In 2014, Colorado became the first state to regulate methane emissions from oil and gas drilling, with the goal of shrinking its carbon footprint and improving local air quality. While a couple industry trade groups fought the rules, some producers, including Encana, Devon Energy and Anadarko, supported the measures. They even helped write the rules with the state and the Environmental Defense Fund. A couple years in, even the trade groups agree that the rules are reasonable and effective. [node:read-more:link]

State Senator Cliff Pirtle (R-Roswell) wants to end the misrepresentationf plant based "milk" products.  His SB 161 calls for the end of the mislabeling of beverages as “milk” when they don’t have cow or goat milk in them. Senator Pirtle said the cartons in the dairy section of products called soy milk, almond milk and silk milk  are confusing to the public because they think they are milk and they are not.  He is asking that in New Mexico there be more truth in advertising and these beverages be labeled something as such “imitation milk.” [node:read-more:link]

In an effort to prevent opioid overdose deaths, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) plans to distribute more than 8,000 naloxone rescue kits.   The state-level naloxone distribution project is a partnership of DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities (BBHHF) and Bureau for Public Health (BPH).   The project is being funded primarily through a $1.07 million federal block grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment. [node:read-more:link]

Amid the uncertainty about the future of the Affordable Care Act, states still have to manage their insurance markets. Most states have muddled through the 2017 enrollment season without making changes.  Minnesota, for its part, took three unusual actions that are worth a closer look.  In January, Minnesota:passed a one-time bailout for some consumers in the individual insurance market dealing with skyrocketing premiums;rejected an attempt to let insurers offer cheaper, bare-bones coverage;laid the groundwork for a sort of homegrown "public option" insurance plan. [node:read-more:link]

The College of Veterinarians of British Columbia has voted overwhelmingly to ban cosmetic tail docking of dogs, horses and cattle. The Vancouver-based licensing body declared cosmetic ear cropping of dogs to be unethical about a year ago.  Cosmetic tail docking and cosmetic tail alterations, such as nicking and blocking horses, came up during an update of the Canadian group’s bylaws in November, said President Brendan Matthews, DVM. More than 91 percent of voting members opted to make both practices unethical.  [node:read-more:link]

The hemp industry has taken the DEA to court in the wake of a controversial new rule on marijuana extracts. Denver’s Hoban Law Group, representing the Hemp Industries Association, Centuria Natural Foods and RMH Holdings LLC, on Friday filed a judicial review action against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, alleging the agency overstepped its bounds when enacting a rule establishing coding for marijuana derivatives such as cannabidiol (CBD) oil. [node:read-more:link]

Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta (SYNN.S) pushed back the expected closure of its agreed $43 billion takeover by ChemChina [CNNCC.UL] to the second quarter of 2017, but said it was making progress in winning regulatory approval for the deal.  The transaction is important for China, the world's largest agricultural market, which is looking to Syngenta's portfolio of chemicals and patent-protected seeds to help bolster food supplies for its huge population. [node:read-more:link]

Former chicken farmers in five states have filed a federal lawsuit accusing a handful of giant poultry processing companies that dominate the industry of treating farmers who raise the chickens like indentured servants and colluding to fix prices paid to them.  The farmers located in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas allege that the contract grower system created by Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Perdue Farms, Koch Foods, and Sanderson Farms pushed them deep into debt to build and maintain chicken barns to meet company demands.  They say the companies colluded to fix f [node:read-more:link]

The Farm Belt is hurtling toward a milestone: Soon there will be fewer than two million farms in America for the first time since pioneers moved westward after the Louisiana Purchase.  Across the heartland, a multiyear slump in prices for corn, wheat and other farm commodities brought on by a glut of grain world-wide is pushing many farmers further into debt. Some are shutting down, raising concerns that the next few years could bring the biggest wave of farm closures since the 1980s.  The U.S. share of the global grain market is less than half what it was in the 1970s. [node:read-more:link]

Republicans and Democrats joined forces in a committee of the Virginia House of Delegates to defeat an attempt to legalize the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk by a vote of more than two to one.  The 6-15 vote against House Bill 2030 saw all six votes in favor cast by Republican members of the Committee for Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources. [node:read-more:link]