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UConn students push back on new burgers, ask to go back to beef

The University of Connecticut Dining Service’s decision to replace beef burgers with blended mushroom burgers is not going over so well with some students on campus, according to the school newspaper. One student, Cameron Tracy, was so turned off by the half-beef/half-mushroom burger that he started a Change.org petition to bring the all-beef patties back, at least to have as an option. The petition is at 250 signatures and counting. [node:read-more:link]

Community Banks On The Decline Since 1980s

Community banks across America are disappearing at astonishing rates due to pressure from the rising costs of doing business. In an AgDay exclusive, stockholder-owned lending company Farmer Mac is releasing the results of its study on the health of the farm economy. The lender says more than 10,000 community banks have ceased to exist since 1984, largely due to failure, mergers and acquisitions. Farmer Mac economists are quick to point out that many of these banks were smaller with a limited number of employees and were gobbled up by larger banks. [node:read-more:link]

Federal judge considers ranchers' discrimination case

An attorney representing Hispanic ranchers told a federal judge that the U.S. Forest Service violated the law when deciding to limit grazing on historic land grants despite recognition decades ago by the government that the descendants of Spanish colonists have a unique relationship with the land that is integral to their heritage and traditional values. [node:read-more:link]

KY Dept of Agriculture proposes legislation to help feed the hungry

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) has come forward with legislation to help businesses and individuals who wish to donate food to organizations that serve hungry Kentuckians. “These measures would provide incentives and protections for those who want to join the fight against hunger in Kentucky,” Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said. “This is due to the work of the Hunger Task Force, which met for the first time last spring. [node:read-more:link]

Federal Court Orders Wisconsin Legislature To Redraw District Lines

A federal court has ordered Wisconsin lawmakers to redraw the state’s legislative district lines by Nov. 1, saying the current lines are unconstitutional and should be replaced in time for the November 2018 election. "Under the prevailing view in this court, the people of Wisconsin already have endured several elections under an unconstitutional reapportionment scheme," wrote Judges Kenneth Ripple, Barbara Crabb and William Griesbach in an eight-page court order. [node:read-more:link]

The 35 Best College Farms

Today’s college farms are not simply research facilities as they have been in the past. College farms provide students with hands-on experience in the growth of crops and animals. Students are able to learn more about how plants thrive, what can damage their growth and how best to maximize yield in a crop. The life-cycle of animals is demonstrated first-hand, providing information for all types of career paths, including veterinary medicine and pharmaceutical development. Campus farms also provide benefits to the community. [node:read-more:link]

Trump’s trade agenda is on a collision course with his rural voters’ economic interests

Rural America has backed Republicans for decades, but it gave unusually strong support to Donald Trump’s 2016 candidacy, with Iowa scoring the biggest D-to-R shift of any state in the union. It’s interesting, then, that one of the segments of the business community with the biggest concern about Trump’s policies is agribusiness. This sector enjoys traditional Republican priorities like lax environmental regulation and eliminating the estate tax, but could suffer enormously from trade wars that Trump might initiate. [node:read-more:link]

In America’s Heartland, Discussing Climate Change Without Saying ‘Climate Change’

Doug Palen, a fourth-generation grain farmer on Kansas’ wind-swept plains, is in the business of understanding the climate. Since 2012, he has choked through the harshest drought to hit the Great Plains in a century, punctuated by freakish snowstorms and suffocating gales of dust. His planting season starts earlier in the spring and pushes deeper into winter.  To adapt, he has embraced an environmentally conscious way of farming that guards against soil erosion and conserves precious water. [node:read-more:link]

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