The U.S. [node:read-more:link]

USDA lowered its forecast for total red meat and poultry production for 2016 from last month, projecting lower beef, pork, and broiler production. Turkey production was raised. Corn production was lowered and soybean production raised in its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. [node:read-more:link]

Chipotle Mexican Grill has resolved issues raised by nearly 100 customers who fell ill late last year in a series of outbreaks of E. Coli, norovirus and salmonella after eating at the restaurant chain.   A lawyer representing 96 individuals said the Denver-based fast casual chain reached financial settlements with the customers, although at least one person also asked for free burritos to settle her case. An estimated 510 people were sickened through separate outbreaks of E. Coli (14 states), norovirus (two states) and salmonella (1 state) that began late last year. [node:read-more:link]

This installment of Rural Snapshot looks at poverty in Pennsylvania. For the analysis, the Center used the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s 2016 federal poverty level (FPL) income numbers, which are based on household income and household size. In 2016, the poverty level for a family/household of three is $20,160. [node:read-more:link]

In the first half of 2016, a total of $3.54 billion in U.S.-made agricultural equipment was sold to other countries. That number may sound impressive, but is less so compared with the 12% tumble it has taken in comparison to the same time period last year, according to data from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).  Not all areas saw a slip, however. The U.S. shipped $933 million worth of farm equipment to Europe so far this year, a 12% improvement from 2015. And Central America also saw a 12% boost. Elsewhere, the news wasn’t as positive. [node:read-more:link]

The state of California, wracked by drought, has 66 million dead trees across its landscape. They’ve been killed by both the drought itself and by voracious bark beetles, and now they’re just sitting there — destined to either decompose, burn in a wildfire, or be incinerated, for safety reasons, by state fire managers before the next blaze comes along. And it isn’t just California. Raging bark beetle infestations, fanned by warmer temperatures and droughts, have also struck forests in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho in recent years. [node:read-more:link]

It may seem ironic that the pioneer of projects that could lead to the sharpest increase in emissions-free electricity in the United States started in Wyoming, the state that leads U.S. production of coal, ranks in the top 10 for natural gas production and pumps 2 percent of the nation's oil. The project started with a 320,000-acre cattle ranch in Carbon County on Wyoming's southern border. In 2006, Philip Anschutz, the ranch's billionaire owner, put it up for sale. [node:read-more:link]

Making an electric car is easy. We’ve been doing it for more than a century. Charging them, however, is tough. It requires infrastructure—a grid on the grid—and presents a chicken-egg conundrum: Who wants a plug-in car when there’s nowhere to plug it in? Who wants to build car chargers, when there aren’t enough cars to charge?  Rest easy, Tesla-heads and Nissan Leaf geeks; we’re finally getting there. The number of charging stations in the U.S. has reached a critical mass. The U.S. [node:read-more:link]

One presidential candidate reportedly sought advice from a California agency of how to alter the national Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which sets mandates on the supply of ethanol in our gasoline. Meanwhile the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was called out in a federal report for failing to meet its statutory reporting requirements under the RFS. Both events in August add fuel to the flames of an already divisive topic pitting certain biofuel producers against consumers – such as boaters – who say ethanol is bad for their engines. [node:read-more:link]

The adoption of new technologies, including GM, may be crucial in making agriculture more sustainable, a leading food policy expert has claimed. Jack Bobo, chief communications officer for US biotech company Intrexon, said agriculture is having the most negative impact on the planet and yet there is nothing more critical to human survival. Resolving this contradiction was perhaps the greatest challenge of the age, he said. [node:read-more:link]