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TOP HEADLINES
GOP platform suggests splitting nutrition programs from farm bill:
The Republican platform levels a broad attack on the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda but offers a more mixed message on trade and seems to suggest dividing nutrition programs from the farm bill [Agri-Pulse].
Obama overreach evident in organic foods marketing program (editorial):
The Obama administration’s overreach is almost beyond parody. The latest example is the administration’s effort to transform an organic food marketing program into an animal welfare mandate [The Oklahoman].
FEDERAL
Lesser prairie chicken removed from endangered species list:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday officially removed the lesser prairie chicken from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, fulfilling a federal court ruling and drawing praise from Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas industry [The Oklahoman].
Why these rare species are targeted by the GOP:
This year, among discussion of immigration, terrorism, and the economy is a section on the environment and endangered species.The GOP’s platform calls out three species in particular: the sage-grouse, lesser prairie-chicken, and the gray wolf [National Geographic].
How renewable energy is blowing climate change efforts off course:
Is the global effort to combat climate change, painstakingly agreed to in Paris seven months ago, already going off the rails? Germany, Europe’s champion for renewable energy, seems to be having second thoughts about its ambitious push to ramp up its use of renewable fuels for power generation [New York Times].
STATE
Oklahoma roll call remarks recognize Republicans, energy, agriculture:
It is one of the great traditions of national political conventions — the roll call of the states, in which the chosen representative loudly extols the virtues that make his or her state so great [The Oklahoman].
Packaging change could prevent OK school from selling Blue & Gold:
Blue & Gold Sausage is a major fundraising tool for schools all over Oklahoma, but the company’s planned show of support for ‘The Right to Farm Bill’ could put students in the middle of a political battle [News On 6].
New label on Blue & Gold Sausage draws reaction from schools:
A popular meat company is backing a controversial measure. You are probably familiar with Blue & Gold Sausage. Students across Oklahoma sell it to raise money. One school says if the package is wrapped in a new label its kids will have to find a different fundraising product [KFOR].
MISCELLANEOUS
The world’s biggest seed companies are wooing:
They call the giants of agribusinesses the Big Six: Bayer, BASF, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta. Together, they account for a little more than half the sales of seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers around the world, and they’ve been working Tinder pretty hard. This week, Monsanto rejected a $55 billion bid from Bayer [Grist].
Global temperatures are on course for another record this year:
The world is on pace to set another high temperature benchmark, with 2016 becoming the third year in a row of record heat. NASA scientists announced on Tuesday that global temperatures so far this year were much higher than in the first half of 2015 [New York Times].
At the fork:
I suspect some of my friends in the livestock industries will find things not to like about the film. But, when it’s all said and done, I think Papola did an admirable job trying to get an objective an honest picture of modern animal agriculture [Jayson Lusk Blog].
Film portrays, betrays modern animal agriculture:
When a meat-eating documentary filmmaker and his vegetarian wife approach livestock producers to spend a day on their farm, engage in dialogue and film it for the big screen; it can create an uncomfortable interaction with an uncertain outcome [National Hog Farmer].
