Dr. Peter Spring, of the Bern University of Applied Sciences, said striving for responsible antibiotic use may be a better strategy than going 100 percent antibiotic-free. [node:read-more:link]

I visited a family farm recently. It was small, and local, and certified organic. In theory, it was everything an eco-conscious foodie could want. And yet, it wasn’t. Like every farm family, the couple who runs the farm is constrained by economic factors. Unfortunately, the measures they’ve taken to make their finances work have made their farm less environmentally sustainable. Their biggest expense is labor, so they do everything they can to reduce the amount of labor they need, including employing machines. A lot of machines. Machines that run on fossil fuels. [node:read-more:link]

California will begin regulating greenhouse-gas emissions tied to dairy cows and landfills under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown, escalating state efforts to fight climate change beyond carbon-based gases to include methane and other pollutants.  The law targets a category of gases known as short-lived climate pollutants, which have an outsize effect on global warming despite their relatively short life in the atmosphere. Environmentalists hope that tackling short-lived pollutants now would buy time to develop new and more affordable technology to reduce carbon emissions. [node:read-more:link]

Dr. Bronner’s, a Vista, Calif.-based natural and organic body care products company known for its hemp-based soaps, has pledged to contribute upward of $660,000 to marijuana legalization campaigns in five states.  Dr. Bronner’s plans to partner with organizations such as New Approach and the Marijuana Policy Project and to make financial contributions to legalization campaigns in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada, which arevoting on recreational marijuana measures this November. [node:read-more:link]

The governors of three Southern states are lifting restrictions on the number of hours that truck drivers delivering fuel can work, hoping to prevent shortages in both states after the shutdown of a pipeline that spilled at least 252,000 gallons of gasoline in rural Alabama.  Governors can suspend federal transportation regulations during emergencies.  Colonial Pipeline has said most of the leaked gasoline is contained in a retention pond near the city of Helena and there's no public safety concern. The spill was first detected on Sept. [node:read-more:link]

The West Virginia Farm Bureau and the state Department of Agriculture are in a fight over cows and potatoes. Their argument spans genetics, market economies and state pride. It also crosses into politics.  In the upcoming Agriculture Commissioner race, the Farm Bureau has endorsed Republican Kent Leonhardt over incumbent Democrat Walt Helmick, just as it did in 2012. In the current spat, the Farm Bureau claims the Agriculture Department’s purchase of four breeding cows from Oklahoma for $33,000 presents unfair competition for West Virginia’s existing beef cattle farmers. [node:read-more:link]

A water war is brewing in California's Central Valley, pitting residents, farmers and even conservation groups against the state.  The proposed plan would take even more water away from the region's residents and crops; new plans call for40 percent of the San Joaquin River's water to be sent out to the ocean so threatened species of fish, like salmon and steelhead, can have a chance to thrive again.  But that plan would double the amount of water used to save these fish, and local officials are disgusted to think that this much water could be sent out to the sea, flowing right past a parche [node:read-more:link]

 As thousands of commercial drones take to the skies under new Federal Aviation Administration rules, some small operators are pursuing a coveted exemption that would allow them to fly their drones where they can't be seen by the pilot.  The companies who want them say the so-called line-of-sight exemptions are essential to someday use drones for such tasks as cleanup and repair after storm damage and monitoring widespread crop conditions.  But thus far, the FAA has only given exemptions to three companies that participated in a year-long FAA pilot program: CNN, BNSF Railway and the drone d [node:read-more:link]

U.S. wheat farmers, struggling to make money as prices sink and global supplies swell, could be the main beneficiaries if Washington wins a case it brought last week against China over an estimated $100 billion in domestic grain market supports.  On Tuesday, U.S. [node:read-more:link]

A new national nonprofit group is spending $375,000 on advertising in Kansas over the next two months to make the case for wind energy production, a purchase that hints at future electoral influence.  American Wind Action, founded three months ago, already has a seven-figure budget. Its largest advertising purchase to date is in Kansas, where it will roll out television, radio and digital ads across the state in September and October. [node:read-more:link]