state agriculture director Arthur Keyes said. [node:read-more:link]

74 incidents of excess air pollution have been reported since the hurricane hit, totaling more than one million pounds of emissions. More is on the way. [node:read-more:link]

Gov. Paul LePage has told legislative leaders that he will call an emergency legislative session to amend a food sovereignty bill that the federal government has criticized as unlawful. A separate issue LePage says needs fixing during a special session is a funding snafu involving the Maine Office of Geographic Information System, which was identified in early August. [node:read-more:link]

With Dow-DuPont's $150 billion merger closing Thursday, the newly combined business's first spin-off could be the agribusiness formed by Johnston-based seed giant Pioneer and Indianapolis' Dow AgroSciences, experts say. "It makes sense, from my view, that agriculture" could be the focus of the first company formed, said Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar in Chicago. Here's why: Dow Chemical Co. [node:read-more:link]

Dole Food Co. is planning to sell its sprawling corporate headquarters and uproot its strawberry operations in Southern California as it seeks to sweeten its books ahead of yet another public stock offering. The world’s largest fresh fruit and vegetable company, owned by Los Angeles billionaire David H. Murdock, is nearly $1.3 billion in debt and operates with low margins and declining revenue. That makes the sale of some of its vast real estate holdings in Hawaii and the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

It’s been three long years of decline, but farm revenue is now expected to rise this year, slightly, according to a forecast released today by the USDA’s Economic Research Service. Both net cash income and net farm income will be stronger than they were last year, bringing revenues close to the historical average, according to ERS economists.Net cash income for farmers is now forecast to reach $100 billion, about 13 percent more than farmers made last year, according to the report. [node:read-more:link]