Today’s quick hits, Dec. 4, 2023

Tax fertilizer to reduce runoff: Voluntary programs have been ineffective in reducing nitrate runoff, so Minnesota should increase its tax on fertilizer and expand a land set-aside program to protect wellheads for drinking water, said the head of a state House environment committee. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

$53 million in egg damages: A federal jury awarded $27.7 million in damages — tripled by federal law to $53 million — to food manufacturers who sued egg producers for conspiring to limit egg supplies and drive up prices from 2004-08. (Fortune)

Who buys Nebraska farmland?: Only one foreign buyer appears in an analysis of the top 100 buyers in the past five years of farmland in Nebraska — Blackshirt Feeders, a cattle feedlot that is partially owned by Canadians. (Nebraska Public Media)

Carbon pipeline foes gear up: Foes of carbon pipelines say momentum is on their side with the cancellation of the Heartland Greenway pipeline, and they’re aiming for new controls on the pipelines in the Iowa and South Dakota legislatures in 2024. (DTN/Progressive Farmer)

Colorado River water deal: The Interior Department and the Imperial Irrigation District in California announced an agreement to conserve 100,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead this year, and to discuss conservation of up to 800,000 acre-feet through 2026. (Interior)