A shareholder proposal calling for Sanderson Farms Inc. to phase out the use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention in its poultry operations failed at the company's annual meeting. The proposal had been filed by As You Sow, an Oakland, Calif.-based environmental and social advocacy organization. Sanderson management had recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal. Sanderson's continued use of antibiotics for disease prevention — not growth promotion — is part of the company's consumer marketing program. [node:read-more:link]

Thanks to a new law that went into effect at the start of the year, whenever Dr. Amanda Bisol, owner of The Animal Medical Clinic in Skowhegan, writes an opiate-type painkiller prescription for one of her patients, she has to first run a background check on its owner. Public Law Chapter 488: An Act to Prevent Opiate Abuse by Strengthening the Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program was signed by Gov. Paul LePage in 2016 and went into effect Jan. 1. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced its recommended decision to establish a California Federal Milk Marketing Order.  The marketing area of the recommended FMMO would incorporate the entire state of California. [node:read-more:link]

Republican lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature are attempting to fast-track a plan to eventually offer vouchers to every public-school student and, in separate legislation, privatize oversight of the public money given to parents to pay private-school tuition and other expenses. The Legislature is training its sights on the plan to broaden eligibility for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, a school-choice program created six years ago for disabled children. [node:read-more:link]

From “cow committee” to the New Hampshire Senate floor, dairy farmers inch ever closer to receiving funds to help make up for last summer’s drought.  In a 19-3 floor vote Thursday, state senators moved forward a bill that would provide $2 million to the Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund board to then be distributed to the state’s dairy farmers.  The board recommended that the Legislature appropriate a $3.6 million one-time payment for dairy farmers back in October. [node:read-more:link]

Communities throughout rural Maine are up against no shortage of challenges. Facing geographic isolation, aging and declining populations, paired with the loss of traditional manufacturing or mill jobs, it can be easy to feel pessimistic about the prospects of the state’s rural backbone.But pessimism was not the mood that filled a Cross Insurance Center conference room Friday, as a daylong discussion about the future of Maine’s rural economy stoked hope and advocated for a collaborative approach to revitalizing these rural communities. [node:read-more:link]

onstruction crews have resumed work on the final segment of the Dakota Access pipeline, and the developer of the long-delayed project said Thursday that the full system could be operational within three months.  Meanwhile, an American Indian tribe filed a legal challenge to block the work and protect its water supply.  The Army granted Energy Transfer Partners formal permission Wednesday to lay pipe under a North Dakota reservoir, clearing the way for completion of the 1,200-mile pipeline. [node:read-more:link]

The National Weather Service says a dam has failed in northern Nevada, causing flash floods and life-threatening situations for residents near the Utah border. The weather service stated there were reports of at least 2 to 3 feet of water rapidly moving downstream Wednesday night. The Elko Daily Free Press reports the depth of water may increase as the dam continues to fail. The National Weather Service in Elko has extended the flash-flood warning. Significant flash flooding was reported in Montello and authorities have closed State Route 233. [node:read-more:link]

Refugees fearful of President Donald Trump's immigration policies have been braving freezing winter temperatures to walk across the border from the U.S. to Canada. The Welcome Place refugee assistance agency in the province of Manitoba provided assistance to 91 claimants between Nov. 1 and Jan. 25, Reuters reported. That number was more than the agency typically helps in an entire year. Most walked into Canada across the freezing prairies along the border. Over the weekend, 22 refugees crossed the border on foot near Emerson, Manitoba, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. [node:read-more:link]