SNAP outlays climb to record level in must-pass spending bill
House and Senate negotiators proposed a record $154 billion for SNAP this fiscal year in the government funding bill unveiled on Tuesday, an increase of nearly 10 percent from last year. The increase would provide the larger benefits generated by the Biden administration’s update of the cost of a healthy diet and emergency allotments enacted as a response to the pandemic.
Advocates looked for a ‘Paris moment’ at biodiversity talks.
Environmental groups at the UN Biodiversity Conference hoped for a “Paris moment” for nature — one that would bring the same urgency to the fight against biodiversity loss that now propels the one against climate change. As the conference came to a close in Montreal on Monday, there was the sense among many that they had largely succeeded, even if putting the deal into practice will require a huge effort.
Administration looks for ways to expand bioeconomy
Three months after President Biden signed an executive order to accelerate biotechnology innovation, the administration formally asked stakeholders and the public on Monday to identify gaps, ambiguities and inefficiencies in federal regulation of the sector.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Hog-farm challenge rejected: With one justice dissenting, the North Carolina state Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to amendments to the state’s Right to Farm law that made it harder to sue hog farms as nuisances. (Carolina Journal)
Fufeng gets U.S. go-ahead: Chinese-owned Fufeng USA said it would proceed with construction of a $700 million corn milling plant in Great Forks, North Dakota, after a national security committee said it would not block the project. (South China Morning Post)
Earthworms are disappearing, too: Populations of earthworms, vital for healthy soil, may have fallen by one-third in the past 25 years in Britain; the decline comes amid plunging numbers of insects and loss of wildlife habitat worldwide. (The Guardian)
More hot-dry-windy: In a scientific journal, Kansas State University researchers said the number of “hot-dry-windy events” significantly increased in the Great Plains over the past 40 years due to climate change, damaging wheat yields. (KSU extension)
Census of Agriculture questionnaires: The USDA mailed questionnaires for the Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years, to all known agricultural producers in the U.S.; they can also respond online. (National Agricultural Statistics Service)
