The soybean stockpile was a bare-bones 92 million bushels at the start of this month, less than a week-and-a-half supply with the new crop still reaching maturity, said the quarterly Grain Stocks report.

The Agriculture Department said it is launching reports on ethanol production and flour milling, three years after the Census Bureau ended the reports due to budget cuts.

"There are now twice as many wild horses in the West as federal land managers say the land can sustain," says a New York Times story about the government's problems in managing the herd.

Agricultural cooperatives had record sales of more than $246 billion in 2013, the third year in a row of record-setting volume and a reflection of boom times in the farm sector, said the Agriculture Department.

In a Federal Register notice, USDA said it has drafted an environmental assessment and a finding of no significant impact if a parasitic wasp, Aphelinus rhamn, is used as a biologic control against the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines.

The Chinese government has launched a campaign on TV, newspapers and the Internet to build public support for genetically engineered crops, says Reuters.

The persistent high pressure ridge of air in the northeastern Pacific Ocean that has blocked winter storms from reaching California is three times more likely to occur in current times than before the Industrial Revolution began the buildup of greenhouse gases, said scientists at Stanford University. Blocking ridges of air occur periodically but the current ridge is exceptional for its size and duration, they say. It has diverted precipitation-bearing storms into Alaska. This is an event that is more extreme than any in the observed record, and our research suggests that global warming is playing a role right now," said associate professor Noah Diffenbaugh in a statement.

The provincial government in Ontario will try to "meaningfully reduce" the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in 2015, says Premier Kathleen Wynne, according to Country Guide, Canada's oldest farm publication. The so-called neonics are blamed in part for the deep decline in honeybee populations.The Varroa mite and other pests as well as harsh weather have been cited as causes too.

The Agriculture Department tapped five grant programs to provide a total of $52 million to support local food systems and organic agriculture. Some $27 million came through a new program to build a local distribution chain for small farmers as well as a longstanding program to aid farmers markets and other direct farmer-to-consumer outlets. Food hubs, aggregators and local processors can be pieces of a regional food system. Small and medium-size producers often are at a disadvantage when potential customers want large volumes of goods.

Chicago's public health department "is experimenting with a new technology to guide where (restaurant) inspections should occur, based on factors such as current weather, nearby construction and past health code violations," says the Washington Post in an article on applying so-called Big Data to food safety. New York City's health department "is testing software that scans online reviews...flagging mentions of potential food-poisoning events."

The government formally introduced its new crop subsidy programs along with an online tool to help grain and oilseed growers decide which of the two is best for their operations. Beginning on Monday, owners can tell USDA if they want to re-allocate "base" acres and update yield histories for crops they usually grow. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack described those "very important decisions" as a preparatory step to the choice of whether to enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage subsidies.

British seed company Tozer Seeds hopes for U.S. success with Kalette, a conventionally bred cross of Brussels spouts and kale, says FreshFruitPortal. The company says the hybrid vegetable "has a milder version of the nutty Brussels sprouts flavor and the leaves are more tender than kale."

The world's largest farm equipment maker, Deere and Co., hired Citigroup to help it decide whether to sell its crop insurance wing, says Insurance Journal. Deere has sold an irrigation unit and its interest in a landscaping business in the past year. Insurance Journal quoted a Deere spokesman as saying, "While crop insurance provides a unique and important touch point with our agricultural customers, we have determined that the federal crop insurance program itself is not core to John Deere.” Recent droughts and a decline in commodity prices has made insurance less profitable.

The Agriculture Department set a 60-day comment period on its proposal for an annual survey of organizations that certify that farms and ranches meet federal standards to be designated as organic producers. "The survey will collect the number of operations that are certified organic for each State, along with the number of acres certified for the various crops, and the number of head of livestock and poultry certified as organic. The data will be used by NASS as administrative data so that future needs to collect organic data from farm and ranch operations can be kept to a minimum," said the Federal Register notice.

The U.S. Forest Service would require reporters to pay up to $1,500 for permission to take photos or video in federal wilderness, says the Portland Oregonian. The restrictions are part of a proposed land-use regulation. The newspaper quotes the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press as saying, "It's pretty clearly unconstitutional." A Forest Service official said the limits have been part of a temporary rule for the past four years and are intended to keep the land as wilderness.

Scientists discovered the structure of the enzyme that makes cellulose, potentially opening the path to easier ways to break down cellulose to make biofuels or to modify cellulose to retain dyes more readily in clothing, said Purdue University.

First-term Republicans David Valadao of California and Rodney Davis of Illinois rate as likely winners of re-election to the House, says the political tip sheet Sabato's Crystal Ball. Valadao, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, and Davis, a member of the Agriculture Committee, "ranked among the top Democratic targets in the country earlier in the cycle but neither race has really materialized," said the Crystal Ball, which previously listed the races as "leans Republican."

The soda industry is pouring at least $2 million into two city referendums in California that propose a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, says Politico. The votes in San Francisco and Berkeley across the bay could influence national policy on obesity. "If the tax passes in one of the two cities, as polls show it might, it’ll be the first loss for the beverage industry, which has emerged undefeated in more than 30 similar fights in states and cities, from Maine to El Monte, California in recent years," says Politico. Conversely, if the initiatives fail, it may discourage attempts elsewhere.