Agriculture

"Rep. Lamar Smith's cattle brand is shaped like the number 2, with a check mark in the top right corner. It's supposed to be burned in the right hip of an animal."

"Norway said on Friday it would build a wind park in an area used for reindeer grazing despite U.N. calls to suspend the project to study the impact on the indigenous herders’ livelihoods."

"While big oil and gas companies provided the cash for anti-regulation campaigns, the farm lobby offered up a sympathetic face: the American farmer."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted oil major Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) a financial hardship waiver this year temporarily freeing its Montana refinery from U.S. biofuel laws, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters."

"A Trump administration proposal to roll back protections for some marshes and streams could affect more than 30,000 acres of wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, according to a new report."

"Michigan legislators were poised Tuesday to remove legal protections from many of the state’s wetlands and other inland waterways, which provide wildlife habitat and perform vital tasks such as preventing floods."

"While dismal farm economics — and shrinking conservation funds — make it hard to find the funds, a growing number of farmers are ready to make critical changes."

"The strain of E. coli causing the current outbreak in romaine lettuce has been found in a reservoir on a farm in Santa Barbara County, California, the US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday."