Cornavirus negotiations begin July 20: Negotiations between House and Senate leaders for a new coronavirus relief bill will begin on July 20, when lawmakers return from the Independence Day recess, said Senate Finance chairman Chuck Grassley, who hopes to include assistance for farmers and ethanol producers in the legislation. (FERN’s Ag Insider)
New strain of swine flu: Scientists say a new strain of the H1N1 swine flu, which affects people, has been common on Chinese hog farms since 2016 and should be controlled before it causes a pandemic. (New York Times)
AquaBounty harvests salmon in Indiana: The developer of genetically modified salmon is fine-tuning operations at its indoor fish farm in Indiana by harvesting conventional salmon and plans to harvest the GMO salmon, being grown in separate tanks at the facility, by the end of the year. (Undercurrent)
Money shortage for ag inspectors: A coalition of farm, trade and related groups says Congress should appropriate funding to assure agricultural inspections continue at U.S. ports because the users fees that pay for the work have fallen sharply due to coronavirus travel restrictions. (NPPC)
Sage grouse preservation a court issue: Conservation groups say they will sue the Trump administration to protect the bistate sage grouse, which lives along the California-Nevada border, because it abandoned its plan to list the hen-sized game bird as a threatened species. (Associated Press)
Fewer trees, lower corn yields: Large-scale land clearing in the Amazon is making the region warmer and resulting in lower corn yields in Mato Grosso, the largest grain-producing state in Brazil, researchers say in the journal Nature Sustainability. (Reuters)