‘Broken promises to Black farmers’: A debt relief plan approved by the Senate would make moot an ongoing court case over loan forgiveness targeted to minority farmers and does not assure aid to the 17,000 farmers who were the intended beneficiaries of that program, said a Black farmers’ group. (Federation of Southern Cooperatives)
Well failures in California: State residents have reported 832 dry wells so far this year, a 70 percent increase over the same period in 2021. (California Department of Water Resources)
Agency overestimates progress: Although the Forest Service says it has reduced hazardous fuel on roughly 40 million acres in the past 15 years, that may be overstated by as much as 21 percent because the agency sometimes counts the same piece of land repeatedly. (NBC News)
Healthy gain in combine sales: U.S. sales of self-propelled combines climbed 9.2 percent, to 715 units, in July, and sales so far this year nearly match 2021’s numbers — a sign of farmer confidence, said a trade group. (Association of Equipment Manufacturers)
Hot autumn in Plains: Hot, dry weather was forecast to persist into autumn in the central United States, with “severe implications on the nation’s agriculture,” including additional cattle deaths from heat stress and a smaller cotton harvest. (AccuWeather)