Agriculture News

Starting the day with an impromptu square dance and a crack of a bullwhip, Gov. Rick Scott celebrated the opening day of the Florida State Fair and held a cabinet meeting at the fairgrounds Thursday morning.

An Idaho cattle group is backing legislation to punish third-time animal cruelty offenders with a felony, part of its bid to sap momentum from a voter initiative that would be even tougher on people who intentionally hurt animals.

Five years ago, after a retired University of California professor found a light brown apple moth in his Berkeley back yard, the state and federal government responded with a blitzkrieg.

In this photo taken Feb. 4, 2012, Nguyen Thi Thuong stands by the ruins of her house in Tien Lang District, northern city of Haiphong, Vietnam.

The U.S. Agriculture Department on Thursday forecast global supplies at 213.1 million metric tons by the end of June, which it said would be a record.

California and Southern farmers renewed their case Thursday for some kind of an agricultural guest-worker program, but they're sailing against the wind.

Starting next fall, school meals will include a daily variety of fruits and vegetables and use more whole grains, in addition to continuing to have reductions in sodium, saturated fat and trans fat.

Iran has turned to India for wheat supplies as other sellers divert grain cargoes away from the Middle East country because of sanctions-related payments problems that have caused palm oil imports to grind to a halt.

Consumers should expect higher beef prices for the next two years due to the smallest cattle herd in 60 years, and it's unclear whether costs will drop in later years because growing demand could keep supplies tight even as ranchers breed more animals.

Illinois, a key farm state in the heart of the Corn Belt, is basking in its sixth warmest winter in 117 years -- good news for residents who have not had to shovel snow but a red flag for some of the state's most productive businesses: farms.

Ohio state Sen. Troy Balderson's proposal to regulate exotic animals in the state is not ready to be introduced this week.

Copper prices hit their highest level in five months Wednesday on expectations that demand may pick up after China announced a plan to stimulate private sector growth.

Experts say the size of New Mexico's chile crop increased in 2011 after dwindling to nearly 40-year low the year before.

With David Lee Roth back in the saddle, the album's 13 tracks feel more than a little bit familiar... Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has called the economy "frustratingly slow." On Tuesday, Congress will find out whether he still thinks so, even after Friday's news that hiring surged in January and unemployment reached a three-year low.

Farmers in developing nations will sow more biotech crops than those in the industrialized world for the first time this year, with Brazil leading the charge, according to a report issued on Tuesday that showed steady growth in the use of genetically modified seeds.

Walmart, the largest food retailer in the United States, announced Tuesday plans to label its healthier foods with a new green label, "Great For You," in an effort to make healthier products easier for shoppers to distinguish.

A crop insecticide well known for its uses in cereal, corn, canola, forage, vegetable and fruit crops is under new ownership.

After a season of record-high prices, pecan farmers in Georgia are trying to protect their crops from looters intent on swiping the pricey nuts.

Volunteers have helped a rescue organization make required repairs to a Columbia facility that houses tigers, lions, cougars and other exotic animals.

First the bad news. Bees are still mysteriously dying. Over the last five years roughly 30 percent of captive honeybees, which pollinate much of the food we eat, wind up dead at the end of each winter.