BMJ article criticizes rigor of advice for Dietary Guidelines
The panel of experts that advised the government on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans "used weak scientific standards, reversing recent efforts by the government to strengthen the scientific review process," says a five-page article in the British Medical Journal. The new edition of the guidelines, which present the government's advice on healthy eating, is to be released this fall.
California may be first to regulate livestock antibiotics
Gov. Jerry Brown "is widely expected to sign" a bill making California the first state in the nation to regulate antibiotic use in food animals, says news organization FairWarning, pointing to Brown's role in toughening SB 27 earlier this month. "The legislation in California, which would surpass federal recommendations and requirements, effectively would stop ranchers from regularly giving antibiotics to healthy animals."
Egg group will ‘educate’ Massachusetts on hen cages
The largest U.S. egg industry group says it will "educate the lawmakers, voters and consumers" in Massachusetts about the merits of cages for hens ahead of a potential 2016 referendum on animal-welfare rules, reports Politico.
U-Illinois to scale back off-campus research on crops
Due to a decline in state support, U-Illinois plans to reduce off-campus research on crops, and may shut down field research at four locations around the state, said the Associated Press.
USDA allows seven more weeks for dairy sign-up
Dairy farmers have until Nov. 20 to enroll in the dairy Margin Protection Program, a seven-week extension past the busy harvest season, said the USDA.
Herbicide-resistant weeds spread in Kansas
Kansas, often the No. 1 wheat state, is the latest hot spot for emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds.
Greater sage-grouse abundant, no risk of extinction
"An unprecedented" public-private effort to preserve habitat for the greater sage-grouse "has significantly reduced threats … across 90 percent of the species' breeding habitat" and obviated any need to protect the fowl under the Endangered Species Act, said the Interior Department.
Lack of support in Senate for GMO pre-emption bill
There is insufficient support in the Senate to pass a bill that would pre-empt state GMO food-labeling laws and keep labeling voluntary at the federal level, despite months of discussion and a landslide House vote for it. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican, told reporters that no Democrat was ready to co-sponsor such legislation: "That is the problem. That is the short answer and the long answer."
Food stamps will be cut off in a federal shutdown
The food-stamp program, the largest U.S. anti-hunger initiative, will stop distributing benefits if there is no budget agreement and the federal government shuts down on Oct. 1 for the second time in three years, said the USDA. "Once that occurs, families won't be able to use these benefits at grocery stores to buy the food their families need."
Senate candidate voted against farm bill due to food stamps
The Republican nominee for Senate in Arkansas, Rep Tom Cotton, says in a campaign advertisement that he voted against the farm bill because it had "turned into a food stamp bill with billions (of dollars) more in spending," says the Associated Press. Cotton was the only Arkansas lawmaker to vote against the $500 billion, five-year farm bill. Democratic Sen Mark Pryor, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, has criticized Cotton for the vote.
Interior says it won’t protect greater sage-grouse in Bi-State
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says the Bi-State population of the greater sage-grouse, found in California and Nevada, does not need protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Gauging bats as protectors of walnut trees
Katherine Ingram, a doctoral student at UC-Davis, "is exploring the role bats can play as winged soldiers in the battle against a nonnative pest," the codling moth, which attacks California's $2 billion-a-year walnut crop, says Ensia.
Iowa company is first with license for bird-flu vaccine
Harrisvaccines, based in Ames, Iowa, announced it is the first company to receive a USDA conditional license for a vaccine against avian influenza, the disease that killed 10 percent of egg-laying hens earlier this year and drove egg prices to record levels.
Founder of Land Institute plans gradual retirement
Kansas native and founder of the Land Institute, Wes Jackson, "spent the last 39 years warning us that grain farmers are destroying the planet," says the Wichita Eagle.
Senate sends ag-reauthorization bill to House
With time running out, the Senate passed and sent to the House a bill to reauthorize federal inspection of export grain and a requirement for meatpackers to report purchase prices of cattle, hogs and sheep.
Japan offers annual rise in duty-free U.S. rice
With Trans-Pacific Partnership talks at a crucial point, Japan plans to offer immediate duty-free entry for 50,000 tonnes of U.S. rice, gradually rising to 70,000 tonnes, says Nikkei.
Peanut exec sentenced to 28 years for salmonella outbreak
A federal judge sentenced Stewart Parnell, owner of the now-defunct Peanut Corp. of America, to 28 years in prison in connection with a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds, said the Associated Press.
America gets fatter; obesity worst in South, Midwest
Obesity rates climbed in five states - Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Utah - in the past year, says the 2015 State of Obesity report, showing an expanding bulge in the portion of Americans who are excessively overweight. "Obesity puts some 78 million Americans at an increased risk for a range of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer," said the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which produced the report with the Trust for America's Health.
China’s cotton crop is smallest in 12 years
China will harvest its smallest cotton crop - 26 million bales - since 2003/04 as it tries to whittle down a stockpile equal to two years of consumption, says the Cotton and Wool Outlook.
Vilsack selects Thieman as chief of staff
Karla Thieman will move from chief of staff for Deputy Agriculture Secretary Krysta Harden to the same post for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the USDA announced.