Agriculture

Farmers adjust fertilizer for cleaner water at home and downstream
Farmland is the source for 70 percent of the nitrates in state surface waters, according to a recent study. Reducing the amount of nitrate that enters rivers and streams is a daunting job, but there are signs that some of the changes made on farms already are taking hold.
Crop insurance rule causing confusion for some
Last year's drought has contributed to confusion over crop insurance rules for some Upper Midwest farmers who couldn't get a crop in the ground this past spring due to the opposite weather extreme -- too much moisture.
Activist groups, as well as prominent medical organizations, are calling for stricter rules on how these animal antibiotics are used. At the moment, there are few restrictions on agricultural use; farmers can buy most antibiotics for the animals over the counter.
Old farm machinery harvesting high prices
For a good example of what might seem an out-of-control tractor market, one need only look to a chilly, rain-soaked auction last March in southwest Minnesota.
Requiring meat labels to have more details about a product's origins is too costly and serves no public health or safety benefit, industry groups said, announcing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Genetically modified crops will be one of many thorny issues taken up when the U.S. and the European Union sit down to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -- or T-TIP -- in Washington this week. The ambitious free-trade deal could form the world's largest single market. It promises to create thousands of new jobs and generate tens of billions of dollars of additional trade.