Ben counts himself among farming’s “lost generation,” the people in their 30s and 40s that want to start farming, but can’t find the land, equipment, capital or support from the industry to begin. Ben was born in eastern Iowa, and his family moved near Cape Girardeau in southeast Missouri when his dad bought a few acres of land to farm on. They lost the farm during the 1980s Farm Crisis, and Barron started looking into the trades with the goal of starting his own contractor business. He came as close as walking into an advisor to talk about a small business loan. [node:read-more:link]

A trade war between the world’s two largest economies officially began on Friday morning as the Trump administration followed through with its threat to impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products, a significant escalation of a fight that could hurt companies and consumers in both the United States and China. The penalties, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m., prompted quick retaliation by Beijing. China said it immediately put its own similarly sized tariffs on an unspecified clutch of American goods. [node:read-more:link]

Late last Friday, a North Carolina jury again ruled against Smithfield Foods in a nuisance lawsuit. The jury awarded a couple who live over 1/4 mile from the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) $25 million for flies, odor and large tractor trailers going by their property. The jury deliberated for three days according to sources. Sources say this was Smithfield’s best case, and the farm itself was owned by a former local police chief. [node:read-more:link]

cott Pruitt's polarizing tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency has come to an end. President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that he has accepted Pruitt's resignation. Trump said that the agency's deputy administrator, Andrew Wheeler, will become the acting head of EPA. The departure follows months of scrutiny that gathered momentum following reports that Pruitt had rented a Capitol Hill condominium linked to an energy lobbyist on favorable terms. [node:read-more:link]

Oxford County MPP Ernie Hardeman has been tapped to lead the agriculture portfolio under Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s new cabinet.  The naming of Hardeman as ag minister comes somewhat as a surprise, as Lisa Thompson and Toby Barrett were widely speculated as top picks for the post. Thompson has been named Minister of Education. Barrett did not receive a cabinet post, but was named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. [node:read-more:link]

The biggest asset in a rural Tennessee school district’s innovative technology project may be the school system’s rural setting and eagerness to perform at the highest level. Polk County Schools, a small district in southeast Tennessee, is using its “rural pride” and “just rolling up our sleeves and getting it done,” said Jason Bell, the district’s supervisor of secondary curriculum and assessment. [node:read-more:link]

Hog-farm odors are a bit like good art: You know it when you smell it. But in the North Carolina hog-farming lawsuit, an expert witness attempts to quantify smell with more scientific methods.  When expert witness Shane Rogers steps into a witness box in federal court these days, he takes pains to explain why he thinks some hog farms in eastern North Carolina create nuisance-level odors. First, the Clarkson University environmental scientist lays out his approach to feces forensics. [node:read-more:link]

It comes as no surprise to any farmer — the overall farm economy health in the United States isn’t strong. John Newton, director ofr market intelligence at American Farm Bureau Federation, discussed economic health at the Agriculture Policy Outlook.“Net farm income has declined over 50 percent since 2013,” he said. “The farm economy is not surging. The farm contribution to U.S. GDP is at the lowest level we’ve seen. As Secretary Perdue says, ‘we’ve got a perfect storm on our hands.’” [node:read-more:link]

British meat processor ABP Food Group has rolled out a line of burgers and sausages based on Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, intended to appeal to kids and steer them away from embracing vegan diets. [node:read-more:link]