AP - Did someone in this wine country town illegally plant an endangered flower to sabotage a proposed housing development? That is the question at the center of a quarrel folks here have dubbed "Foamgate."­;

AP - For the second straight season, late-maturing oranges in hurricane-hit areas will leave Florida with one of its worst citrus crops in more than a decade, federal agriculture officials said Wednesday.

AP - The cows on Pam and Jeff Riesgraf's farm chomped happily away on lush green grass on a warm, sunny afternoon. Their milk would soon find its way to grocery stores, where organic dairy products are a hot item.

AP - Two dozen scientists from around the world gathered in high-tech classrooms and laboratories in central Iowa on Monday to learn how to diagnose avian influenza and control its spread.

AP - A pest blamed for killing millions of trees across the Midwest has reached Illinois, prompting state officials to prepare a detection and eradication plan they expect to begin within the next few weeks, the state agriculture department said Tuesday.

AP - Scientists have a new test that can tell within four hours if a bird is possibly infected with bird flu — but it still will take about a week to know if that suspect case is really sick with the deadly Asian strain, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Tuesday.

AP - Scientists have a new test that can tell within four hours if a bird is possibly infected with bird flu — but it still will take about a week to know if that suspect case is truly sick with the deadly Asian strain, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Tuesday.

AP - An animal-rights group has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Agriculture of improperly withholding information gathered during its investigation into the near-fatal tiger attack on illusionist Roy Horn.

AP - Federal scientists have started testing migratory birds for signs of a dangerous bird flu that could show up on this continent this spring.

AP - Authorities trying to limit disease outbreaks will be able to trace livestock movements from birth to slaughter by 2009, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday.

AP - An Egyptian toddler has been infected with the virulent strain of bird flu, bringing the number of human cases in the country to nine, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

AFP - An EU ministerial conference on genetically-modified organisms began with politicians emphasizing the right of farmers to choose whether or not to produce GM crops.

AP - Kansas officials are bracing for the first swarms of so-called "killer bees" to cross into the state as early as this year, the Kansas Department of Agriculture said Thursday.

Denise Royal - AHN Staff Writer Miami, FL (AHN) - A long-horned beetle, that has destroyed mango plantations in China, was found for the first time in the United States at the Port of Miami aboard a freighter transporting cargo from Hong Kong. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture...

Reuters - Rest easy animal lovers: the giraffes, elephants, snakes, monkeys and other assorted wildlife at Michael Jackson's private zoo on his Neverland Valley Ranch in central California are fine.

AP - Analysis of samples of the H5N1 bird flu virus from two of its victims in Turkey has detected a change in one gene in one of two samples tested, but it is too early to tell whether the mutation is important, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

AP - Analysis of samples of the H5N1 bird flu virus from two of its victims in Turkey has detected a change in one gene in one of two samples tested, but it is too early to tell whether the mutation is important, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

AP - South Korea and the United States began talks Monday on lifting South Korea's two-year-old ban on imports of American beef.