Mandatory funding for urban ag: Six Democratic senators filed a bill to guarantee $50 million a year for USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture, which would receive no money in fiscal 2024 in the USDA-FDA bills awaiting votes in the House and Senate. (Fetterman)
Spring wheat looks average: The spring wheat crop is likely to average 47.4 bushels an acre, producing an average-sized crop, according to the three-day crop tour of North Dakota, the leading state for spring wheat. (World-Grain)
Global farm numbers falling: The world could have less than half of the 616 million farms it has now by the end of the century, based on global consolidation trends, says a study in the journal Nature Sustainability. (Modern Farmer)
Lesser prairie-chicken vote: On a 221-206 roll call, the House joined the Senate in voting to rescind federal protections for the endangered lesser prairie-chicken in the face of a veto threat by the White House. (Tulsa World)
Five-way herbicide resistance: Invasive pigweed from Surry County in northwestern North Carolina tolerated doses of five weedkillers, “the first five-way herbicide resistant weed species in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast” states, said scientists. (Weed Research)