North/East metro news briefs: Washington County officials begin review of Valley library

A new and improved Washington County library is coming to residents in Lakeland and the Lower St. Croix Valley east of Woodbury, but its size and location will be explored throughout the spring. When the findings are ready in June, county officials will decide whether to remodel the current library or move to a larger building.

ND joins legal fight against California, Massachusetts egg, meat laws

North Dakota has joined 12 other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block laws in California requiring any eggs sold there to be from hens with specific space requirements in their cages. The lawsuit, filed by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, alleges that the California law violates the U.S. Constitution's interstate commerce clause and is pre-empted by federal law.

Ag Broadband Coalition Hails Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act

AG BROADBAND COALITION HAILS PRECISION AGRICULTURE CONNECTIVITY ACT Jan. 26, 2018 Source: Agricultural Broadband Coalition news release The Agricultural Broadband Coalition applauded bipartisan leaders in the House and Senate for introducing the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018 on Thursday, a milestone piece of legislation that will help to revolutionize farming across the United States.

Somerset County man joins growing list of candidates in the 9th Congressional District

A Northampton Township resident announced that he will join the ever-growing field of Republican candidates in the 9th Congressional District. Max Merrill, 40, a farmer and policy director for the National Farm to School Network based in Washington, D.C, said that President Donald Trump's victory was the catalyst for his campaign.

Trump Farm Bill Outline Emphasizes Work as a Food-Stamp Goal

The bill, whose cost has topped $100 billion in previous years, authorizes programs overseen by the Agriculture Department, including payments to growers of corn and soybeans and funds to prevent forest fires. A Trump administration outline for farm legislation calls for pushing some food-stamp recipients back to work, a GOP priority.

Perdue Foods LLC Recalls Chicken Products due to Misbranding and Undeclared Allergens

WASHINGTON, January 23, 2018 Perdue Foods LLC, a Monterey, Tenn. establishment, is recalling approximately 530 pounds of chicken products due to misbranding and undeclared allergens, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

Congressmen take USDA to task for delaying organic industry animal welfare rule

Members of Congress chastise the US Department of Agriculture in a Jan. 17 letter for threatening to withdraw a widely popular final rule passed in the 11th hour of the Obama Administration that would heighten animal welfare standards for organic producers. USDA announced in December that it intended to withdraw the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule, which outlined sweeping changes in how organic animals are housed, transported and slaughtered, because the department claimed the rule exceeds the statutory authority of the National Organic Program.

Lawsuit to protect Plum Island moves forward

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Plum Island is seen from the air in the waters off the northern shore of New YorkA's Long Island. The future of the mysterious island where infectious animal diseases have been studied since the 1950s is about to gain renewed focus.

US government proposes new rules for hog slaughter

Federal government regulators proposed changes Friday in the way most hogs slaughtered for meat in the United States are processed in a series of new rules that officials say improve industry practices but critics say could imperil food safety. The new rules would allow hog slaughter plants to voluntarily join a new proposed inspection system that would put plant employees in charge of removing animals unfit for slaughter before they're processed.

Clock running out for Congress to avert government shutdown

Racing against a midnight deadline, the U.S. Congress will try on Friday to send President Donald Trump legislation to keep the government operating and avoid federal agency shutdowns that would otherwise begin on Saturday. The House of Representatives voted 230-197 on Thursday night for a bill to extend expiring funding through Feb. 16. But with tempers frayed and Republicans and Democrats deeply divided over immigration legislation that has found its way into the government funding fight, the bill appeared to be on the verge of collapse in the Senate.

Government watchdog: Illinois fudged jobs data to get federal OK to…

A government accountability group says the state of Illinois is fudging employment data in order to allow more healthy Illinoisans to receive taxpayer-funded food stamps without having to work. The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved an Illinois Department of Human Services waiver request in October for the entire 2018 calendar year.

Obama’s politicization of the Human Trafficking report shut the door on Cuban victims

The Obama White House politicized the Trafficking in Persons Report of the State Department, undermining the credibility of the report, and months later on January 12, 2017 shut the door on Cuban refugees and migrants in third countries, victims of trafficking, for the Administration's political agenda. This was part of an overall pattern, that began years earlier, of paying lip service to human rights but in practice marginalizing them to advance other interests.

Interagency Task Force report addresses opioid abuse

USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture in November awarded $2.8 million in grants to support rural health. Of the nine awards funded by NIFA's Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grant Program, six were designed specifically to prevent and reduce opioid abuse.

Lawsuit Says Wal-Mart Mislabeled Organic Eggs

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. misled U.S. shoppers by selling organic eggs laid by hens raised in enclosed structures under package labels that said the birds had access to the outdoors, a federal lawsuit alleged on Monday. The suit highlights uncertainty among consumers about production practices in the $500 million organic egg industry, farmers said, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month shelved plans to spell out for the first time what it means for birds to have access to the outdoors.