Harvesting the wind (Mountain West News Bureau): In the arid eastern plains of Colorado, Jan and Virgil Kochis are trying “a new and particularly promising crop: air.” With wind turbines, they say, “it might be the first time in a century that a product from the farm will bring in a reliable income.”
Sixty years for two piglets (San Francisco Chronicle): Utah officials have charged five animal rights activists with four felonies each — enough for 60 years in prison — for taking two piglets from a large hog farm and moving them to an animal rescue facility in Colorado.
Giving up on breakfast (Quartz): Americans’ eating habits are changing. Among other things, they are walking away from the sit-down breakfast of cereal, milk, and juice, passing up tuna sandwiches, and giving up on Brussels sprouts and lima beans.
DowDuPont to use Monsanto corn traits (LSIPR): Corteva, the agriculture division of DowDuPont, has signed a licensing agreement with Monsanto to use some of its technology in corn seeds to control rootworms.
Water quality now an Iowa ag issue: (Des Moines Register): The five candidates for the Republican nomination for Iowa agriculture secretary are eager to talk about farmers’ progress in controlling nutrient runoff in the No. 1 corn, hog, and egg state.
Longhorned tick found in West Virginia (WVNews): For the first time, the invasive longhorned tick, a livestock pest, was confirmed in the state, a week after it was found in Virginia. (A FERN story on the first U.S. discovery of the tick, in New Jersey, is available here.)
Three options — one to ignore science (Washington Post): White House officials are mulling how to address the issue of climate change. One of three options being considered is to ignore federal research.