Panel to vote on USDA nominees (Senate Agriculture Committee): Following a cordial hearing a week ago, the Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to vote today on three nominees for senior USDA posts, with the possibility of confirmation before Congress adjourns for the year.
Another ag-gag challenge (Animal Legal Defense Fund): A coalition of animal rights and environmental groups has filed a lawsuit against Kansas’ ag-gag law, arguing it violates the First Amendment.
JBS recall expands (FSIS): A salmonella outbreak, in beef produced by JBS, has sickened 246 people since October; FSIS has recalled another 12 million pounds of beef produced by the Brazilian company.
Groceries and prescriptions in one stop (Wall Street Journal): Kroger will begin selling groceries at 13 Walgreen’s locations next year, as both companies seek to compete in a merger-mad retail grocery economy.
A tinned-tuna takedown? (New York Times): Among the many products that millennials have supposedly killed—cereal, napkins, home ownership—is canned tuna, sales of which have been declining for decades, according to Big Tuna.
Missouri says no to new dicamba rules (St. Louis Post-Dispatch): State officials decided they don’t need to strengthen the EPA’s rules on use of the weedkiller dicamba, although some experts doubt that the EPA went far enough to address the problem of drift-related damage to neighboring crops.