Rural counties in coronavirus ‘red zone’: Some 732 rural counties — more than a third of the U.S. total and mostly in the South — are in the government’s “red zone” for high coronavirus infections, defined as having at least 100 new cases per 100,000 people in a week. (Daily Yonder)
JBS gets a seat on USDA meat panel: Sherri Williams, a health overseer for JBS USA, a meatpacker that saw coronavirus outbreaks at a number of its U.S. plants, is among 10 appointees to a USDA advisory committee on food safety in the industry. (Daily Beast)
Facial recognition software on the farm: Chinese technology companies are applying facial recognition technology to food-bearing animals in an effort to use Big Data to reduce the need for manual labor. (Washington Post)
Trump snubs ethanol, says Biden: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said President Trump showed he “doesn’t respect” the importance of the ethanol mandate to the rural economy. Biden criticized the administration for its delay in setting the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2020 and in implementing an appellate court ruling that limits small-refinery exemptions from the RFS. (Agri-Pulse)
First grants for urban agriculture: The USDA awarded $4.1 million to 23 recipients in its first-ever grants to urban agriculture projects; 13 of the projects involve composting and food-waste reduction and 10 focus on food production, particularly in low-income communities. (USDA)
Committed to ‘phase one’: Top-level trade officials from the United States and China discussed the “future actions needed to implement” the trade agreement signed early this year, “and are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure the success of the agreement,” said the U.S. trade representative’s office. (USTR)