Judge blocks Trump ‘public charge’ rule: U.S. district judge George Daniels, in a ruling likely to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, blocked the Trump administration from implementing its “public charge” rule during the pandemic, saying the rule might deter immigrants from seeking healthcare. (CNN)
Abuse as visa program grows: Federal law is supposed to ensure decent working conditions, safe housing, and fair pay for workers who enter the United States through the H-2A visa program. But as the program has expanded, it has left more guestworkers vulnerable to abuse — federal investigators found 12,000 violations last year. (NBC News)
Soy freighter crew has Covid: Up to 10 crew members of a freighter delivering Brazilian soybeans to China have tested positive for Covid-19, delaying the unloading of their ship and raising fears among soybean processors of exposure to the virus, said trade sources (Agricensus)
Price-fixing defendant wants to go hunting: The Justice Department filed court papers opposing a request by Claxton Poultry president Mikell Fries to go on a hunting trip to Tanzania before he faces trial on charges of conspiring to fix prices and rig poultry bids. (Food Safety News)
‘World’s largest sugar beet’: Newly installed in Sugar Beet Park, in the small town of Halstad, Minnesota, is a 21-foot-tall statue of “the world’s largest sugar beet.” The 10,000-pound monument is meant to promote the sugar beet farmers and processors of the Red River Valley. (Duluth News Tribune)