Agriculture

"Will a new executive order 'promoting agriculture and rural prosperity' fulfill its promise? That depends on who you ask."

"LINCOLN, Wis. -- Lee Kinnard’s new barn stretches the length of six football fields. It’s so big he once flew a drone inside to get a bird’s eye view of all the cows."

"WINDSOR -- Air whistled through the kitchen faucet when Earldell Trowell turned on the tap one morning last summer. On July 4, one of the hottest days of the year, she had no water."

"As he paddled Virginia’s Shenandoah River on a hot day last July, Mark Frondorf came upon a father and two children. “They were just tubing down the river, just two little munchkins, happy as can be,” he said. It was a idyllic sight — except for the herd of cows Frondorf noticed wading on the water’s edge nearby."

"President Donald Trump finally has a point person for rural issues after the Senate approved Sonny Perdue to lead the Department of Agriculture by a vote of 87-11 Monday evening."

"In 1945, the American Chemical Paint Company introduced its product Weedone, the first herbicide ever to hit the market that killed broad-leaved plants but not grasses. On farms, the weedkiller reduced the need for pulling weeds in grain fields, a godsend during the post-war labor shortage."

"A fungus that causes 'vomitoxin' has been found in some U.S. corn harvested last year, forcing poultry and pork farmers to test their grain, and giving headaches to grain growers already wrestling with massive supplies and low prices."

"In late 2014, a whistleblower scientist rocked the Agriculture Department with a charge that it retaliated against him because his research found that a popular and lucrative farm pesticide might harm pollinators such as bees."

"Canada's food regulator has found traces of a controversial pesticide in nearly one-third of food products — and residue levels above the acceptable limits in about four per cent of grain products."