Tobacco

As we bid farewell to February, I find myself aching for the warmth and promise of spring in the heart of middle America.

Six years ago, Illinois farmer John Ackerman didn’t hire any contract workers at all. Now he typically hires about 22 every year through a local coordinator that helps farmers hire crews of skilled workers.

For the first time, RIPE researchers have proven that multigene bioengineering of photosynthesis increases the yield of a major food crop in field trials.

Over most of the past 100 years, there were step-changes in farming technological advancements. But that rate increased exponentially the past few decades, transitioning from the Green Revolution to the Digital Revolution.

A total of $5.9 million in tobacco settlement funds will go to nearly 600 farm projects across Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said.

A House committee made significant changes Feb. 4 to the way Indiana would spend proceeds from a proposal to hike the state’s cigarette tax for the first time in more than a decade and impose a new state tax on vaping liquids.