Pandemic brings highest global hunger rate in 12 years – July 13, 2021

Pandemic brings highest global hunger rate in 12 years

Nearly one of every 10 people on earth is undernourished, a huge increase in global hunger in a world wracked by the pandemic, said the United Nations on Monday. In an annual report on world nutrition, the UN said around 768 million people — more than the population of Europe — were hungry in 2020, an increase of 118 million people since the arrival of the coronavirus. (No paywall)

House chairman proposes $50 billion for rural broadband

The government would spend $50 billion to assure broadband access throughout rural America under a bill sponsored by House Agriculture chairman David Scott, seven times the amount proposed by Republicans on the panel.

Wheat crop withers in northern Plains, Pacific Northwest

The wheat harvest in the northern Plains and Pacific Northwest will be 40 percent smaller than last year due to severe drought, said the USDA on Monday.

Today’s Quick Hits

Grasslands signup opens: Landowners can apply until Aug. 20 to enroll land in the CRP Grassland option, with a $5-per-acre incentive to protect an elk migration corridor in the Yellowstone region of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and to prevent wind erosion in the Dust Bowl territory in the Plains. (USDA)

North Carolina biogas battle: Environmentalists are trying to block a bill in the North Carolina legislature that could fast-track a project to convert methane from industrial hog farms in the state into natural gas, saying there are cleaner ways to handle animal waste. (Daily Yonder)

‘Breaking point this week’: Manitoba farmer Korey Peters worries that this growing season could be a disaster for farmers on the Canadian prairies due to drought. (Postmedia)

Where is the water?: At Liset Garcia’s farm stand outside of Reedley in the Central Valley, “locals, weekenders and tourists all seem to want to talk about water” amid the drought that is parching California. (Los Angeles Times)

Football-sized goldfish: Put a pet goldfish into a pond or lake and it becomes an invasive species that can grow to foot long and weigh as much as four pounds while uprooting aquatic plants and out-competing other fish for food. (Washington Post)

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