Hog-farm challenge rejected: With one justice dissenting, the North Carolina state Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to 2017 and 2018 amendments to the state’s Right to Farm law that made it harder to sue hog farms as nuisances. (Carolina Journal)
Fufeng gets U.S. go-ahead: Chinese-owned Fufeng USA said it would proceed with construction of a $700 million corn milling plant in Great Forks, North Dakota, after a national security committee said it would not block the project. (South China Morning Post)
Earthworms are disappearing, too: Populations of earthworms, vital for healthy soil, may have fallen by one-third in the past 25 years in Britain, a decline alongside plunging numbers of insects and loss of wildlife habitat worldwide. (The Guardian)
More hot-dry-windy: In a scientific journal, Kanas State University researchers said the number of “hot-dry-windy events” significantly increased in the Great Plains over the past 40 years due to climate change, damaging wheat yields. (KSU extension)
Census of Agriculture questionnaires: The USDA mailed questionnaires for the Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years, to all known agricultural producers in the U.S.; they can also respond online. (National Agricultural Statistics Service)