Rejecting scientific advancements in agriculture may be in fashion, but this fad poses great dangers to the affordability and accessibility of food domestically and worldwide.  In three weeks, the second-smallest state by population is set to create chaos in the U.S. food supply chain. Vermont’s mandatory labeling law for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) takes effect on July 1, with Maine and Connecticut planning to follow suit. [node:read-more:link]

Bills that allow people to break into vehicles to save children and animals have been signed into law by Gov. John Kasich and a third will likely become law. The first law protects people from civil liability and damages. Protection from civil liability would only apply if the person also calls the police or 9-1-1 and believes leaving the child or animal in the vehicle would lead to injury or death.  The law's supporters said it would reduce the number of heatstroke-related deaths among children by allowing good Samaritans to act without hesitation. [node:read-more:link]

Though young graduates moving out of the state isn't a new phenomenon, it's an issue that has become increasingly important as some of Connecticut's biggest businesses begin pondering whether to leave. Many companies say attracting and retaining young talent, with the technological skills the baby boomer generation lacks, is vital to their economic future. [node:read-more:link]

By its own calculations, this city of 50,000 on the Ohio River has the highest drug overdose death rate in a state ranked No 1 in the nation for overdose deaths. The city’s overdose death rate, at 119 per 100,000 last year, is nearly 10 times the national rate. It’s not a statistic that Huntington advertises in tourist brochures or welcome packages for students attending the local college, Marshall University. But Mayor Steve Williams said the worsening heroin problem was becoming so plain to everyone that “we had to define it, before it defined us.” [node:read-more:link]

By its own calculations, this city of 50,000 on the Ohio River has the highest drug overdose death rate in a state ranked No 1 in the nation for overdose deaths. The city’s overdose death rate, at 119 per 100,000 last year, is nearly 10 times the national rate. It’s not a statistic that Huntington advertises in tourist brochures or welcome packages for students attending the local college, Marshall University. But Mayor Steve Williams said the worsening heroin problem was becoming so plain to everyone that “we had to define it, before it defined us.” [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture is an industry that depends heavily on exports with some 30% of our production sold to other countries. That explains the reason why the Ag industry has so much interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement that has been negotiated with 12 nations representing 40% of the world’s gross domestic product. Farm organizations and Ag businesses are trying to convince the Congress to approve the deal.  Keep in mind that although the TPP has been negotiated, it still must be approved by the Congress and signed by the President. [node:read-more:link]

Lectures at the 2016 World Mycotoxin Forum (WMF) addressed aspects of the event’s theme, “Mycotoxins in a changing world”; however, the consensus among many speakers touched on the undeniable impact climate change has had – and will increasingly have – on mycotoxin contamination in the global food and feed supply.  In coming years, agriculture will need to deal with a varied group of issues related to climate change and its residual effects: Grain producers may need to adjust how they plant, what they plant and when. [node:read-more:link]

Fair Oaks Farms demonstrates that American consumers can accept large-scale agriculture if they can see it for themselves. [node:read-more:link]

The award of a $500,000 grant from the prestigious W.K. Kellogg Foundation to  Solutions from the Land (SfL) underscores the priority and responsibility that SfL takes in putting farmers first in developing practices and policies that can meet and address societal needs and challenges. [node:read-more:link]