Jeremy Bernfeld

The Green Mountain State is poised to become the first to require GMO labeling. But a federal lawmaker recently introduced a bill that would outlaw state rules like Vermont's.

The House on Wednesday approved a five-year compromise farm, signalling perhaps the final stretch for a two-year legislative battle. Because so much of the spending in the measure depends on enrollment in programs like food stamps, it's hard to know if it will save taxpayers money.

Historian Maureen Ogle's new book examines the rise of our modern industrial meat system by examining its roots — all the way back to Colonial America. There's a fundamental disconnect, she argues, in our demands for both cheap, plentiful meat and an end to factory farms. Something, she says, has to give.

Farmers and ranchers across the country expected to start 2013 with a new farm bill, the legislation setting agricultural policy for the next five years. But the new farm bill got scrapped after more than a year of work when Congress passed the "fiscal cliff" deal.

Farm robots are here, not just in Star Wars. Some dairies already use milking machines that clean udders and monitor cow health, plus do the milking, and a fully automated tractor is coming out this fall.