For many orchards, cold weather is a menace but in California's Central Valley, mild winters are becoming a threat, says Valley Public Radio. Crops such as peaches, pistachios and almonds need a certain amount of frigid weather - chill hours in agricultural terminology - to set the buds that bloom into flowers that produce fruit and nuts.

With his wife and family seated behind him, Rep. Ryan Zinke faced the Senate Committee for Energy and Natural Resources yesterday during his confirmation hearing for secretary of the Interior. The Montana Republican told the committee that he was “absolutely against” the sale or transfer of public lands. But he reassured many of his fellow Republicans that under his watch states would have more say in the management of natural resources and wildlife within their borders.

Prospects for the winter wheat crop are broadly favorable world wide, said the International Grains Council, which forecasts an all-wheat harvest this year of 735 million metric tons, a 2 percent decline from 2016/17 that will do little to cut into stockpiles that have swelled by nearly 25 percent in three years. "Only a small contraction in end-season stocks is expected," said the council's monthly Grain Markets Report.

Based on its belief that a genetically engineered strain of bentgrass “is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk,” the USDA agency in charge of biotechnology has deregulated the grass, which escaped field trials in 2003 and grows in the wild in two Oregon counties, said Capital Press. The deregulation followed an agreement by Scotts, the developer of the grass, not to commercialize the variety.

The USDA wrapped up months of work on animal welfare rules for organic producers today by releasing the regulation two days before the end of the Obama administration. The regulation requires that producers provide outdoor access for poultry while codifying biosecurity practices against disease spread by wild birds.

In a survey by Farm Futures magazine, farmers say they will abandon corn and wheat in favor of planting the largest area ever to soybeans, the crop most likely to turn a profit this year. "If achieved, soybeans would attract more acres than corn for the first time since the PIK year of 1983, when growers idled ground in a government program," says Farm Futures.

The drive for healthy diets has targeted over-consumption and excess fat in food. "Now, there's a fuill-on war on sugar," says Vox, laying out why the subject is more complicated than it first appears and offering "11 facts to clear up the confusion."

Like other farm leaders, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says he's at a loss to explain why President-elect Donald Trump has waited so long to name his nominee for agriculture secretary. Trump "has met with numerous people," Grassley told reporters, so "you can't say he has ignored" the position although the long wait has inspired grumbling, and now rumors, in farm country.

Two weeks from now, Tom Vilsack, the longest-serving agriculture secretary in half-a-century, will start his new job on the opposite side of the Potomac River from the USDA headquarters. As expected, he will be president and chief executive of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, based in Arlington, Va., which works to expand sales of American dairy products and ingredients.

After a year and a half of internal review, the USDA will ask for public comment on an industry proposal to create a checkoff program for organic products. It is a significant advance for what would be the first research-and-promotion program to apply to a mode of production rather than a commodity. The Organic Trade Association (OTA), the sponsor of the checkoff, says it would raise more than $30 million a year to help U.S. producers meet the burgeoning demand for organic goods.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt put "the brakes" on state pursuit of a water-pollution suit against poultry processors, said the New York Times in describing how Pruitt "will have the opportunity to engineer a radical shift" in federal policy if he is confirmed as EPA administrator.

With the Trump era dawning, "the most pressing work is to join forces with other progressive groups" to fight for social justice, say four leaders of the loosely aligned food movement in a commentary published by Civil Eats. "This means that important but parochial food issues, such as labeling of GMOs or the formulation of national nutrititional standards, are bound to be overshadowed as the larger fight for social justice becomes more urgent."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, has introduced a bill in Congress to amend the Antiquities Act, which grants U.S. presidents the right to create national monuments. Last month, President Obama designated 1.35 million acres under the act in Utah and another 300,000 acres in Nevada, bringing his total to nearly 538 million acres, more than any other president.

A source close to Ivanka Trump has told the press that the first daughter is interested in childhood nutrition, reports Politico. Some are hoping that Ivanka will influence her father, who took pains during his presidential campaign to show that he’s a burger and pizza guy.

The Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would freeze the budget of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the next five years and require more analysis before it adopts new regulations. The bill, sponsored by House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway but not considered by his committee, was sent to the Senate on a party line vote, 239-182.