With funding available for a new bioprocessing research lab at the University of Illinois, officials in Decatur see an opportunity to provide an economic boost across Central Illinois.State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said Tuesday the state is investing $26 million in the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Lab, which will complement the production and transportation capacity of Decatur and the surrounding area's corn and soybean production. [node:read-more:link]

National Milk Producers’ Federation CEO and President Jim Mulhern is skeptical that Congress will be able to tackle immigration reform, child nutrition programs, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement before or right after the elections in November. Lawmakers are expected, instead, to be mostly focusing on funding the government.  Mulhern said these three issues are policy priorities for the dairy producers and that they are focusing on them right now. When it comes to child nutrition, the dairy industry is hoping Congress will once again allow schools to offer flavored 1 percent milk. [node:read-more:link]

A recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency was highly critical of the herbicide atrazine, which helps reduce soil erosion and runoff problems, keeping soil healthy and water clean. EPA released its draft ecological risk assessment as part of the re-registration process for atrazine; and, if its recommendations stand, farmers will basically lose the use of the herbicide. Tillage is an effective way to control weeds, but disturbing that top layer of soil leads to a loss of 90 percent of crop residue from the soil. [node:read-more:link]

Purdue University entomologist Ian Kaplan and his team have received a $3.6 million grant from USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture to fund their research into the environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic effects of neonicotinoid pesticide use.  The five-year grant is part of the USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative, a program providing funds for research in plant breeding and genetics, pests and disease, production efficiency and profitability, technology, and food safety hazards. [node:read-more:link]

Marijuana-related legislation was on a fast track to nowhere until 2014. That was the year Republicans and Democrats alike approved a measure that kept federal authorities from interfering in states that allowed marijuana use for medical purposes. Since then, both houses of Congress have seen a flood of similar proposals. Lobbyists, policy experts and lawmakers who spoke to Roll Call said the trajectory is clear: Congress is leaning toward decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level — and it’s going to happen soon. [node:read-more:link]

The North Dakota Department of Agriculture has started a new magazine. The publication is called North Dakota Agriculture. It plans to cover topics about industry cooperation, technologies and the numerous commodities grown in the state, among other things. State Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says the magazine should help readers gain a greater understanding of how farmers and ranchers produce the state's "food, feed, fiber and fuel." [node:read-more:link]

"The biggest threat? Cats. A non-native species to North America, free ranging cats kill over 2 billion birds a year. Far more than other human related deaths which include collisions, chemicals, and hunting."  [node:read-more:link]

Agtech company motorleaf have released the world’s first wireless monitoring, motion detection and automated growing system for hobby and industrial growers. I spoke to CEO and co-founder Ally Monk to learn more. Motorleaf has created a system that can automate and monitor an indoor growth area with up to 5 acre coverage. Their hardware, described by some as “Nest meets Lego for agriculture” is designed to be plug-and-play, and the grower decides which part of their plant operation they control/monitor and automate. It consists of four modular units: [node:read-more:link]

Widely diverse information exists on the size of the yield penalty associated with organic crop production. Some authors/spokespersons – often connected with organic production/marketing – claim organic yields are typically 80-100% of non-organic. [node:read-more:link]

There’s something fishy happening in the seafood industry. According to a new report from the ocean conservation advocacy group Oceana, one in five of over 25,000 samples of seafood tested globally was mislabeled. That means people may purchase and consume seafood and fish that’s not what they think it is.  The group looked at 200 studies from 55 countries for their report. The report authors say evidence of seafood fraud was discovered throughout supply chains worldwide. [node:read-more:link]