Crop scouts set off today for the annual inspection tour of the winter wheat crop in Kansas, the No 1 grower. The tour provides a timely look at a crop that will be ready for harvest in a few weeks.

The executive summary of a European study, "Nitrogen on the Table," says if Europe reduced its meat consumption, it "would reduce nitrogen air and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up large areas of farmland for other purposes such as food export or bioenergy."

Japanese and U.S. negotiators explored various factors that control market openings for farm imports during President Obama's visit, a senior administration official told reporters.

Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart tells Roll Call that the campaign for immigration reform is picking up momentum in the House.

Three years after winning a pay increase of 1 cent per lb, tomato workers in Florida are in dramatically improved conditions, says the New York Times in a story the describes better accounting of pay and better treatment in the fields.

The leaders of the United States and Japan say "they have made significant progress on the agriculture and auto issues that have blocked a huge Asia-Pacific trade deal following intense talks," says Politico.

Miller Milling Co, subsidiary of Tokyo-based Nisshin Flour Milling Inc, announced the purchase for $215 mln of four mills from Horizon and ConAgra that will turn Miller into the fourth-largest U.S. miller.

The Environmental Working Group asked the government to "launch a new investigation to determine whether the use of diphenylamine, or DPA, is safe for U.S. consumer," said Food Safety News.

Speaker John Boehner faulted his fellow House Republicans as unwilling to act on immigration reform during a speech to a service club in his Ohio district, says the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"California's worsening drought reached a new, ominous milestone this week just as the typical dry season begins for much of the state," says The Weather Channel.

Rep Jim McGovern, who opposed food stamp cuts in the 2014 farm law, says opponents are not satisfied with narrowing the connection between utility assistance and additional food stamps.

The Vermont House overwhelmingly passed a law requiring labels on food made with genetically engineered ingredients and sent it to the governor, who is expected to sign it.

The Agriculture Department received 51 patents and unveiled 180 inventions during fiscal 2013, according to its annual Report on Technology Transfer.

Dairy farmers, short on labor, are adopting the use of robotic milking stations that allow the cows to decide when it's milking time, instead of the two or three mass sessions that have been common for decades, says the New York Times.

On Earth Day, AgSec Vilsack announced in Des Moines that USDA awarded $6 million to 10 universities to study the effects of climate change on agricultural production and to develop responses to them.

The largest U.S. farm group strongly criticized a proposed clean water rule as "an unlawful expansion of federal regulation to cover routine farming and ranching practices as well as other common private land uses, such as building homes."

Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, recounts the shortcomings of the food system in a commentary in Business Day, a South African newspaper: "(T)he ability of millions to...

Cold, wet weather is holding the spring planting season to a slow start, says the weeklyCrop Progress report from USDA. At the start of this week, 6 pct of corn was planted in the major states vs the usual 22 pct.

The government could soon be required to make public how much a retailer or a specific store records in food stamp sales, says a story in Mother Jones and produced in partnership with the Food and Environment Reporting Network; a longer version appears at thefern.org.

Barclays, one of the five largest banks in comodities, "is reportedly planning to exit large parts of its agricultural trading business," says the Financial Times, with an announcement possible on Tuesday.