A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from groups that challenged Wyoming laws prohibiting trespassing on private lands to collect data.  Groups including the Western Watersheds Project, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Press Photographers Association sued Wyoming last year. The groups claimed state laws prohibiting trespassing to collect data were unconstitutional. [node:read-more:link]

man who smuggled Guatemalan teenagers into the U.S. and forced them to work on an Ohio egg farm was sentenced in Toledo last week to 15 years in prison.  Aroldo Castillo-Serrano and associate Conrado Salgado Soto had previously pleaded guilty to labor-trafficking and immigration offences, according to a report in The Marion Star. Ana Angelica Pedro-Juan, who ran the operation for Castillo-Serrano, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Another individual, Pablo Duran Jr., pleaded guilty to immigration offenses. [node:read-more:link]

A global glut of milk is now in the market, but dairy producers worry immigration and farm labor issues could dry up milk supply.  “It’s a competitive pay. I think we’re just having trouble finding enough people to do it,” says Kendra Lamb, a dairy farmer in Oakfield, N.Y.  That’s especially true for dairy farms in New York. Farms which hire seasonal workers to harvest fruits and vegetables can use the H-2A Visa program. But dairy is not seasonal. It’s 24 hours, seven days a week. [node:read-more:link]

U.K. farmland, which for years has rivaled gold as a place for investors to park money in, is starting to lose its allure because of Brexit.  Farmland prices, which began falling in late 2015, should drop or at best stagnate in the next six to 12 months on concern about the industry’s future as the U.K. prepares to exit the European Union, said Simon Gooderham, who focuses on rural property at estate agent Cheffins. Many won’t risk buying land due to uncertainty over trade and EU subsidies farmers depend on, he said. [node:read-more:link]

Legislation that will write into law President Obama's Feed the Future initiative and a new food aid program is headed to the White House for his signature. The House voted 369-53 Wednesday to give final congressional approval to the Global Food Security Act, which would ensure that both Feed the Future and the Emergency Food Security Program extend beyond the Obama administration. [node:read-more:link]

Members of the Organic Consumers Association threw money from the Senate gallery onto the floor to protest a vote on a bill to block states from issuing mandatory labeling laws for foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  The protesters yelled "Monsanto Money" and "Sen. Stabenow, listen to the people, not Monsanto" while $2,000 fell to the floor.  [node:read-more:link]

December 2016 corn futures moved $0.80 per bushel higher from April 1 to June 17. The strength reflected a short fall in the size of the Brazilian corn crop and resulting large export sales of U.S corn, expectations that planted acreage of corn in the U.S. would be less than intentions reported in March, above normal temperatures in the U.S. in June, and concerns that hot, dry weather in July would reduce yield potential. [node:read-more:link]

Ever wonder why so many in the general public are confused about the source of their food? I used to but no longer! The food world has become a mixture of fact and deliberate misinformation disguised as responding to the consumer. The most recent example strikes me a ironic and a bit funny. In the spirit of cage-free eggs to improve chicken welfare, H.J. Baker recently announced a new product, “the first vegan protein concentrate for use in poultry.” Is that an oxymoron? Chickens are omnivores and destined to become or produce food.  [node:read-more:link]

A fiber optic connection is considered the “gold standard” for quality, high-speed Internet access, and in the Midwest, it’s in pretty short supply. Except in North Dakota. In the region’s most sparsely populated state, 60 percent of the households, including those on farms in far-flung areas, have fiber. (That compares to 24 percent in the Midwest, where most of the existing fiber networks serve urban areas.) In all, North Dakota ranks fifth in the nation in fiber access. [node:read-more:link]