"U.S. government agencies plan to push ahead with a $57 million dam and fish bypass on Montana's Yellowstone River despite concerns among scientists that it won't meet its goal of helping an ancient fish species, officials said Monday."

"Chicken farms, once tucked into fields and in mostly rural areas, have come to roost near schools, daycare centers and subdivisions on the Delmarva Peninsula. The change — in both location and density — is prompting local politicians to enact some of their first zoning restrictions on poultry growers."

"A filthy brown sea, a slurry of mud, debris, chemicals and waste, has overtaken miles of rural counties in North Carolina. Against the drab water, the shiny metal roofs of hog houses are impossible to miss, visible from the air, as are the rectangular and diamond-shaped outlines of massive lagoons constructed just feet away."

A little-noticed court settlement in Nevada requires the federal government to re-evaluate its program for killing predatory animals at the request of farmers and ranchers. Two years from now, when the re-evaluation is done, the program could be drastically changed.

"Urban farming received a legitimizing nod last month when Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016 in hopes of getting it included in the next Farm Bill."

"At least tens of thousands of chickens, hogs and other livestock are feared dead in floodwaters that washed over factory farms and towns in eastern North Carolina following Hurricane Matthew."

"The trial for the militants who seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon this year is close to wrapping up. The standoff traumatized the rural ranching communities around Burns, Ore."

"The beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have given millions of dollars to nearly 100 prominent health groups in recent years, while simultaneously spending millions to defeat public health legislation that would reduce Americans’ soda intake, according to public health researchers."

"(MSNBC Video) Rachel Maddow reports on devastating and deadly flooding in North Carolina following Hurricane Matthew and notes concerns by environmentalists and flooded rivers that wash through farms and coal ash sites could spread toxins through miles of waterways."