Parents whose kids will only eat a finite list of foods now wonder whether a pantry favorite is off limits, thanks in part to last week’s New York Times story about a study that found “potentially harmful chemicals” in mac and cheese. The group behind the study is calling on Kraft Foods to lead the industry in eliminating phthalates from its products because they can disrupt the production of testosterone, which raises concerns about birth defects, and because they’ve been linked to neurological problems. [node:read-more:link]

Predator concerns are rising for sheep producers all over the state. Along with coyotes, producers from across Ohio are experiencing black vulture attacks. [node:read-more:link]

The overall index slipped slightly to growth neutral. More than three-fourths of bank CEOsreport a shortage of qualified or skilled workers as having a nega-tive impact on economic growth. On average, bankers project that farmland prices will decline by another three percent over the next 12 months. Due to weak farm income, almost one fourth of bankers reported rejecting a higher percentage of farmer loan applications and approximately 60.9 percent reported boosting collateral on farm loans. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. economy exited the 2007-09 recession in July 2009. Despite consistent, but slow gross domes-tic product (GDP) growth since then, wages and salaries of American workers, adjusted for inflation, have actually declined for 10 of 23 occupations examined. Furthermore since the recession ended, U.S. workers have, on aver-age, increased their inflationadjusted salaries by only $1,000, or slightly less than 2%. [node:read-more:link]

Insurance and Hay Stocks Help Some, But Crops are Lost and Cattle Being Sold. Mark Watne, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, has been touring parts of western North Dakota this past week to talk to producers about the farm bill. The farther north and west, the worst the conditions are for farmers and ranchers, he said."It's a crisis. It's way more than people think. I've driven through areas where you would expect to see a spindly wheat stand, but there's no crop left -- it's gone," Watne said. [node:read-more:link]

Oil spilled seven years ago in the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico might no longer be visible, but it's still taking a toll on Louisiana's fragile wetlands. A new study by Louisiana State University indicates that crude oil from the 2010 BP oil spill has become lodged in wetland soils, where it remains almost as toxic as the day it flowed into the gulf.  "We found oil four to five centimeters down in the layers of marsh, which we expected to see," said John White, associate director of LSU's Coastal Studies Institute. [node:read-more:link]

A clean energy financing program in Michigan reached a milestone last month when it helped homeowners and businesses install 1 megawatt of solar energy across the state. Michigan Saves — which was created by a $6.5 million Michigan Public Service Commission grant in 2009 — acts as a green bank by financing clean energy projects at homes and businesses. [node:read-more:link]

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is investigating about two dozen complaints from farmers about the weed killer dicamba. Dicamba is used on soybean fields that have been genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide. But Minnesota farmers have joined hundreds in the southern U.S. who allege that drifting dicamba hurts non-resistant fields. [node:read-more:link]

All packets of pasta and rice sold in Italy will have to include labels of origin showing where the produce was grown, the government ruled on Thursday, in a move it said was aimed at protecting local farmers. The agriculture and industry ministers signed a decree ordering the new labeling policy, saying it would run in an experimental fashion for two years, and criticizing the European Union for not introducing the measure across the 28-nation bloc. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. can now ship rice to China for the first time ever, signaling a win for President Donald Trump in his efforts to reshape the trade relationship just after talks between the nations broke down Wednesday. Officials from the nations finalized a protocol to allow for the first-ever American shipments, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday in a statement. China is the world’s biggest rice consumer, importer and producer.The rice deal comes just a month after China reopened its market to U.S. [node:read-more:link]