House Ag chairman blasts ‘one-sided’ farm bill coalition and ‘meddling Senate Democrat’
The farm bill coalition — the rural and urban alliance credited with carrying farm bills to enactment — “is a one-sided talking point,” said House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson on Tuesday in insisting on a $53 billion increase in farm subsidies and cuts in SNAP. Time is running out for passage of the new farm bill this year, and farm groups, silent for weeks, are now calling for prompt congressional action.
Massachusetts animal welfare law is legal, says federal judge
Rejecting arguments by a Missouri pork processor, U.S. District Judge William Young upheld the legality of a voter-approved Massachusetts state law that requires farmers to give breeding sows room to move around and bars the sale of pork cuts produced outside the state on farms that do not meet the Massachusetts standard. Triumph Foods filed the lawsuit a year ago, soon after the Supreme Court ruled that a similar California law was constitutional, and said it offered a new avenue to challenge the constitutionality of such laws.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Kamala Harris, ‘climate champion’: The presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris, has a strong track record on climate and clean energy policies, including passage of the 2022 climate, healthcare, and tax law, said environmentalists; one called her “a climate champion.” (Los Angeles Times)
Satellites to spot wildfires: The government’s GEOS-R satellites will use their advanced remote sensing capabilities to detect and report wildfires in the West under a $20 million agreement with the Interior and Agriculture departments. (USDA)
World’s hottest day: The global average temperature was 17.09 degrees C (62.8 degrees F) on Sunday, “the hottest day since at least 1940,” according to Copernicus Climate Change Service; its director says global warming will bring more record highs. (Copernicus)
Drought widespread in Mexico: The worst drought in Mexico since 2011 covers 76 percent of the country and “the increasing drought conditions have led to water scarcity and agricultural concerns.” (NOAA)
CAFOs near canals: Nine of every 10 factory farms in California are within a mile of canals often used for irrigation water, and 2.6 million acres of crops are grown within three miles of a large livestock farm, proximity that creates the risk of bacterial contamination, said an environmental group. (EWG)
