EPA administrator Gina McCarthy says the agency will issue rules this spring that set the ethanol mandate and define the upstream reach of clean-water laws, according to DTN, but she did not offer a specific date for the announcement.

The suicide rates for young people in rural areas "are almost twice as high" as those for city kids, says the Washington Post, summarizing a study by researchers at Ohio State University.

The strength of the El Niño or La Niña weather phenomenon in December can help predict the frequency of tornadoes and crop-damaging hailstorms in the southern and central Plains and parts of the South, says the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

The U.S. farm sector usually discusses Cuba in terms of possible growth in sales to a nearby market, although trade is limited by the trade embargo enacted during the Cold War.

The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), which protects commodities not covered by crop insurance, is being modified to increase access for beginning, limited-resource and other producers who do not have risk protection from...

Comprehensive immigration reform, "until at least after the next election, is more likely to be fodder for the campaign trail than congressional action," says Politico.

A presidential task force released its plan to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud, including a risk-based traceability system to track seafood from harvest to entry into U.S. commerce, said a Commerce Department announcement.

The USDA announced a nationwide expansion of its "Team Up for School Nutrition Success Initiative" to provide additional help to school districts to meet food requirements.

President Obama selected Brandon McBride, a Senate Agriculture Committee staff worker, to serve as administrator of USDA's Rural Utilities Services, the White House announced.

The Agriculture Department stopped all new research projects at its Meat Animal Research Center until new protocols are implemented in response to reports of the harsh treatment of animals at the facility in Nebraska, according to Feedstuffs.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warned about weakening school food standards in the name of giving schools more leeway to satisfy requirements or to help them prune needless expenditures.

The Department of Agriculture set a May 8 deadline for nominations to a task force that will "examine hydroponic and aquaponic practices and their alignment with the USDA organic regulations" and the underlying law.

Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals to reinstate their challenge of a California law on housing for egg-laying hens.

The long run of market prices that began in 2006 lured farmers to expand plantings of corn and soybeans by 20 million acres. Most of the increase came from the Plains states and the South, say economists John Newton and Todd Keuthe of U-Illinois.

With California headed for a fourth year of drought, the outlook for the growing season is grim. "But our situation is not hopeless," says Helene Dillard, dean of agriculture at UC-Davis.

Two potential aspirants for the Republican nomination for president, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz spoke against an ethanol mandate at the Iowa Ag Summit, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times.

A review of activity at the state level shows growing support for farm-to-school programs, says a report by the National Farm to School Network.

Drought-hardy sorghum is a minor feed grain for U.S. farmers. Compared to king corn, it is grown on a sliver of land, mostly in the Plains. " Now some U.S. food manufacturers are capitalizing on its most marketable trait: Sorghum is gluten-free.

Big-box retailer Costco "is working toward eliminating the sale of chicken and meat from other animals raised with antibiotics that are vital to fighting human infections," says Reuters, based on interviews with senior executives.