Agriculture

In response to devastating foreign livestock scares like hoof and mouth disease and mad cow disease, the U.S. has launched an ambitious nationwide plan to immediately contain possible outbreaks. To do so, the government says it will electronically track all the movements of cows, goats, pigs and poultry in the U.S.
Federal officials unveiled a revamped food pyramid last week. They pushed the old tiered graphic on its side, and created an interactive Web site that suggests daily diet based on someone's age, gender, and physical activity. A Minneapolis couple created a satirical Web site mocking the official one.
Prices in at least one part of the fuel market have dropped the past few months. 85 percent ethanol, known as E85, has sold for as much as 80 cents below the per gallon price of gasoline.
A House Agriculture committee has rejected three bills that would have banned or restricted use of the farm herbicide atrazine. Similar bills have been proposed in the Senate, but are unlikely to see any action.
About 200 ethanol supporters rallied at the state Capitol in support of doubling the state's ethanol mandate on Wednesday. Gov. Pawlenty urged the crowd to persuade wavering lawmakers to vote for the plan. The bill has bipartisan support in the Legislature, but it's about to face its toughest test in a key House committee, which holds a hearing on the bill on Thursday.
Some lawmakers say legislation to double the amount of ethanol in gasoline is moving so quickly that legitimate concerns are being brushed aside.
The Minnesota Senate takes up Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposal Monday to raise the ethanol levels in Minnesota's fuel supply from 10 to 20 percent by 2012. The ethanol debate is multi-faceted, pitting farmers against car makers and environmentalists--who disagree about the net environmental impact of ethanol production--against each other. Taking everything into account, from reduced emissions and domestic energy cultivation to market distortions and voided vehicle warranties, is more ethanol a good idea?
Atrazine, a common weed killer used by corn and sorghum farmers, is under attack in Minnesota. Environmental groups and several state lawmakers want to ban or restrict the chemical because some scientists have linked it to reproductive deformities in frogs.