Voluntary action will not clean up Iowa waterways, so the state Legislature must "create bold laws that address water pollution," said Bill Stowe, chief executive of the Des Moines Water Works. The utility's board of trustees decided to seek a legislative solution to high nitrate levels in the Raccoon River rather than appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit against drainage districts in three counties in northwestern Iowa.

The U.S. appeals court based in Washington voided a Bush-era exemption for large livestock farms from reporting emission of air pollutants in a win for environmentalists, said Law360. The lawsuit was filed more than a year ago by eight environmental groups, who said the EPA ignored petitions in 2009 and 2011 for regulation of ammonia, methane and other emissions from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Decades ago, hog farmers described the pungent aroma of hog manure as the smell of money. Now, the North Carolina state House has passed a bill that could save them money if they are sued for creating a nuisance due to the smell of animal waste, says the Associated Press.

After abnormally small exports last year, U.S. cotton shipments are booming this year and are headed for 14 million bales, the fourth-largest volume ever, says USDA's monthly WASDE report. The U.S. share of the world cotton market would stand at nearly 40 percent, according to USDA, compared to 26 percent in the previous marketing year.

West Coast fishery managers decided to severely restrict the commercial salmon season in California this year because of historically low numbers of adult chinook salmon in the ocean, says the San Francisco Chronicle. The drop in population is a lingering effect of the five-year drought.

Colorado State University has appointed former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his wife, Christie, as strategic advisors for three years in launching new initiatives, including the National Western Center in northern Denver, said the Denver Post. The university intends to turn the site of the National Western stock show into a university-like setting for innovators to tackle global water, food and population issues.

President Trump made renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement a top issue during his election campaign, but he has moved slowly on it since taking office. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the administration is waiting for Senate confirmation of Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative before it starts the clock running for discussions with Canada and Mexico.

The Trump administration’s proposed budget would cancel four NASA climate science missions, which would have measured the flow of carbon dioxide and tracked long-term weather patterns. “Long before President Trump was elected, climate researchers have warned that the nation’s climate monitoring capabilities — which include satellites as well as air- and surface-based instruments — were less than adequate and faced data collection gaps and other uncertainties,” reports The New York Times.

Farmers are calling for free access to the software that runs their tractors and other farm equipment. "You're paying for the metal but the electronic parts technically you don't own it. They do," says Kyle Schwarting, a farmer in southeast Nebraska.

Kansas is an intensely Republican state, yet Democrats have hopes of an upset in the first U.S. House race in the age of Trump, a special election today to replace Mike Pompeo, who quit Congress to become CIA director. The Democratic nominee, civil rights lawyer James Thompson, "has spooked Republicans in Washington" with a Bernie-Sanders-style campaign, says The Nation.

More than a decade after joining the EU, residents of Eastern Europe believe they are getting the short end of the deal, and the resentment is taking form in complaints about sub-standard food, reports the New York Times. "With rising passion, prominent politicians and local news media have taken up the issue of whether Eastern Europeans are being sold inferior products."

The Obama administration gave a cold shoulder to Gov. Paul LePage's proposal to bar Mainers from spending food stamps on soda and candy. LePage "is optimistic the new administration will approve his revived proposal," says The Associated Press, adding that lawmakers in Tennessee and Alabama are pursuing the same idea.

New Mexico has approved the nation's first law to ban “lunch shaming” students who can’t afford school lunches or whose parents fall behind on payments. The Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights, signed by New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, applies to all schools, public or private, that accept federal money for students' breakfast or lunch.

Following the nearly record-setting rain and snowfall of last winter, California Gov. Jerry Brown removed most of the water conservation directives that were imposed during the five-year drought. State officials say they will "clamp down on wasteful water use and impose a long-term conservation program that could create conflicts with urban water users," reports the Sacramento Bee.

In early May, an FDA regulation will take effect that requires restaurants to list calories on their menus. The American Pizza Community, a trade group for the pizza industry, is trying to persuade Congress to dramatically weaken the "menu labeling" requirement for their restaurants, says the Washington Post in a story produced in partnership with FERN.

Back-to-back coral bleachings in 2016 and 2017 have left only the southern third of the Great Barrier Reef untouched, and experts are predicting the death of the entire ecosystem.