Agriculture

"A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply."

"A heavy snow was falling here in the Taconic Mountain Range outside Albany when Leah Penniman moved to the farm she bought with her husband. It was the day after Christmas, Penniman recalled, “and I cried.” They were not tears of joy."

"From the Arctic to the Amazon, the traditional food gathering techniques of indigenous communities are under threat from accelerating climate change and economic pressures, the United Nations said on Friday."

"The U.S. Senate has approved a measure intended to encourage greater use of farming and forestry practices that prevent greenhouse gas emissions and remove planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."

"Beekeepers this year in the United States reported the second highest annual loss of managed honey bee colonies since records began in 2006, according to results of a nationwide survey released Wednesday."

"Federal agriculture officials are launching what could become their largest grasshopper-killing campaign since the 1980s amid an outbreak of the drought-loving insects that cattle ranchers fear will strip bare public and private rangelands."

"Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles announced his resignation Wednesday, giving up his post amid sharp criticism of his tenure and two investigations into his actions involving allegedly illegal timber operations."

"A lawsuit aimed at creating mandatory water quality regulations to reduce farm pollution in the Raccoon River will not proceed after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the case asked the courts to infringe on the powers of the legislature."

"Apple growers in northern climates such as Michigan and Vermont are facing more outbreaks of a nemesis long battled by Washington apple growers – a pathogen known as fire blight that when left unchecked can decimate entire orchards."

"After a historically dry winter, some growers are farming less land, switching crops, and trucking in water, or taking the season off entirely."