Brent Staton, a primary care physician in Cookeville, heads an organization called Cumberland Center for Healthcare Innovation, a network of affiliated, independent doctors in small towns and rural counties around the state.  But what it is, is a band of primary care doctors in about 50 counties across Tennessee who want to collaborate as a way to sustain their independence in changing the health care system — and as a path to making their patients, and communities, healthier. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. protein producers are currently seeing record growth in demand; however, prices over the next couple years are predicted to fall. These findings are part of “Chickens, Cows, and Pigs… Oh My!  Implications of Record U.S. Protein Expansion,” a new report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory group, that explores the impact of growth on the future of the market.  Production of protein in the United States is projected to grow at a rate of 2.5-percent annually. [node:read-more:link]

The future of farming after Britian leaves the EU is likely to see an end to direct subsidies to farmers, many of whom are calling instead for measures to support a profitable market. Farmers receive 2.1 Bn pounds in direct subsidies and 600 M pounds in rural development payments through the Eu's Common Agricultural Policy.  [node:read-more:link]

"This is the New Deal" saud Sheila Allgood, a manager of Bolt, the broadband subsidiary of the Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooeprative. "Now we are doing what cable and telecom companies don't want to do, just like we did for electricity when the big private power companies didn't want to come here." [node:read-more:link]

The oil industry has left a big footprint along the Gulf Coast, where a Delaware-sized stretch of Louisiana has disappeared. But few politicians would blame Big Oil for ecosystem abuse in a state where the industry employs up to 300,000 people and injects $73 billion into the economy. Until now.  Following the lead of Gov. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana political orthodoxy is being turned upside-down as prominent leaders of both parties join lawsuits seeking billions of dollars for environmental improvement projects. [node:read-more:link]

St. Louis-based coal miner Peabody Energy Corp. which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy asked a U.S. judge for permission to pay nearly $12 million in bonuses to the company's top six executives if it meets performance targets and emerges from bankruptcy. In a filing, Peabody said the incentives would help the company maximize its value for the benefit of all stakeholders. If the company falls short of the targets, executives will receive only their base salaries, which range from $444,000 to $1 million, Reuters reports. [node:read-more:link]

Advocates say a little-known provision of the Clean Power Plan could become a powerful tool to advance environmental justice. TheClean Energy Incentive Program is aimed at “removing barriers to investment in energy efficiency and solar measures in low‐income communities," plus sparking "zero-emitting" renewable energy development, as the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Colorado has become ground zero for a fight being waged around the world by people opposing fracking for a variety of health and environmental reasons. Two ballot initiatives are pushing for enough signatures to make the November ballot. Initiative 75 would allow local governments to regulate fracking sites in their jurisdiction. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently said: “Every one of us that’s not a farmer is not a farmer because we have farmers.”  That’s a lot of “farmer” in one sentence. And the powerful statement makes sense.  There aren’t many farmers among us. Less than two percent, as a matter of fact. Even more telling, 85 percent of what’s grown in our country is produced by less than one-tenth of one percent of our population.  Vilsack is right. We delegate the responsibility of feeding our families to a small percentage of this country. [node:read-more:link]

A vote by New York utility regulators approving nearly half a billion dollars in annual subsidies over the next two years for a trio of ailing nuclear plants was a victory for Exelon Corp., which owns two of the plants and is in talks with Entergy Corp. [node:read-more:link]