The RFS and U.S. corn (Columbia Tribune): The Renewable Fuel Standard is a complicated set of rules that may have more impact on U.S. farm income and commodity markets than trade deals or the farm bill, says the head of a University of Missouri think tank.
Putting a smiley face on GMOs (NPR): Four of the six logos proposed by the USDA to identify GMO foods “look like a little smiley face” and are misleading because they use a new abbreviation, BE for bioengineered, instead of the more familiar GMO, says a critic.
Farmer suicide rate soars in Australia (New York Times): The rural suicide rate in the country is double the urban rate, and researchers say farmers are among those at the highest risk, despite a robust rural economy.
Ag income down in Plains (Kansas City Fed): Despite modestly higher commodity prices, ag lenders in the central and southern Plains reported that for the fifth year in a row, farm income and spending declined in the first quarter.
New leader at UN cancer agency (Kreftregisteret): Dr. Elisabete Weiderpass, an expert in cancer epidemiology, is the new director of the UN International Agency for Research on Cancer. She is the first woman to head the agency.
Campbell Soup looks for a new recipe (USA Today): Shifting consumer tastes and declining soup sales led to a change in leadership at Campbell Soup, which announced the sudden departure of chief executive Denise Morrison.