The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association(NCBA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) are the latest two organizations to call on USDA to establish labeling requirements that better inform consumers about the difference between products that come from food animals and those that were created in a laboratory. [node:read-more:link]

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill Monday withholding state business from internet providers who throttle traffic, making the state the second to finalize a proposal aimed at thwarting moves by federal regulators to relax net neutrality requirements. The bill stops short of actually putting new requirements on internet service providers in the state, but blocks the state from doing business with providers that offer preferential treatment to some internet content or apps, starting in 2019. [node:read-more:link]

A Washington state court judge has rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general seeking to hold the pharmaceutical company accountable for its role the opioid epidemic. King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Moore on Friday denied Purdue’s motion to dismiss Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s case, becoming the third judge nationally to allow a state to pursue claims against the opioid manufacturer. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. immigration officials executed a criminal search warrant at the Southeastern Provision meatpacking plant in Grainger County, Tenn., leading to the arrest of 97 individuals who are subject to removal from the United States. [node:read-more:link]

The state of Delaware said it has granted permission to Mountaire Farms to store sludge at its Millsboro poultry complex, as the next step in a multi-year plan to improve the facility’s wastewater treatment process. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control issued a permit that allows Mountaire to transfer excess sludge to a previously abandoned lagoon at the facility that the company intends to retrofit for short-term storage. [node:read-more:link]

Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith was sworn in as the first female senator from Mississippi on Monday, bringing a record number of 23 women serving in the U.S. Senate. [node:read-more:link]

Annette Sweeney, a former state legislator with strong ties to agriculture, won a special election Tuesday to replace Republican state Sen. Bill Dix, who resigned in March after video surfaced of him kissing a female lobbyist in a Des Moines tavern. [node:read-more:link]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has established performance goals for the immigration judges in an effort to deal with the immigration court backlog crisis. In addition to meeting at least half of the deadlines for specified types of cases, judges will have to complete at least 700 cases-a-year to receive a “satisfactory” performance rating. They currently average 678 cases-a-year. The National Association of Immigration Judges opposes the performance goals. [node:read-more:link]

The president called for enforcing work requirements that are already in the law and reviewing all waivers and exemptions to such mandates. Also, the executive order asked agencies to consider adding work requirements to government aid programs that lack them. The agencies have 90 days to submit a list of recommended policy and regulatory changes.The move is the latest step in the administration's effort to require low-income Americans to work for their federal benefits. [node:read-more:link]