Yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a cease and desist letter to Deputy Director Thomas Homan of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, threatening legal action if there wasn't an immediate stop to their "reckless and unconstitutional" enforcement actions. Cuomo’s response came following last week’s ICE arrest of John Collins, a dairy farmer near Rome, N.Y. In his letter to Homan, the Cuomo cited the arrest as “an example of the kind of egregious and unconstitutional conduct your agents routinely engage.” [node:read-more:link]

Before Charleston chefs can mine local crops for inventive seasonal recipes, thousands of migrant farm workers will descend on South Carolina's farms to pick and prune this year's peaches, tomatoes and berries.   Last year, about 3,000 foreign workers arrived in the Palmetto State through the H-2A visa program, a federal initiative that provides farmers and growers with temporary labor where domestic labor is inconsistent.The state agencies and organizations working to protect these workers by ensuring they have access to legal aid, medical services, fair wages and proper housing will meet [node:read-more:link]

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has approved a request to pull millions of gallons of water daily from Lake Michigan to serve a new Foxconn Technology Group manufacturing plant, helping the Taiwanese electronics giant clear a major regulatory hurdle. Foxconn expects to begin construction on a $10 billion flat-screen plant in Mount Pleasant within weeks. The city of Racine filed a request with the DNR in January to withdraw 7 million gallons of water daily from the lake to serve the plant. [node:read-more:link]

Federal health officials said that they had identified one of the sources of tainted romaine lettuce that has so far left 98 people sick, in what is the largest multistate food-borne E. coli outbreak since 2006. The whole-head romaine lettuce that sickened eight people at a correctional facility in Nome, Alaska, came from Harrison Farms of Yuma, Ariz., the Food and Drug Administration said. [node:read-more:link]

Disease hunters are using genetic sequencing in their investigation of the ongoing food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, a technique that is revolutionizing the detection of germs in food. The genetic analysis is being used to bolster investigations and -- in some cases -- connect the dots between what were once seemingly unrelated illnesses. It also is uncovering previously unfathomed sources of food poisoning, including one outbreak from apples dipped in caramel.So far, most of the work has largely focused on one germ, listeria. But it is expanding. [node:read-more:link]

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and House lawmakers upped the pressure on President Trump to make a decision soon on a way to save oil refineries from the costs of meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's ethanol mandate. “The president can solve this with the stroke of a pen,” the Texas Republican said Thursday afternoon, joined by refinery workers and the steelworkers union. [node:read-more:link]

New York State is reminding farmers that several tax credit programs are available to help them offset business and labor costs for the 2018 tax season. The Farm Workforce Retention Credit has increased to $300 per eligible farm employee who works at least 500 hours annually, and it will increase to $500 in the 2019 tax year. The Retention Credit is expected to save farmers an estimated $14 million this year, according to the state.The Minimum Wage Reimbursement Tax Credit is also available for farms who employ students ages 16-20 who are paid the New York minimum wage. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and John Thune (R-SD), members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, unveiled bipartisan legislation they are advocating to be included in the 2018 farm bill. [node:read-more:link]

Cow-lovers can take heart in this report from TheWeek.com about the Bill Gates Super Cow, which begins:BBC reported Friday that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will invest millions of dollars to promote “the health and productivity of livestock” through research by Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines. “For over a billion people living in the world’s poorest countries, agriculture and livestock are a lifeline out of poverty,” Gates said Friday. “You can sell the output, and that’s money for school fees. [node:read-more:link]

Clostridium perfringens, a cause of necrotic enteritis, can survive processing and pose a threat of foodborne illness in people, according to research conducted by the University of Montreal. C. perfringens can be more prevalent in birds raised without antibiotics, and over the past few years, especially in Canada, there appear to be more reports of human illness attributed to C. perfringens, said Marie-Lou Gaucher, a professor at the University of Montreal. [node:read-more:link]