This week, at the Sundance Film Festival, everything will change. With the debut of the virtual reality (VR) investigation Operation Aspen, ordinary people donning VR headsets will be able to walk with activists as we infiltrate Sunrise Farms, a major Whole Foods egg supplier in Northern California. Alongside my fellow activists at Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), I entered Sunrise with a prototype VR camera small enough to carry in one hand and stable enough to capture footage as we moved. The result is breathtaking: a 360 degree experience walking through a “humane” egg farm. [node:read-more:link]

When people think about working animals, what often comes to mind are dogs that herd sheep, horses that work on farms and animals that perform in movies. But there are lots of other jobs animals have had over the years.  Dogs are much more sensitive to smell than humans. This made dogs the traditional hunting companion, enabling their owners to track foxes and other game. Police departments have taken advantage of this skill to help find missing people and escaped convicts. [node:read-more:link]

The American Feed Industry Association is extremely disappointed with President Donald Trump’s executive action today to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. “TPP, and agreements like it, are key to setting the terms and rules for future trade relationships, creating higher standards and expectations than previous trade deals. While the U.S. economy generally deals with a trade deficit, agriculture is the one segment where our country enjoys a strong trade surplus,” said AFIA President and CEO Joel G. Newman.  U.S. [node:read-more:link]

The American Feed Industry Association released the results of its annual “Community Involvement and Charitable Giving Survey” today, revealing the animal food industry’s volunteer hours in 2016 to be significantly higher than 2015.  The informal poll, conducted at the close of each year, tallies community service hours and funds donated by participating companies. Results show more than 41,000 hours of community service donated by AFIA member companies’ employees in 2016—a 28 percent increase from 2015. Nearly $2.2 million was also contributed to an expansive list of community causes.  [node:read-more:link]

Animal rights and environmental groups are asking for a halt to building more live chicken facilities in Arkansas until federal regulators assess the impacts of such facilities on animals, the environment and public health. Groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Arkansas Animal Rights Koalition are asking USDA and the Small Business Administration to stop making federal loans until the local impact of new facilities has been determined. [node:read-more:link]

As candidates two years ago, the Republican governors of Kentucky and Arkansas swore they would do away with “Obamacare” if elected. But a funny thing happened between the campaign trail and the governor’s mansion: Reality set in.  After promising to uproot Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin simply renamed his Democratic predecessor’s health care plan for low-income adults and proposed changes designed to help people find jobs and get off the rolls. In Arkansas, Republican Gov. [node:read-more:link]

A federal court ruled that 12 of Alabama's legislative districts were unconstitutional, citing an improper use of race in their composition. The three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined the use of the districts in future elections but stopped short of intervening in the drawing of new districts. [node:read-more:link]

[node:read-more:link]

Just before the inauguration, news leaked that Donald Trump’s long-awaited pick for Agriculture secretary would be former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue. In a way, it was a relief to some people, since it’s true that, unlike some of Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominees, Perdue at least meets the minimum qualifications of the position: He grew up on a row farm in Georgia, got his doctorate in veterinary medicine, is no stranger to agribusiness, and even wore a red tractor tie to Trump Tower. [node:read-more:link]

Earlier this month, Ross Barnhardt and I, along with first-time attendee Senator Bill Rabon, attended the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders (SARL) conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. SARL is a group of state legislators and agriculture industry representatives from across the United States and Canada that get together every year to discuss and study issues and policies affecting the agriculture industry and rural communities. [node:read-more:link]