Senate staffer to USDA: President Biden nominated Adrienne Wojciechowski, a veteran Senate staff worker and a former senior policy adviser to Appropriations Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, to be assistant agriculture secretary for congressional affairs, (White House)
Carbon credits burn: Wildfires in Oregon are ravaging forests that were being preserved to offset greenhouse gas emissions by businesses, raising questions about whether the carbon credit system can withstand widespread fire losses. (Politico)
Net-zero ethanol: The ethanol industry pledged in a letter to President Biden to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint for corn ethanol by 2050 or sooner, and asked the administration to commit “to rapidly increasing the availability of low-cost flex-fuel vehicles.”
ADM earnings surge: At $712 milllion, second-quarter earnings by agribusiness giant ADM were more than 50 percent higher than a year ago, due to strong overseas demand for corn and healthy margins for crushing oilseeds. (Reuters)
Leave rural America: More people moved out of rural America than moved into it in the past decade, leading to a slight decline of 260,000 people or about half a percentage point. That reverses the population growth of 1 million people from 2000-2010. (Daily Yonder)