Negative impacts from non-farm developments can’t be offset by making payments to surrounding farmers, according to the Oregon Supreme Court. [node:read-more:link]

Small-scale processing on Oregon farmland would be subject to fewer county restrictions under legislation favored by both agriculture and property rights advocates. However, one provision in the proposal has become a point of debate: whether the exemption should apply to on-farm processing of cannabis.Oregon’s land use laws currently allow crop processing on farmland in facilities smaller than 10,000 square feet, but the buildings are still subject to county siting standards, such as landscaping and parking requirements. [node:read-more:link]

While it might be some time before the direct impacts of the trade war with China has affected Iowa’s economy, a group of eight economists and agriculture development experts at Iowa State University attempted to make exactly those projections this past September. [node:read-more:link]

The dogs, loaded onto a Dodge cargo van marked “Mississippi Mutts On the Move,” like at least tens of thousands of others making the trip northward might once have died for lack of shelter space. Before the Oktibbeha County Humane Society shelter started shipping puppies and dogs north a decade ago, half the dogs and cats in its care were put down — a “kill rate” of 50 percent. Last year, when the humane society transported 3,000 dogs north, 93 percent of its animals left the shelter alive.“We are the epitome of the Southern shelter. [node:read-more:link]

 Oklahoma residents will be able to openly carry firearms without a background check or training under a bill given final legislative approval hat quickly became the first signed into law by the new Republican governor. Dubbed “constitutional carry” by its supporters, the bill passed the Senate on a 40-6 vote with every Republican and one Democrat voting in favor. It already sailed through the GOP-controlled House .

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"I told you so" rings hollow when people stand to lose their jobs. But it’s worth noting that more than a few observers predicted in 2012, when Dallas-based Dean Foods shed its fast-growing organic and soy milk business, that turning the parent into largely a commodity player would hamper chances for growth. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today that a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel found that China has provided trade distorting domestic support to its grain producers well in excess of its commitments under WTO rules.  China’s market price support policy artificially raises Chinese prices for grains above market levels, creating incentives for increased Chinese production of agricultural products and reduced imports. This panel report is a significant victory for U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Natural farming is a popular concept right now.  The "eat local" movement only added to a standing desire for food that is grown in natural conditions, and not far from the table where it is served.  Uproot Meats appears to check those boxes, but it has run into controversy over its hog-and-chicken operation on the south end of Ashland.  Opponents are not happy with the business model of growing animals--and their wastes--on a sloping hillside above other agriculture operations.  [node:read-more:link]