A federal judge has moved a South Dakota beef processing company's lawsuit against ABC News for defamation back to state court.

 Beef Products Incorporated sued ABC News for defamation over its coverage of a meat product that critics dub "pink slime." The company is seeking $1.2 billion in damages.

 ABC argued that two of the companies listed in the lawsuit, BPI Technology Incorporated and Freezing Machines Incorporated, are not true parties and the case should be thrown out.

 But BPI argued that all three companies have a stake in making the product called lean, finely textured beef.

 Judge Karen Schreier on Wednesday ordered the case back to the circuit court in Union County.

Authorities have raised their forecast for Nebraska's winter wheat crop, but the harvest still is expected to be the lowest since 1944.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's statistics service says that, based on June 1 conditions, Nebraska's farmers are expected to harvest 45.5 million bushels. That's up 6 percent from the May 1 forecast but down 15 percent from last year's crop.

The yield forecast is 35 bushels an acre. That's up 2 bushels from May but down 6 bushels from last year.

The acreage to be harvested for grain is estimated at 1.3 million acres, the same as last year.

Nebraska landowners now have until Friday to enroll in a program that pays them up to $10 an acre for keeping their wheat and mill stubble 14 inches or taller during this year's harvest.

The program deadline to join the Crop Stubble Management, Wildlife and Water Conservation Program has been extended. The program is being offered through eight natural resource districts in southern and western Nebraska.

Participants must leave the tall stubble undisturbed until April 1. Eligible producers may enroll up to 320 acres per year per crop type for two years. Post-harvest chemical applications are allowed, but other disturbances - such as disking, grazing or haying - are not allowed before the April 1 deadline.

Tall stubble has proven beneficial to both wildlife and soil quality.

A Parkston farmer has been awarded more than $1 million against a former Watertown cattle seller for misrepresenting the origin of a shipment of cattle to his farm.

A Hutchinson County jury awarded farmer Curtis Huether $100,000 in damages and $1 million in punitive damages against David Bisson.

Huether accused Bisson of misrepresenting the origin of a shipment of cattle to his farm in 2008, which resulted in Huether's cattle being quarantined for about eight months.

A call to a phone listing for Bisson rang unanswered.

The jury also found that an Iowa trucking company committed civil conspiracy in the case.