USDA sued for line speed rule (Humane Society): A coalition of advocacy groups is suing USDA for its 2018 rule that increased kill line speed at chicken slaughterhouses. The groups say the rule endangers workers and heightens food safety risks.
NLRB backpedals on unionizing rights (Wall Street Journal): The National Labor Relations Board is expected to overturn its 2015 ruling that made it easier for workers at franchised businesses, like restaurants, to form unions.
Another year of low grocery inflation (USDA): The USDA lowered its forecast of fresh fruit prices as part of forecasting “potentially the fifth year in a row with deflating or lower-than-average” grocery and supermarket prices.
Wider buffer sought for hemp farms (Washington Post): After complaining about the “skunky marijuana smell” wafting from an industrial hemp farm in the Baltimore suburbs, neighbors are pressing county and state officials to require a two-mile buffer between hemp farms and residential areas.
The face of aquaculture may be ugly (Modern Farmer): Known as the monkeyface prickleback, the herbivorous fish could be the future of aquaculture because it is efficient in digesting plant material, reducing the need to catch other fish and convert them to fishmeal to feed fish for human consumption.