The USDA-AMS has proposed new rules for organic poultry - in a section entitled "Avian Living Conditions" AMS tells the producer of organic poultry that the operation "...must establish and maintain year-round poultry living conditions which accommodate the health and natural behavior of poultry, including: year-round access to outdoors; shade; shelter; exercise areas; fresh air; direct sunlight; clean water for drinking; materials for dust bathing; and adequate outdoor space to escape from predators and aggressive behaviors suitable to the species, its stage of life, the climate and the en [node:read-more:link]

Dirt and crushed gravel from the West’s hundreds of thousands of miles of logging roads often erodes into nearby streams, where it can harm water quality and fish. State regulation of road runoff varies, so a 2003 Oregon lawsuit sought to require federal regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency. Despite some success in lower courts, in 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EPA is not required to control sediment from such roads.  In July, the EPA upheld that policy. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers and scientists have manipulated crops for thousands of years. Gene-editing is what proponents call a more precise version of mutation breeding that’s been used since the mid-1900s. Commercial varieties of edibles, including wheat, barley, rice and grapefruit, were created by mutating DNA with chemicals or radiation.  Crops are on the forefront of gene-editing because plant DNA is the easiest to manipulate. San Diego-based Cibus changed one letter from canola’s DNA to create the new variant. [node:read-more:link]

A new report counts 66,000 clean-energy related jobs in Pennsylvania, up 15 percent from the last study published two years ago. Clean Jobs Pennsylvania, published by the nonpartisan Environmental Entrepreneurs advocacy group and the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, said the employment at 5,900 businesses statewide was about 1 percent of the state's total nonfarm jobs. Most of the jobs, about 80 percent, were in what the report called the energy efficiency sector. [node:read-more:link]

Boise cyclist Kristin Armstrong will head to the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro with the apparent distinction of being the first athlete ever sponsored by a crop bred using biotechnology.  Armstrong will be 43 when she pursues her third Olympic gold medal, competing in the individual women’s time trial.  She’ll also be raising awareness about the nutritional value of potatoes — and Simplot Plant Sciences’ Innate line of genetically modified Russet Burbanks and Ranger Russets in particular. [node:read-more:link]

The FDA Foods and Veterinary Medicine Program-Strategic Plan.  This FVM Program outlines goals and objectives for the next 10 years: GOAL 1: Food Safety Hazards -- Protect America’s Consumers and Animals from Foreseeable Hazards. 1.1: Establish and gain high rates of compliance with science-based preventive control standards across the global farm-to-table continuum. 1.2: Improve prevention, detection, and response to foodborne illness outbreaks and other food and feed safety incidents.1.3: Strengthen the ability of consumers to play a proactive role in minimizing food safety risks. [node:read-more:link]

Rancher Jim Cenarrusa says he sold 9,000 acres of his central Idaho ranch to the Nature Conservancy because he knows the conservation group will take care of it. The land is at the base of the Pioneer Mountains, and is home to sage grouse and pronghorn. The family will keep a small parcel for their next generation to farm, but Cenarussa says his kids aren’t interested in carrying on the family ranch. [node:read-more:link]

Massachusetts’ highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, gave the okay to place on this November’s ballot an initiative backed by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that would ban the use in the state of certain farm animal housing and prohibit the sale in the state of meat and eggs from confined animals. [node:read-more:link]

Pet food shoppers increasingly say they look for non-GMO claims on labels and are even willing to pay more for pet foods with such claims. What if pet foods were required to declare inclusion of GMO ingredients on their labels; would that cause some pet owners to steer clear of such products? We may soon find out, at least in the US. [node:read-more:link]