"In line with its plan to continue pesticide approvals despite the government shutdown, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced this week that it will register a new weedkiller for use in corn, soybean, wheat, and canola fields."

"A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to release full funding for November’s food assistance benefits by Friday. It comes after the partial funding disbursed by the Agriculture Department earlier this week had yet to reach those who qualify for the benefits."

"Mounting scientific evidence links the pesticide paraquat to Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating and deadly brain disease on the rise in the US. Syngenta, the longtime international maker of the weed-killing chemical, knew of this link decades ago but spent the intervening years questioning and undermining research, internal corporate records obtained by The New Lede show. Now the company is facing thousands of lawsuits brought by people blaming the weed killer for causing Parkinson’s disease."

"Several of the country’s largest chicken and turkey companies operate processing plants that routinely violate the federal government’s safety standards for salmonella contamination, according to a new analysis released by the animal welfare organization Farm Forward."

"Even though it delivers airtight data and analysis essential for understanding and managing the risks industrial societies pose to water, land, and health, the U.S. Geological Survey is a federal science agency that rarely attracts public notice."

"Sludge and septage are spread across around half a million acres statewide, but most of it has never been tested for PFAS"

"Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell by 11% from August 2024 to July this year, the government said Thursday, even as wildfires tracked by Brazil’s space agency surged to record levels amid a severe drought."

"Experts say its continued use will likely harm hundreds of endangered species, rendering some extinct."

"As the world's thirst for coffee shows no signs of slowing down, widely used practices to ramp up the crop's production have become self-defeating, according to a nonprofit watchdog group."