Four Midwest states rank among the top in the nation for making it easier for corporations to gain better access to wind and solar. According to a report by Advanced Energy Economy.  The report lists the top 11 states that are “above average” when it comes to clean energy resources available as well as having large industrial energy loads, which includes Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio. The report makes six policy recommendations that would make it easier for large energy users in those states to access renewable energy. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. corn production is forecast at a record 15.2 billion bushels, up 613 million from the July projection, according to USDA’s first survey-based corn yield forecast of the year.  Consequently, USDA slashed its projected range for the season-average corn price by 25 cents on both ends to $2.85 to $3.45 per bushel for the 2016/17 crop year.  This would be down 45 cents at the midpoint from the $3.55 to $3.65 per bushel range now expected for 2015/16. Corn ending stocks for 2016/17 are projected 328 million bushels higher and, if realized, would be the highest since 1987/88. U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced that Britain will continue to pay the usual farming and scientific subsidies beyond the time that Britain leaves the European Union. This seems sensible as it at least provides certainty in the short term. We don’t even know how long it will take to leave the EU so the promise PMSEY +% to continue the subsidies to 2020 does indeed make that sense. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. agriculture department predicted another record harvest this fall on Friday, raising the prospect of yet more financial pain in farm country.  Crop, livestock and dairy farms are all suffering. Some are filing for bankruptcy, among them John Quaal, who runs a dairy farm near Fergus Falls.  It's nearly impossible to break even producing milk, he said. Milk, like corn and soybeans, has been fetching less money than it costs to produce the commodity for most of those two years. Grain producers are in the third year of a financial downturn. [node:read-more:link]

Rural counties have seen a disproportionate jump in deaths from prescription-drug overdoses in the past 15 years, increasing at a pace three times that of the nation’s most urban counties. About three-quarters of all U.S. deaths caused by prescription drugs in 2014 were from opioid pain killers, making prescriptions a major part of the nation’s opioid epidemic. Rural – or “noncore” – counties saw an average increase in prescription drug deaths rates of about 9 percent per year from 1999 to 2014. [node:read-more:link]

Larimer County now officially owns the 211-acre Malchow farm south of Berthoud and its associated water rights — a unique agreement that includes a water sharing component.  The $8.4 million sale from the Malchow family to the Department of Natural Resources closed Monday.  The county bought the property to conserve its agricultural, historic and scenic values and plans to continue leasing the fields as an active farm. [node:read-more:link]

Lancaster County’s 5,600 farmers and others in the Susquehanna River watershed have been much maligned over polluting the Chesapeake Bay. But they may soon be seen in a better light. [node:read-more:link]

Nearly half of Americans believe the nation’s infrastructure has deteriorated over the last five years, according to a new poll from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.  The survey of 2,000 registered voters found that 46 percent think the state of U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Hemp Inc., executives announced they expect the first 200,000 pounds of Lost Circulation Materials in inventory to go to market in the next 2 weeks. David Schmitt, COO of Hemp, Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC is meeting with specific companies next week to ensure the LCMs will be ready to go to market. The company's LCMs are expected to potentially sell for two to three dollars per pound, which could bring in revenue of four to six hundred thousand dollars. Schmitt has also been overseeing the final stages of Hemp Inc.,  70,000 square foot multi-purpose in [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture credit conditions in the Midwest continued to deteriorate in the second quarter of 2016 as farm income remained subdued. That according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions released Thursday. Nearly 75 percent of bankers within the seven-state 10th District of the Federal Reserve Bank in the Midwest reported farm income was less than a year ago. Persistent declines in farm income have continued to pressure agricultural credit conditions, according to the survey. [node:read-more:link]