Wet spring weather in the U.S. has provided perfect conditions for mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON), T2-HT2 and zearalenone to develop in the wheat crop. Nine states have confirmed reports of DON in wheat, according to Neogen’s Mycotoxin Report from July 3.  The states reporting DON in wheat are:Alabama,Texas,Missouri, Georgia, Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland. [node:read-more:link]

Among the key findings revealed was that the overall high level of multi-drug resistance of Salmonella found in Europe could be traced mainly to two serovars, namely S. Typhimurium and monophasic S. Typhimurium. With salmonellosis the second most commonly reported foodborne disease in the EU, the high level of resistance in some of the causal bacteria is cause for concern. [node:read-more:link]

The European Union and Japan announced a broad agreement on Thursday that would lower barriers on virtually all the goods traded between them, a pointed challenge to President Trump on the eve of a summit meeting of world leaders in Germany. Though the deal still needs further negotiation and approval before it can take effect, it represents an act of geopolitical theater, a day before a Group of 20 summit meeting begins in Hamburg. [node:read-more:link]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a motion to impose sanctions against JBS USA, a unit of São Paulo, Brazil-based JBS SA, for losing or destroying evidence in a religious discrimination and retaliation case. In a statement, JBS USA denied any wrongdoing. [node:read-more:link]

The state Department of Fish & Wildlife continues to investigate the cause and spread of a hoof disease affecting elk in the state, including in Skagit County. The disease is caused by a bacteria that can cause hoof deformities. The bacteria is known to also cause lameness in affected livestock.Its spread into northwest Washington remains a mystery, as the disease was first found in southwest parts of the state years earlier. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that a proposed amendment to the federal marketing order for cranberries grown in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and New York (Long Island) did not pass in a referendum held from Jan. 23 through Feb. 13, 2017.  As a result, the amendment proposed to allow the Cranberry Marketing Committee to receive and expend voluntary contributions from domestic sources will not be implemented. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of the Interior will pay nearly $465 million this year to local governments primarily in rural areas that have come to rely on the funds because they cannot levy taxes on federal lands. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced the sum in Nevada on Monday. The $13 million increase this year is slightly less than the average annual growth of $22 million over the last decade. Most of the money goes to Western states, where the Interior Department collects most its $8.8 billion in annual revenue from commercial activities on public lands. [node:read-more:link]

Cyantraniliprole, a new insecticide that’s significant for blueberry and citrus growers, will remain on the market even though a federal appeals court has ruled its approval violated the Endangered Species Act. [node:read-more:link]

A female gray wolf, her mate and at least three pups are the second pack of wolves spotted in Northern California since the species went extinct there in 1924, state wildlife officials said.  The gray pups were born this spring in Lassen National Forest to a female wolf of unknown origins. Her mate is the son of OR7, a wolf with a tracking device that was the first of its kind in almost a century to migrate into California from Oregon, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said.Biologists began surveying the Lassen National Forest area in May after they found evidence of wolf presence. [node:read-more:link]

On tidal rivers and streams that course through coastal Maine, where salt- and freshwater collide, people wearing headlamps are flocking to the water’s edge in the middle of the night like 19th-century miners sifting the earth for specks of gold. They’re searching for baby eels, better known as elvers, pound for pound one of the most expensive live fish in the world. The first time Julie Keene caught $33,000 worth of baby eels in a single night, she started crying because she thought she’d done something wrong. [node:read-more:link]