SNAP increase of 40 cents a meal means $20 billion a year for public nutrition
The government will spend an additional $20 billion a year on food stamps, a 27-percent increase in SNAP benefits from pre-pandemic levels, after updating its figures on the cost of a healthy diet, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. Anti-hunger groups said the additional 40 cents a meal per person would help millions of Americans avoid hunger.
Bayer asks Supreme Court to overturn Roundup verdict
As it promised last month, Bayer, the world’s largest seed and agricultural chemicals company, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn the $25-million award to Edwin Hardeman, a California man who blamed Roundup herbicide for giving him cancer. The appeal is a key element in Bayer’s plan to resolve billions of dollars of claims against Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world.
Today’s Quick Hits
Colorado River water shortage: Because of ongoing drought and low runoff in the Colorado River basin, releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam will be reduced in 2022, said the Bureau of Reclamation in its first declaration of a water shortage on the river. (Reclamation)
When to engage China?: Eight months into the Biden administration, U.S. business groups are beginning to ask if the United States will re-engage China on trade issues or whether Trump-era tariffs are here to stay. (Politico Weekly Trade)
GE seed for soy pest: A soybean variety genetically engineered by BASF Corp. to resist the soybean cyst nematode is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk, said USDA regulators in a draft environmental assessment. (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)
More smoke, less milk: Researchers at University of Idaho are studying the impact of smoke from wildfires on the health of dairy cattle and milk production. (High Country News)
Senators seek JBS probe: The leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to investigate whether the owners of JBS SA, the world’s largest meat processor, used proceeds from a bribery scheme to expand in the United States. (The Hill)
