It is a case of good news and bad news for the Van Ommering Dairy in the El Monte Valley. Bad news first: the last dairy in Lakeside is no longer milking cows for commercial purposes. The good news? The local business icon is not going anywhere. The dairy was established by Gerrit and Gerry Van Ommering in 1959. The couple had emigrated from the Netherlands as newlyweds six years earlier. Though neither initially spoke a word of English, the couple made their way to Lakeside and, in 1955, purchased 59 cows from another local dairyman. [node:read-more:link]

The dairy facility, livestock, farmland, ranches and equipment formerly used in the operations of Las Uvas Valley Dairies will be offered for sale. In a separate private listing, the dairy facilities and equipment, ranches, and farmland will be offered by Caprock and MWA. Included in this listing is a well maintained dairy complex with 20,000+/- lockups and a 9,000+/- heifer facility. [node:read-more:link]

How will the USDA estimate tariff damages to farmers? “We have analytical procedures that can give us some idea but it’s really going to be really hard,” says Carl Zulauf, Ohio State ag economist. US Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue continues to say there will be help for farmers hurt by the trade disruptions, “I’ve kind of set a deadline for myself, not for anyone else, as Labor Day. [node:read-more:link]

Weeks after Minnesota regulators approved the replacement of an oil pipeline that crosses the state, Native American and environmental groups are starting to oppose the project with a similar playbook to a failed effort to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. [node:read-more:link]

A $1.1 billion U.S. shale pipeline on Monday was denied an exclusion to the Trump administration’s tariff on imported steel, the first such ruling on a major energy project since the tariff went into effect. Pipeline operator Plains All American Pipeline LP’s request was denied because suitable product is available from domestic producers, the Commerce Department ruling said.The Trump administration this spring slapped a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum to safeguard U.S. jobs. [node:read-more:link]

When Kevin "Cub" Frisbie wants to see what shale can do for a place, all he has to do is get in his pickup and drive 15 miles south to Bradford County, Pa. There, the pavement on the road smooths out. There are new hotels and a new Dunkin' Donuts. In front of the family farms, Frisbie, a farmer himself, will notice the new silos and equipment. "All this, there's just nothing but commerce going on, commerce going on," he said. Crossing back into Tioga County, N.Y., Frisbie will pass the retired feed mill and the shuttered storefronts of Broad Street. [node:read-more:link]

House lawmakers in both parties are hoping to use a spending bill to block offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the waterways off their states’ coasts. A handful of lawmakers, mainly from coastal states, are sponsoring proposed amendments to the annual appropriations bill for the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would block Interior funding to allow drilling in particular areas. [node:read-more:link]

The Ray C. Anderson Memorial Highway, or "The Ray" for short, is a section of Interstate 85 in southwestern Georgia that has implemented environmentally minded projects in honor of its namesake. Anderson founded carpet manufacturer Interface Inc. and was called the "greenest CEO in America" for his efforts to make his company environmentally sustainable. [node:read-more:link]

Six New Hampshire biomass plants might be in jeopardy of closing after a bill was recently vetoed by Gov. Chris Sununu. The governor said the bill could have cost Granite Staters millions, but plant managers and employees said the plants are in jeopardy if lawmakers don't act. The governor issued the veto in June, saying the veto would not take anything away from the biomass industry. He said the bill would have given the industry an additional $30 million in subsidies, and vetoing it saved ratepayers about $25 million. Plant managers said the veto has already had an impact. [node:read-more:link]

While some members of Congress and agricultural groups have been working hard to pass an agricultural labor bill before the August recess, one agricultural group is thanking its members for killing it. Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers, an association representing growers of more than half the produce in the U.S., sent an email to hundreds of his members July 13 thanking them for lobbying against the revised Ag and Legal Workforce Act of House Judiciary Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va. “We have been informed that the U.S. [node:read-more:link]