There’s a farm in upstate New York that grows cannabiswith Governor Cuomo’s blessing, but plot twist: The leaves won’t get you high. That’s because they’re hemp, which is like diet Cannabis sativa, and the 100 acres’ worth that JD Farms grows is used specifically for organic food products — a suddenly trendy industry that Cuomo himself predicts could bring billions to the state. [node:read-more:link]
“It’s imperative that everybody follows the rules,” Campbell Cox said. “You have to use the right pressure, the right boom height and the right wind speed, etc. To use this product, you have to do it right. There are no gray areas. The weather has to be right and you have to have the right equipment.” Cox says following label guidelines is paramount. “Ignoring the label rules is ignorance; it’s not an accident. [node:read-more:link]
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) on Wednesday joined other Southern states by announcing additional measures to mitigate the risk of herbicides containing dicamba. The new rules filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State extend through Oct. 1, 2017, and require anyone spraying dicamba to be certified as a private or licensed applicator and keep records of the applications. Available hours to spray dicamba are now restricted to a period of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to avoid temperature inversions. [node:read-more:link]
The statute for the Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS) required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish volume requirements for four categories of biofuels for each year from 2008 through 2022: cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, total advanced biofuel (which includes biomass-based diesel), and renewable fuel (referred to as conventional ethanol here). [node:read-more:link]
In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy, through the Bioenergy Technologies Office, announced the selection of three projects to receive up to $8 million, aimed at reducing the costs of producing algal biofuels and bioproducts. These projects will deliver high-impact tools and techniques for increasing the productivity of algae organisms and cultures. They will also deliver biology-focused breakthroughs while enabling accelerated future innovations through data sharing within the research and development community. [node:read-more:link]
A Chinese fund part-owned by congolomerate CITIC Ltd has paid $1.1 billion for some of Dow Chemical Co's corn seed business in Brazil, in a further sign of China's fast-expanding role in the global seed sector. The deal includes seed processing plants and seed research centers, a copy of Dow AgroSciences' Brazilian corn germplasm bank, the Morgan seed brand and a license for the use of the Dow Sementes brand for a certain period of time [node:read-more:link]
Last week, drone industry executives told President Trump they needed more regulation, not less, before they could expand further — a man-bites-dog story if ever there was one. But the answer isn’t to keep waiting on Washington. It’s to make use of one of our nation’s founding principles: federalism. For now, the drone industry is grounded because the Federal Aviation Agency hasn’t written guidelines for drones that fly beyond the operator’s line of sight. Rules are also absent for drone flights at night. [node:read-more:link]
The Land of Lincoln drama over operating for over two years without a budget ended on July 6, with legislative approval over a gubernatorial veto. Among the many programs threatened in Illinois were the solar programs in the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA, also known as SB 2814), which was signed into law last December and technically took effect on June 1. While the funding under FEJA was immune from being raided or “swept” for general revenue purposes (a popular Illinois political pastime), funding critical to the start up of FEJA programs, such as Illinois Solar For All, was not. [node:read-more:link]
A Pennsylvania grain and produce farmer is suing the federal government for $8.1 million in damages and lost crop revenue that he says is the result of flooding caused by the government’s drainage management decisions. Robert Brace, 78, of Erie County, is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He argues that decisions made by those entities cost him more than $8 million that he would have realized from growing the most profitable combination of either cabbages, potatoes or onions. [node:read-more:link]
The new head of the FCC is interested in undoing rules that protect free speech, fairness, and privacy on the internet. Digital rights advocate Karen Fasimpaur asks for your help in stopping this rollback. [node:read-more:link]
