Time dwindles for ag labor: Time is running short for the Senate to act on legislation to grant legal status to undocumented farmworkers and modernize the H-2A visa program with the midterm elections on the horizon. (Politico)
Reforestation on 4 million acres: The Forest Service has spent more than $100 million on reforestation of national forests this year and plans to plant more than 1 billion trees over the next decade, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. (USDA)
Feed the Future reauthorization: Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee filed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Feed the Future program and authorize $1.1 billion to improve food security, bolster smallholder and women farmers, and improve child nutrition. (House Foreign Affairs Republicans)
Drought scalds Italian rice: The rice paddies of northern Italy, which grow the rice used in risotto, are parched by the unrelenting hot and dry summer; the crop is forecast to be 30 percent smaller than usual. (Washington Post)