A monthly Purdue survey says farmers plan to store more of their crop than normal during the fall harvest, likely because of sharp declines in commodity prices since spring. More than 40 percent of respondents told the Ag Economy Barometer that they have priced a smaller portion of their crops than they would in a typical year.

If you’re tired of cooking for Thanksgiving, Neiman Marcus has you covered. The high-end department story is known for its luxurious prices, but this year, the company has sparked fresh outrage by selling frozen collard greens for $66 a pound (plus $15.50 in shipping), says NPR. Angry Twitter users are calling the side dish #GentrifiedGreens.

The Opportunity Project released 29 digital tools to help communities grow, including one, "FindYour.Town," intended to help rural communities attract investment and spur economic growth, said the White House. The project was launched in March so non-profits, companies and other non-governmental groups could create digital tools that dig into federal databases to benefit communities.

Farmers in Arkansas are experimenting with a weed-control tactic from Australia, called narrow windrow burning, to combat weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides. The scorched-earth technique dramatically reduces the weed seeds that sprout in the spring to challenge row crops, says Farm Journal.

The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals refused to reconsider a ruling that gave Jack DeCoster and his son, Peter, three-month prison sentences for the 2010 outbreak of food illness linked to their egg farms, says Food Safety News. At the time, the DeCosters were believed to be the largest egg producers in the country.

For decades, Nutella, the hazelnut-cocoa spread, has been classified by FDA as a dessert topping. Now, its producer, Ferrero, is petitioning the government to put it in the same class as jam, which would cut its serving size — and calorie count — in half, to one tablespoon and 100 calories, says Stat, the medical news site.

“Counting fish is like counting trees, but the trees are invisible and constantly on the move,” says The Atlantic, explaining the often unreliable science behind marine population estimates. To get more accurate numbers, marine scientists are putting artificial intelligence, autonomous submarines, and drones to work.

The director or co-director of the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest for 45 years, Michael Jacobson, 73, will change jobs next September to become CSPI's chief scientist. Jacobson was active in campaigns to put the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods, to eliminate trans fats from processed foods and to force the government to set guidelines on salt in food.

A wetter fall has convinced California regulators to ease up on water restrictions for farmers and ranchers in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta and its watersheds, says Reuters. A foot of rain fell on the northern half of the state in October, making it the second wettest on record in the northern Sierra Nevadas. The south remained dry.

Myron Ebell, the head of Donald Trump's transition team for EPA, "is a long-time opponent of the Renewable Fuels Standard and ethanol policies," says DTN. In addition, Ebell, who works at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, "also is a renowned skeptic of climate science."

Traditionally Republican rural America, where many residents are social and fiscal conservatives, will vote overwhelmingly for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to a poll commissioned by DTN/The Progressive Farmer. The telephone survey found 46 percent supported Trump, 24 percent backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, 10 percent said they were vote for a third-party candidate and 20 percent were undecided or preferred "none of the above."

Oil wastewater used to irrigate food crops in California’s Central Valley was found to contain carcinogens and other toxins in a preliminary report by scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of the Pacific, and the nonprofit PSE Healthy Energy.

The USDA "has quietly allowed a flood of hydroponically produced fruits and vegetables, largely imported, to be illegally labeled and sold as 'organic,'" says Cornucopia Institute in a complaint filed with the Agricultural Marketing Service, which oversees the organic food program. Cornucopia acted ahead of a meeting of the National Organic Standards Board, on Nov. 16-18, where the USDA advisory board may vote on whether hydroponic crops may be labeled as organic.

President Obama said rural America is "moving in the right direction" after the 2008-09 recession and a long-running shift toward automation and globalization that "has, in many ways, hit rural communities particularly hard." In an op-ed, the president saluted rural "resilience and ingenuity in the face of a challenge."

A Utah federal judge is deciding whether a state ban on hidden cameras in slaughterhouses defies the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The case could set a national precedent.

The USDA says it will disburse more than $7 billion in crop subsidies this fall, "which will account for over 10 percent of USDA's projected 2016 net farm income." The payments, which cover 2015 crops, are triggered under the 2014 farm law because of continued low commodity prices.

October was "surprisingly wet" across northern California, with Sacramento getting four times its usual rainfall for the month, says the San Jose Mercury. "Meteorologists stress that it’s only the very beginning of California’s rainy season, so there are no guarantees that a wet October will bring a wet November, December, January or February."