Should the Iowa Supreme Court declare unconstitutional a law that shields large animal feeding operations from lawsuits? That’s the question the justices heard Monday night during oral arguments in Honomichl v. Valley View Swine. Its answer is likely to have an impact on the number and type of nuisance lawsuits brought by rural residents against the operators of concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs.A pair of hog confinements built in Wapello County in 2013 prompted this lawsuit. But the broader question is who can sue, and why. [node:read-more:link]

In a new study, researchers at the University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital found that consuming raw chicken meat increases a dog’s risk of developing acute polyradiculoneuritis (APN) by more than 70 times. The cause of APN in dogs has baffled the veterinary community for a long time, said Matthias le Chevoir, DVM, DECVN, chief investigator on the project.“It is a rare but very debilitating condition where the dog’s hind legs first become weak,” he said. “It can then progress to affect the front legs, neck, head and face. [node:read-more:link]

Don Beland is converting his five-bedroom suburban home in Holly Springs, N.C., into a farm— indoors. In the kitchen he has set up shelves that hold 12 trays of tomato seedlings, arugula, spinach and microgreens. In about two weeks, the tomato plants will move into the dining room, where Mr. Beland will replant them into a 7-foot high soilless growing system he is building. Near a window, jalapeño and habanero pepper seeds germinate in a 3-foot wide miniature greenhouse.The house is typically aglow with purple LED lights that can be seen from the street. [node:read-more:link]

“We lose a lot of money with Canada. Canada does not treat us right in terms of the farming and the crossing the borders,” he said at a White House event on his new infrastructure proposal. “So they’ll either treat us right or we’ll just have to do business a little bit diff… really differently,” he said. “We cannot continue to be taken advantage of by other countries.” The Canadian government has disputed Trump’s frequent claim that the U.S. “loses” money on trade with Canada. [node:read-more:link]

Lawmakers in more than two-thirds of the states are considering ways to reduce prescription drug costs, including importing them from Canada, as they strive to balance budgets without knowing for sure what their government’s share of the tab will be. A total of 87 bills in 34 states of all political stripes seek to save money on prescription drugs, according to the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. Six of those states are considering bills that would allow drugs to be imported from Canada, where they cost an average 30 percent less than in the United States. [node:read-more:link]

Seven months before Hurricane Harvey inundated the Houston area with a trillion gallons of water and led to widespread criticism of the Red Cross, Harris County adopted a disaster-preparation plan whose key assumption was that the Red Cross would be slow to act. “In a major disaster where there is widespread damage, the local resources of the Red Cross may be overwhelmed and not available immediately,” stated the plan. [node:read-more:link]

Evanger's is voluntarily recalling some of its dog food after a drug that is used to anesthetize or put down pets was found in it. Pentobarbital was found in one lot of the dog food; five dogs got sick and one died, according to the Wheeling, Ill.-based company. Fifteen states are affected by the Hunk of Beef Au Jus recall. The 12-ounce cans were  manufactured June 6-13 and sold in stores and online in Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. [node:read-more:link]

We tested 62 samples of wet dog food, across more than two-dozen brands for the euthanasia drug pentobarbital.After months of tests and re-tests, one brand repeatedly came back positive for pentobarbital.In total, we tested 15 cans of Gravy Train. Nine cans — 60-percent of the sample — were positive for pentobarbital. And while the levels detected were not lethal, under federal law they are also not permitted at any concentration.Gravy Train is made by Big Heart Pet Foods and owned by Smucker’s. [node:read-more:link]

The American Soybean Association announced February 12 the selection of Ryan Findlay as its new CEO.  Findlay replaces Stephen Censky, who left ASA in October of 2017 after confirmation by the U.S. Senate as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Findlay is a native of Caro, Michigan, where his family still farms row crops.  He earned a degree in political science from Western Michigan University and an MBA from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. The last four years Ryan worked for the global agricultural company Syngenta, focusing on freedom-to-operate issues impacting farmers. [node:read-more:link]

the New York Job Development Authority will launch an Agriculture Loan Fund Program to address and help alleviate the economic barriers faced by many New York State small agribusiness owners.   Through the Agriculture Loan Fund Program, eight participating lenders will loan between $50,000 and $200,000 to eligible businesses. Qualified businesses include, but are not limited to, value-added processors, food distribution companies, food aggregators, craft beverage producers, and Food Hub participants. [node:read-more:link]