Iowa leads coronavirus payments (USDA): A weekly tally showed that 80,261 producers had received $1.4 billion in coronavirus relief payments as of Monday, with five states collecting one-third of the money: Iowa ($112.1 million), Wisconsin ($108.1 million), Nebraska ($99.1 million), Illinois ($94.7 million), and Kansas ($90.4 million).
Food banks overwhelmed (Politico): The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying massive unemployment have “pushed the nation’s network of food banks to the brink” and led to calls for an increase in SNAP benefits.
Meat plant outbreaks double (USA Today): “Despite widespread implementation of protective measures like temperature checks, plastic barriers, and social distancing,” the number of coronavirus cases linked to meatpacking plants has doubled since President Trump signed an executive order directing the plants to operate during the pandemic.
‘Heroic ducks’ to battle locusts (BBC): To counter swarms of locusts attacking crops in Pakistan, Chinese researchers are considering the deployment of 100,000 ducks, which are easier to control than chickens and each able to eat 200 locusts a day.
USDA-FDA funding bill to move soon (Hagstrom Report): The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture will vote on the USDA-FDA funding bill for fiscal 2021 during the final week of June, said a press aide to the panel.
Top editor resigns at Bon Appétit (New York Times): Adam Rapoport, the editor in chief of Bon Appétit magazine since 2010, resigned shortly after a photo of him wearing brownface was circulated online and some of the publication’s staff and contributors called for him to step down.