Deadly bird flu found in two more states
State and federal officials said they would kill infected poultry flocks in Kentucky and Virginia to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a deadly poultry disease. The Agriculture Department reported the new cases on Monday and asked trading partners to minimize the impact on poultry exports if they decide to restrict entry of U.S. chicken meat because of the disease.
The pandemic increased hunger, but fewer kids are getting school meals
Despite a spike in food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic, school meals have “lost important ground” over the last two years, according to a new report from the Food Research & Action Center. The number of students regularly eating school lunches was 30.7 percent lower in the 2020-21 school year than in 2018-19, before the pandemic hit.
Ethanol likely worse than gasoline for carbon emissions, say researchers
The Renewable Fuel Standard, which guarantees corn ethanol and other biofuels a share of the U.S. gasoline market, results in the release of at least as much carbon “and likely at least 24 percent higher” greenhouse gas emissions than the petroleum it displaced, say scientists who studied the program’s first eight years.
Today’s Quick Hits
Driest in 12 centuries: The ongoing drought in the U.S. West is the driest 22-year period in at least 1,200 years and it is being intensified by global warming, scientists said in the journal Nature Climate Change. (Los Angeles Times)
Vilsack on trade mission: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will lead a trade mission of three dozen agribusinesses, farm groups and state agencies to the United Arab Emirates, a $1 billion market for U.S. ag exports. (USDA)
Fake organic cotton: Much of the fabric in clothing that claims to be organic cotton may not be organic at all, because of the difficulty of ensuring that farmers or handlers are following the rules. (New York Times)
Bayer short of glyphosate: Chemical giant Bayer said production of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, may be compromised because a supplier of an ingredient in the herbicide suffered a “mechanical failure.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Feral pigs run wild: At least four property owners have asked the Santa Clara Water District to reimburse them for damage caused by wild pigs that invaded their neighborhoods after the water district drained a reservoir that was a barrier to the pernicious porkers. (Mercury News)
