Water grab: A New Mexico state law meant to help subsistence farmers gain access to irrigation water is also being used by so-called hobby farmers and by wealthy landowners who don’t farm at all. (Inside Climate News)
Beech trees in peril: The beech trees common to the eastern United States are threatened by beech leaf disease, an obscure blight that some experts compare to the chestnut blight that killed 4 billion trees a century ago. (Nature Beat)
Farm bill input: Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee have invited the public to submit proposals for the new farm bill by emailing [email protected] or by filling out a digital form on the committee’s website. (Senate Agriculture)
New CEO at trade group: Neil Caskey, the National Corn Growers Association’s vice president for communications for the past four years, will begin work on Monday as the group’s new chief executive. (NCGA)
Overhaul pesticide rules: Sixty nonprofit groups filed a citizen petition asking the EPA to overhaul its regulations of neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides blamed for killing honeybees and other pollinators. (The New Lede)