British PM girds for electoral battle (Montreal Gazette) You could almost hear the Luftwaffe bombers droning overhead as Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in a nationally televised speech, extolled British grit in the face of an adverse summer that included floods, mad cow disease and terrorism. [News Source]

State Snapshots (The Montana Standard) swimming upstream and downstream easier for fish in some Bitterroot Valley waters. The agency has been replacing small culverts with larger ones. [News Source]

Grass-fed animals are healthier (Rapid City Journal) “To love and appreciate the Rocky Mountains, you only open your eyes, but to love and appreciate the prairie, you must open your soul.” [News Source]

Paperback Row (New York Times) Paperback books of particular interest. [News Source]

Eased culling rules hiked risk of infected meat on market: EU court (TODAYonline) Cows are seen in a truck during transport. A recent easing of rules on culling sheep and goats during outbreaks of mad cow disease could have brought infected meat onto the European market, an EU court warned Friday. [News Source]

Johanns Could Be Leaving USDA Just in Time (AG Weekly) WASHINGTON — The Department of Agriculture is rarely in the headlines these days, but when Secretary Mike Johanns stepped down last week, he listed a range of projects that span the agency’s broad reach, from preparing for an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza to developing an online facility for providing U.S. citizens with nutrition advice. [News Source]

Eased culling rules hiked risk of infected meat on market: EU court (AFP via Yahoo! News) A recent easing of rules on culling sheep and goats during outbreaks of mad cow disease could have brought infected meat onto the European market, an EU court warned Friday. [News Source]

R-CALF: New FTAs detrimental to U.S. food safety (Prairie Star) WASHINGTON, D.C. n Recently negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs) with Peru, Panama and Colombia would limit inspections and safety requirements for food imported into the U.S. from these countries. [News Source]

New FTAs detrimental to U.S. food safety. Recently negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs) with Peru, Panama and Colombia would limit inspections and safety requirements for food imported into the U.S. from these countries. [News Source]

Livestock Risk Management Workshop Set For Oct. 22 in Vernon (AgNews)

VERNON – Drought, mad cow disease, market volatility and higher input costs have increased risk levels for cattle and forage producers during the last decade, in spite of relatively good market prices, said a Texas Cooperative Extension economist.

[News Source]