Agribusiness Update for Thursday 09/26/13

Smithfield shareholders have approved the sale of the company to Shuanghui (shawn-way) International. The deal had faced scrutiny but was cleared by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment earlier this month. At a special Smithfield shareholder meeting Tuesday - more than 96-percent of the votes cast were in favor of the acquisition.

According to the Washington Post - a U.S. District Court Judge has given the Environmental Protection Agency six-months to determine whether it will set Clean Water Act standards for nitrogen and phosphorous in all U.S. waterways - or explain why they are not needed. The EPA says more than 100-thousand miles of rivers and streams, nearly 2.5-million acres of lakes, reservoirs and ponds and more than 800-square miles of bays and estuaries in the U.S. have poor water quality due to nitrogen and phosphorous pollution.

In advance of National Public Lands Day, Secretary Sally Jewell hosted an online chat yesterday where she discussed the importance of our nation's public lands, connecting the next generation to the great outdoors, and the President's Climate Action Plan.

That's today's Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network.