Ag reform package revived: Companion House and Senate bills would place a moratorium on new factory farms and require meatpackers to draft disaster-response plans; Senate sponsor Cory Booker also filed new versions of bills to provide greater protections for meat workers and to ban the most dangerous pesticides. (Booker)
Farms vs. warehouses debate: The rapid transformation of parts of California’s “Inland Empire” from farmland to logistics parks is being questioned by residents, some of whom asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a regional moratorium on warehouses. (Los Angeles Times)
Auction nears $20,000 an acre: A 121-acre farm split near Fort Wayne in northeastern Indiana sold for $2.425 million, or $19,984 an acre — 56 percent higher than the average value statewide — in an auction dominated by local operators. (Successful Farming)
South Carolina displaces Iowa: The Democratic National Committee adopted a presidential selection calendar that awards the first-in-nation spot to South Carolina, ending Iowa’s half-century reign as the starting point for the presidential nomination. (New York Times)
Gains for sustainable rice: Kellogg reported positive results from the first year of a project to reduce methane emissions from rice farms through climate-friendly practices. (Food Dive)