Quick hits: Water recycling hits the 'yuck factor;' cows' methane fuels drug maker; construction trainees do fixups ...

Young farmers Rudy Pate, Zoe Kent and Logan Yancey are bullish on opportunities for farmers under 30.
(Chris Withers photo, Coffy Creations photo, Kristen Elizabeth photo, Farm Journal stats from Census of Ag 2017)

Sometimes the news can get you down. Here's an antidote: Three farmers under 30 who've got their giddy-up going and making the rural life their life. This story by Chris Bennet of Farm Journal gives their hard work and entrepreneurial spirit a big yee-haw!

With water shortages and drought plaguing many areas of the U.S., looking at what solutions science is developing is helpful. One innovation that is gaining traction is graywater and blackwater recycling. The process has a major obstacle: the "Yuck" factor.

Photo by Courtney Love, Successful Farming

Cows are versatile creatures, but their manure and burps contribute to climate change. One drugmaker aims to repurpose some cows' methane output. "AstraZeneca is switching to biogas produced from cow manure and food waste in the United States," reports Natalie Grover of Reuters. "Manure from three farms, each with about 900 cattle, will be combined with food waste and placed in an area the size of a big ice-skating rink with apparatus above to capture methane, which will be purified and piped into AstraZeneca's gas grid."

June is the month of weddings, often followed by anxiety-provoking receptions. The best thing a reception can offer might be a D.J. who can crush the tunes, one writes.

The Colorado Partnership for Education and Rural Revitalization is partnering with Southern Colorado colleges to offer construction trainees a four-week apprenticeship that allows participants to earn a certificate in construction while fixing dilapidated properties in the area, reports Dan Boyce of Colorado Public Radio. Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is directing the program's funding, told Boyce, "We're committing to a theory we are testing in the marketplace. If you train people to redevelop these properties, you do redevelop them. You'll sell them, improving the community, and the money will go back into the program, and it will keep sustaining itself."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's monthly outlook says El Niño is here, "meaning El Niño conditions are now present and expected to gradually strengthen into the winter," reports AgWeek. Not all El Niño news is bad, "Agricultural meteorologist Eric Snodgrass says it also tends to bring favorable growing conditions for crops in the Midwest."

Eating too much cotton candy and other sweets does not cause
hyperactivity.(Photo by Robert Clark, Nat Geo Image Collection)

Good news for parents: It isn't sugar that makes kids hyper, so you can quit worrying about the summertime ice cream, popsicles and jello you may be serving. The bad news: It's special events that cause kids to spazz out, reports Jason Bittel of National Geographic. Mark Corkins, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition, told Bittel, "When we look at the times that kids have high sugar intake, it's usually associated with when they're going to be hyper, even if you didn't give them any sugar." Bittel adds, "In other words, being ensconced in a celebratory environment with relatives and friends who children might not see every day is itself a very strong stimulant."