** President Trump’s Waters of the United States repeal Tuesday represents hope and optimism for reducing the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory reach.

That’s according to new administrator, Scott Pruitt who says we have always been able the strike the balance between being a good steward of our natural resources, but also growing our jobs and our economy in a responsible way.

Pruitts says the WOTUS rule was not what Congress had in mind in the first place, calling it a power grab.

**As Congress prepares to write a new farm bill, the new Whole Farm Revenue Protection policies that USDA is offering under a pilot program authorized by the 2014 farm law are showing signs of catching on with the diversified farms they were designed to serve.

Last year, the first time the policies were available, farms bought over 22-hundred policies with a total liability of $2.3 billion, about double from the year before.

That year, 80 percent of the policies were sold in just three states – Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

** The popularity of eggs from cage-free and organic hens is rising, while laying hens work at meeting the demand, but industry experts say a wholesale shift to cage-free and organic eggs won’t happen anytime soon.

Many Americans are opting for the cage-free and organic labels in food stores and at restaurants, but supermarket prices for those often add $1.50 to $2 per dozen.

The market for both jumped about 20 percent last year, but cage-free volume was still just 5.1 percent of U.S. table eggs.

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