This is a cautionary tale about the importance of social media literacy, involving a company with a limited online profile, the hot-button issue of "pink slime" and a contingent of interested citizens with active social media accounts.

To consider the long-term challenges of climate change and the short-term impacts of powerful weather cycles like the El Niño Southern Oscillation is to face down a wild tangle of variables. This is especially true in agriculture, where weather and climatic variations affect precipitation, temperature, and the timing of planting and harvesting.

Agriculture depends entirely on weather, with its uncertainties affecting the fortunes of all people, from small farmers to consumers, as the global market shifts food prices.

Earlier this year, avian flu devastated the poultry industry across Wisconsin and the country.