Feds Agree to Moratorium on Poison, Traps to Control Idaho Wolves
Conservation groups and the Trump administration have reached a settlement that will sharply limit where and how federal agencies can kill wolves in Idaho.
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USDA
Firefighter Fights Feds for Radio Records From Deadly Arizona Wildfire
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is knowingly hiding some radio traffic recordings from the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire near Prescott, Arizona, instead telling a firefighter who sued to get the recordings that they were turned over to state investigators and made public shortly after the fire, the firefighter’s attorney told a Ninth Circuit panel Friday.
Read morePig Slaughter
Farm Sanctuary et al. sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture in federal court, claiming a final regulation, the Slaughter Rule, will allow nearly all of the pigs slaughtered nationwide to be slaughtered quickly, with little federal oversight, posing risk to animal welfare, and consumer health and safety.
Read moreFederal Report Finds Economic Gap Between Rural Counties
The gap between personal incomes in rural farming communities and communities with recreation-based economies is widening in rural America, a new federal report released Wednesday says.
Read moreFeds Clear Path for Farmers to Begin Growing Hemp
The USDA on Thursday issued its interim final rule on hemp production in America, clearing the way for farmers to cultivate what could be a highly lucrative — or highly speculative — new crop.
Read moreUSDA Reverses Cattle-Tracking Rules After Pushback From Ranchers
A civil rights group and the Wyoming ranchers it represents are celebrating the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to walk back its new cattle-tagging regulations after the ranchers challenged the rules in court.
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White House Moves to Undo Ban on Logging in Alaska Forest
Aiming to open up the country’s largest national forest to logging operations, the Trump administration on Tuesday announced plans to roll back federal protections on Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.
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Union Sues USDA to Halt Pork Processing Deregulation
Food workers unions sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture in federal court Monday, challenging a Trump administration rule change that would speed up pork production by shifting food quality and safety responsibilities from regulators to workers in pork processing plants.
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US Food Insecurity Finally Down to Pre-2008 Recession Levels
The number of households in the United States that are “food insecure” dropped for a second year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture study.
Read moreWildlife Groups Sue Feds to Update Predator Kill Plan
A trio of wildlife groups sued the federal government Tuesday seeking a new environmental analysis for what they claim is an outdated wildlife killing program targeting thousands of native carnivores including coyotes and foxes in 10 Northern California counties.
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Humane Society Says Feds Allow Torture of Horses
Prized horses are blistered and maimed to obtain a show-winning gait, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture illegally withdrew a federal rule that would prevent it, the Humane Society said this week in a federal lawsuit.
Read moreWetland Protections
The Seventh Circuit ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture arbitrarily determined that a farm was no longer eligible for certain benefits, because a farmer cut down nine trees. The agency determined that the tree removal converted several acres of wetlands into croplands, but it did not present any evidence that the tree removal “altered the wetland hydrology.”
Read morePublic Record
A federal judge refused to dismiss the Animal Welfare Institute’s claims that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service failed to deliver records on humane treatment of livestock.
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Denver Wild Goose Chase Bags Nearly 1,700 Birds
If you build it, they will come. Unfortunately for potential picnic-goers, Denver’s lush parks and predator-free ponds are the perfect habitat for Branta Canadensis – the Canada goose – to thrive.
Read moreThe Beef Over What to Call Lab Meat Is Starting to Sizzle
Technology has ushered in a new era for food, prompting lawmakers across the nation to ask: What is meat?
Read moreNinth Circuit Revives Suit to Save Idaho Gray Wolves
Environmental groups have standing to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture for neglecting to study the impact of killing gray wolves in mountainous portions of Idaho and whether the slaughter affects elk populations, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.
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