Our understanding of renewable energy impacts remains woefully deficient, but a new study, published last month in The Journal of Wildlife Management, suggests that windfarms affect the hunting and scavenging behaviors of the desert’s foxes, coyotes, and bobcats. Scientists visited a wind farm near Palm Springs, California, home to 460 lofty wind turbines, and set up motion-activated cameras in front of 46 desert tortoise burrows. [node:read-more:link]

Seventy-one investors worth a combined $1.9 trillion are working together to put pressure on the world's largest food companies to "future-proof" their supply chains by bringing more meat alternatives to market. Founded in 2015, the FAIRR (Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return) initiative aims to make the food supply chain more sustainable by promoting plant-based foods, while also helping investors cash in on a lucrative new business. [node:read-more:link]

Illegal immigration across the southwestern border is down a stunning 76 percent since President Trump was elected, with the flow of children and families dropping even faster as analysts say the administration’s commitment to enforcing the law has changed the reality along the border. [node:read-more:link]

Under a settlement with state officials, Western Milling, LLC, will stop producing horse and specialty feeds at its Goshen manufacturing plant and pay $526,500 in fines after feed produced there killed and sickened dozens of horses and cows.  In addition, the company will invest more than $200,000 to buy new manufacturing equipment to elevate its food-safety measures above industry standards, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Feed and Livestock Drugs Inspection Program announced [node:read-more:link]

CDFA is now accepting grant applications for the 2017 Dairy Digester Research and Development Program. CDFA received $50 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in 2016 (AB 1613 Section 13. Item 8570-101-3228) for methane emissions reductions from dairy and livestock operations. CDFA will allocate $29-36 million from the total $50 million appropriation as incentives to support digester projects on California dairy operations. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. citrus exports to Europe are expected to increase following a change in citrus canker safeguard rules. [node:read-more:link]

Organic milk is widely available these days, but what does that label really mean? A new investigation from The Washington Post found that there are considerable differences between the organic milk you can buy in a grocery store and the kind you can buy straight from farmers. Peter Whoriskey investigated the Aurora Organic Dairy, which supplies house-brand organic milk to many large retailers and other large dairy operations. He joined NPR's Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday to talk about what he found out from his investigation. [node:read-more:link]

Iowa farmers got their chance to hear firsthand from USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue about his intent to preserve the U.S. ethanol industry and promote trade. Secretary Perdue told a crowd of farmers, lawmakers, and members of the agricultural industry that the Trump administration will not mess with the Renewable Fuels Standard. [node:read-more:link]

The presence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply has put law enforcement officials and the medical community on high alert in more than a dozen states, accelerating the battle against opioids on all fronts. States, counties and cities are responding to this latest crisis by doing more of what they already were doing: stockpiling the overdose reversal drug naloxone, funding more drug treatment, and ramping up police surveillance of drug trafficking. In addition, a handful of states are stiffening penalties for selling the lethal drug. [node:read-more:link]

Eight Democratic Senators on Tuesday asked U.S. regulators to launch an investigation into billionaire Carl Icahn's activities in the U.S. biofuels blending credit market, saying the activist investor may have violated securities trading laws. [node:read-more:link]