A recent study highlighting the renewable energy capacity of the eastern power grid found adding new transmission capacity can help further cut costs and emissions. In a recent report, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found the grid serving the eastern half of the U.S. is technically capable of integrating enough wind and solar power into the system to meet 30 percent of the region's yearly energy needs. But one major obstacle to the large-scale use of renewables remains: getting the best wind resource from the Midwest to the East, where the power is needed. [node:read-more:link]

The estimated percentage of U.S. households that were food insecure in 2015 declined significantly from 2014, to 12.7 percent, continuing a downward trend in food insecurity from a high of 14.9 percent in 2011. The 2015 prevalence of food insecurity was still above the 2007 prerecessionary level of 11.1 percent. In 2015, the percentage of households with food insecurity in the severe range—very low food security—also declined significantly.  • In 2015, 87.3 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the year. [node:read-more:link]

Researchers at DuPont Pioneer have published a study about a strain of corn engineered with CRISPR to be more resistant to drought. Once it receives government approval, this could soon be the first-ever CRISPR-modified crop to go on sale. In this study, the DuPont engineers didn’t use CRISPR to alter maize’s DNA per se; instead, they changed how one single gene is expressed. [node:read-more:link]

A fire broke out Tuesday at a USDA facility in Beltsville, Md., which was one of five offices closed then reopened last week after anonymous emailed threats. USDA issued the following statement: "A fire occurred this morning in a storage shed building at USDA’s Beltsville facility. The fire has been contained, and no personnel were harmed. The building involved houses equipment only, and employees in a neighboring building have been safely evacuated. [node:read-more:link]

JBS's CEO Wesley Batista and chairman Joesley Batista were ordered by a Brazilian judge to step away from executive positions in their companies. [node:read-more:link]

José Eduardo Calzada Rovirosa, a New Mexico State University graduate and minister of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, will visit the New Mexico State University campus Sept. [node:read-more:link]

The widespread adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crops has clearly led to changes in pesticide use, but the nature and extent of these impacts remain open questions. We study this issue with a unique, large, and representative sample of plot-level choices made by U.S. maize and soybean farmers from 1998 to 2011. [node:read-more:link]

“For the last couple of months, Benz has been asking for a ‘cow having a calf’ cake for his birthday.  “We tried our best to persuade him, in fact I overheard Tyler say to Benz, ‘a Thomas the Train cake would be cool.. Would you like Mom to make one for your birthday?’. To which he replied, ‘I don't even watch Thomas the train’. We tried.  “So there I sat, Google imaging "cow having a calf cake" and guess what, there were zero results, surprise, surprise! [node:read-more:link]

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has declared a state of emergency in Pawnee County after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck northwest of Pawnee.  The earthquake struck at 7:02 a.m. Saturday and was felt throughout the Midwestern United States, although no severe damage or serious injuries were reported. The quake ties a 2011 earthquake for the strongest earthquake in recorded state history. [node:read-more:link]

The Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise and Community Vitality (Iowa Microloan) has received a $99,000 USDA Rural Business Development Grant to develop a Rural Ventures Accelerator program in partnership with Ag Ventures Alliance, based in Mason City, and Iowa State University.   The program seeks to develop a collaboration that provides targeted business and development with technical assistance to “assist strategic rural ventures and smaller rural communities that may not have the capacity and local networks that larger communities possess." [node:read-more:link]