Today’s quick hits, Aug. 2, 2024

H5N1 infections undercounted?: “I am confident more people are being infected than we know about,” said a disease researcher after tests found H5N1 antibodies — a sign of infection by the avian flu virus — in two Texas farmworkers who were not on the U.S. list of bird flu victims. (NPR)

Ruling upholds CAFO limits: The Michigan Supreme Court ruled, 5-2, that state regulators have the power to set stricter limits on water pollution from factory farms without having to go through a lengthy rulemaking process. (Bridge Michigan)

Newhouse faces primary test: Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse, who voted to impeach then-President Trump in 2021, will face Jerrod Sessler, a Trump-backed challenger, and Tiffany Smiley, a Trump acolyte, in Tuesday’s primary election in Washington’s 4th U.S. House District. (Associated Press)

45Z for domestic feedstocks: Sixteen farm-state senators said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the IRS rule for 45Z tax credits, due later this year, “must make it clear the tax credit may only apply to biofuels produced from domestic feedstocks.” (Sen. Marshall)

Beyond cover crops: An environmental research center says the USDA is pouring money into cover crops as a climate-smart practice when it would make more financial sense to identify where cover crops are appropriate and support other climate mitigation practices with a greater payoff. (Breakthrough Institute)

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