Low Sizergh Barn Farm, in Kendal, Cumbria, has previously won tourism and National Trust awards for copying a US dairy trend and selling 'ready-to-drink', untreated milk.  With their slogan 'From Moo To You', their fresh-from-the-udder milk is sold from special dispensers at their trendy Lake District farm shop. But now South Lakeland District Council has confirmed that last month alone 12 customers fell ill with campylobacter bacteria, with another 53 suspected cases recorded also in December - taking the total to 65 people laid low by the contaminated batch of raw milk. [node:read-more:link]

The Manitoba government and Roquette today announced a historic investment in the province’s food-processing industry, confirming the France-based company’s plans to build a new, $400-million pea-processing facility near Portage la Prairie.  Premier Brian Pallister and Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler were joined by Edouard Roquette, Roquette’s chairman and Jean-Marc Gilson, Roquette’s CEO, as well as many industry partners for the announcement made at the Legislative Building on Global Pulse Day. [node:read-more:link]

New rules regarding humane handling of organic livestock will go into effect Thursday, Jan. 19, when they are published in the Federal Register.  Last week, the final rule, which amends the Organic Food Production Act of 1990, was cleared by the federal Office of Management and Budget, where it had languished since last summer. The imminent implementation of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Rule drew praise from animal protection and rights groups and was met with criticism from meat industry associations. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Dairy Export Council announced that former U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will join the organization as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2017. USDEC is a non-profit, independent organization that seeks to enhance the global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients.  - See more at: http://www.usdec.org/newsroom/news-releases/news-releases/news-release-0... [node:read-more:link]

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the Department of Agriculture, senior transition officials tell NBC News.  Perdue served on Trump's agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign. orn and raised in Georgia, the 70-year-old veterinarian served as a state senator for 10 years beginning in 1991. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has published preliminary pollinator-only risk assessments for the neonicotinoid insecticides clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran and also an update to its preliminary risk assessment for imidacloprid, which we published in January 2016. [node:read-more:link]

Survey Results at a Glance: For a 16th straight month, the Rural Mainstreet Index remained below growth neutral though the index advanced to its highest level since June 2016. Farmland prices declined for the 37th straight month. Bank CEOs expect loan defaults to rise by 5.6 percent over the next 12 months. This estimate is up slightly from 5.4 percent recorded in July of this year. Bankers expect holiday sales for Rural Mainstreet retailers to expand by a scant 0.4 percent over 2015 levels. [node:read-more:link]

Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg is throwing open the doors to the most extensive rethinking of how the state regulates alcohol since the end of Prohibition, directing a new task force to create a more cohesive set of rules that “deals with the 21st century.”  With no limits from Goldberg on which issues it may consider, the group of seven legal and political figures — with input from the public and bars, brewers, distributors, and other companies — will have broad authority to set its own agenda when it meets for the first time later in January.  Among the issues that officials and [node:read-more:link]

The health care law expanded Medicaid to tens of thousands of previously uninsured patients, providing new revenue streams for rural hospitals, which often serve a poorer, sicker patient population. The law also created a program that allowed some of these facilities to buy prescription drugs at a discount, though Highlands qualified for that program independently of Obamacare. "All these rural hospitals are operating on thin margins. [node:read-more:link]

The way some of the regulations were implemented are actually harming rural America and not fulfilling the ultimate goals of the ACA. And what I mean by that is half of those 37 million - the goal was to expand Medicaid and get those folks into a Medicaid program. We know that a lot of states have taken the Supreme Court up on its option of opting out of Medicaid. That has predominantly hurt rural America. In fact, if you're a rural state, if you're a poor state, more likely than not, you have not expanded Medicaid. So we're seeing millions of folks left behind at that. [node:read-more:link]