On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 10-year projections for the food and agricultural sector.  The report noted that, “Over the next several years, the agricultural sector continues to adjust to lower prices for most farm commodities. Planted acreage drops slightly despite continued low energy costs. However, marked shifts occur – most notably strong global demand for soybeans is expected to induce soybean plantings that exceed corn acreage. Lower feed costs and continued strong global demand provide economic incentives for expansion in the livestock sector.” [node:read-more:link]

UnitedAg, a member-owned agricultural trade association representing more than 800 companies in California and Arizona, has expanded the list of healthcare services available to its members through Teladoc’s virtual care delivery platform. Effective January 1st, all of the health plans’ 45,000 members received access to the Best Doctors Expert Second Opinion service for answers to a range of chronic, complicated health conditions including cancer, heart disease and musculoskeletal issues. [node:read-more:link]

Cities looking to address water-quality challenges in watersheds leading into their drinking water supply may want to see how Wichita, Kansas, works with upstream farmers to reduce pesticide and sediment in the Little Arkansas River watershed. Litigation over water quality, especially the federal case in Des Moines, Iowa, in recent years, has drawn a lot of attention. [node:read-more:link]

There has been no shortage of ideas in recent months about how to "fix" the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). These include application of the various waiver authorities under the RFS, expanding the number of small refinery exemptions, and a $0.10 per gallon cap on the price of the RIN credits used to comply with the RFS. The reason cited over and over for the need to fix the RFS is the high cost of ethanol RINs borne by independent "merchant" refiners. In late January, Philadelphia Refining Solutions declared bankruptcy, citing high RIN costs as a major contributing factor. [node:read-more:link]

Governor Steve Bullock signed an executive order to protect net neutrality in Montana by requiring that successful recipients of state contracts adhere to internet neutrality principles. As the first governor in the country to implement action in the wake of the FCC’s decision to repeal net neutrality rules, Governor Bullock invited other governors and statehouses to join him. Governor Bullock’s administration will offer the framework to other states who wish to follow. [node:read-more:link]

The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) in Washington, D.C., has filed amicus briefs in two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court involving state limits on food products sold based on animal care, the group said in a news release. Both cases — Missouri, et al. v. California and Indiana, et al. v. Massachusetts — push back on state laws in California and Massachusetts that limits the types of meat and eggs that can be raised or sold within their borders. [node:read-more:link]

Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) are promoted as the solution to keeping sleepy drivers off the road, even if the load is livestock. That sounds simple on the surface, but ELDs are being used as control tools for unrealistic regulations.  Under Federal rules, after a maximum of 14 hours of time in the truck (11 hours of driving), truckers must take a whopping 10-hour sleep break! [node:read-more:link]

Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said wardens had found more than 20 "nutria" in wetlands, rivers and canals and in Merced, Fresno and Stanislaus counties. Wardens were trying to figure out how to eradicate the rodents, which are as big as small dogs and breed as fast as rabbits. If they take hold, wardens said, nutria could wreak a lot of havoc. "They burrow in dikes and levees and roadbeds so they weaken infrastructure. [node:read-more:link]

New legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would exempt farms from reporting air emissions. [node:read-more:link]

The Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture has recognized the first round of recipients of grants aimed at supporting rural agricultural programs in the Volunteer State. The grants from the Agricultural Enterprise Fund (AEF) are part of a plan to facilitate job creation, economic development and agricultural development in rural Tennessee, the agency said in a news release. [node:read-more:link]