Shutdown begins to impact SNAP (FERN’s Ag Insider): A New York congressman says the USDA should extend SNAP licenses during the government shut down because grocers cannot renew them at present, says the Albany Times Union. The news organization PlanPhilly says the shutdown introduces a new element of uncertainty to the computer systems that handle SNAP transactions.
Bayer plans rigorous defense of glyphosate (Australian Financial Review): Bayer chief executive Werner Baumann says the medicine and chemical giant “will rigorously defend” itself in upcoming court cases that allege the weedkiller is a carcinogen with the “question of causation analysed and assessed in a substantially more objective manner” than a California trial that resulted in a $239 million award for the plaintiff.
Western monarch butterfly population plunges (San Francisco Chronicle): The western monarch butterfly population is the lowest ever along the Pacific Coast, with biologists warning that the decline of the butterfly would put the future of bug-eating birds and other species in peril.
EU says ag not on agenda with U.S. (Reuters): EU trade minister Cecilia Malmstrom says the trade bloc is not proposing negotiations to reduce or eliminate agricultural tariffs, or “many other topics,” in trade talks with the United States, contrary to U.S. proposals.
Poverty scholar to lead conservative think tank (AEI): Former New York City commissioner of human resources Robert Doar, a poverty scholar and frequent voice in public nutrition debates, will become president of the free-market American Enterprise Institute on July 1.