Agriculture

"A bill drastically reducing the scope of the Clean Water Act passed through committee in the U.S. House and will likely reach the floor for debate later this month. The legislation would narrow the definition of bodies of water that qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act and would remove laws requiring permits before discharging pesticides or manure-contaminated stormwater from factory farms into waterways."

"Herbicides in forestry kill broadleaf vegetation that compete with softwoods, which are more flammable" 

"High atop the Luossavaara Mountain in northern Sweden, Sami reindeer herder Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen mapped out a bleak future for himself and other Indigenous people whose reindeer have roamed this land for thousands of years."

"N.C. research would have provided crucial data on understudied effects of the burgeoning industry on predominantly Black, Indigenous and Latino residents."

"Despite MAHA promises to reduce chemical exposures, experts warn the Trump administration is approving a wave of ‘frightening’ pesticides."

"A Trump administration plan to remove thousands of agriculture employees from Washington, D.C., is raising concerns among economists, who fear that such a move could erode expertise in a workforce reluctant to relocate."

"In a move celebrated by US meat and poultry producers but mourned by environment and health advocates, federal regulators are walking back a proposed rule that would have strengthened water pollution standards for slaughterhouse operators."

"The Trump administration will soon propose a new Clean Water Act rule that could eliminate federal protections for many wetlands across the U.S., according to an internal EPA presentation obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News."

"Bison once moved across North America in herds that blackened the landscape in all directions, in numbers estimated not in the hundreds but in the tens of thousands."

'Robb Rynd and his brother grew up farming and wanted to do more of it outside their day jobs, so they went in together on what’s now a little over 200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum. Last year was a good year, and Rynd said he enjoyed walking the fields with his kids to see how the corn was doing. This year is a different story.'