Warnock draws challenger: Gary Black, Georgia’s state agriculture commissioner since 2011, is the first prominent Republican to announce his candidacy for the Senate seat held by Democrat Raphael Warnock, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. (Associated Press)
USDEC hires Poindexter: Martha Scott Poindexter, Republican staff director on the Senate Agriculture Committee, will begin work on July 8 as chief operating officer of the trade group U.S. Dairy Export Council. (USDEC)
Spring wheat worsens: Only 38 percent of the spring wheat crop is in good or excellent condition as drought persists in the northern Plains, a decline of 5 points from a week ago and less than half of the 82 percent rated good or excellent at this point in 2020. (USDA)
WH Group buyback: The world’s largest pork producer, WH Group, the owner of Smithfield Foods in the United States, said it would buy back $1.93 billion of its shares because it doesn’t foresee any immediate demands on its cash reserves. (Wall Street Journal)
Vineyards sue dicamba: Five dozen wine grape growers on the Texas High Plains sued Bayer and BASF in state court, alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to 5,000 acres of vineyards from dicamba herbicide that evaporated from cotton fields and landed on their vines. (Modern Farmer)