Schumer stresses bipartisan farm bill: In a letter to Democratic senators, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer includes “common-sense farm policy” among issues for action in July and says “we will depend on the cooperation of our Republican colleagues to get any of them done.” (Senate Democrats)
Record world cereal production: Due almost entirely to better prospects for wheat, the global grain harvest was forecast at a record 2.819 billion tonnes in 2023/24, up 1.1 percent from last month, with the stock-to-use ratio at a comfortable 30.6 percent. (FAO)
Logging fuels climate change: World demand for wood is projected to grow by 54 percent by 2050, an unexpectedly large increase that will contribute to global warming, scientists said the journal Nature. (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. pork exports surge: Pork exports were the largest in two years during May, and shipments so far this year were worth $3.35 billion, 13-percent larger than at this point a year ago. (U.S. Meat Export Federation)
Obesity increased during pandemic: In the first year of the pandemic, “the U.S. obesity rate significantly increased,” by 1.3 percentage points nationwide, with the largest gains among people without a high school diploma. (Economic Research Service)