Some 41 million children under the age of 5 are overweight or obese, a 33-percent increase worldwide in a generation, says a report to the UN World Health Organization that urges public and private groups to reverse the trend.

What do the renegade militia members in Oregon have in common with carp? They both have a habit of invading. Ever since the Bundy boys and their crew came into the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on January 2, well-armed and calling for the takedown of public lands, refuge staff have been forced to abandon a critical invasive carp removal program, reports High Country News.

Around the world, people are drinking less orange juice, with consumption down one-fifth in the past decade to roughly 1.9 million tonnes this year. Production, dominated by Brazil and the United States, peaked five years ago and has generally declined since.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan plans an overhaul of the country's agricultural policy so the farm sector will prosper under the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact.

The food industry is bankrolling a publicity blitz against mandatory GMO food labels that includes "a six-figure campaign that is running ads in prime time on network and cable TV in and around the nation’s capital," says the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Much of DC is snowbound but the party spirit abides. On a nighttime dog walk, the Insider found a sedate celebration in a driveway apron cleared of snow. Several neighbors sat in lawn chairs around a fire pit. Trays holding adult beverages were stabbed into the snowy walls and a portable music player sat on a car trunk.

Weak crop and livestock prices combined to pull down U.S. net cash farm income -- a measure of farmers' ability to pay bills and make payments on debt -- 28 percent in 2015, the second year of falling income.

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Krysta Harden announced she will leave the USDA at the end of February after six years at the department in various jobs. Agriculture Undersecretary Michael Scuse, who oversees the farm program and U.S. export programs, will become acting deputy secretary and Alexis Taylor, a Scuse deputy, will take over the duties of undersecretary.

Iowa’s water woes seemed slightly less woeful after the state received a $97 million federal grant for water quality and flooding projects, reports The Des Moines Register.

In just two months, scientists in 19 countries have detected the presence of the MCR-1 gene that can make bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin, given to patients when other antimicrobials are ineffective, reports Bloomberg.

Opponents say they will continue to fight the EPA's "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) regulation despite losing their long-shot attempt at a legislative veto of the rule.

Monsanto sued California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), demanding that the agency not add glyphosate to the state’s list of known carcinogens, reports Reuters.

The national pesticide regulator in Canada says neonicotinoid pesticides are largely safe for honeybees but the province of Ontario "is holding fast to stringent rules that restrict their use," says the London Free Press.

The hottest year on record just ended - 2015 - "a burst of heat that has continued into the new year and is roiling weather patterns all over the world," said the New York Times.