Ernst wants to move up: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, now the fourth-ranking member of Republican leadership in the Senate, is running for the No. 3 spot against Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, with the vote to occur after the Nov. 5 general elections. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Tyson closes Iowa plant: Tyson Foods will close its pork-packing plant in Perry, Iowa, in June, eliminating nearly 1,300 jobs. (USA Today)
Legislation targets food dyes: California state legislator Jesse Gabriel, a leader behind the 2023 law that bans four food additives, filed a bill to prohibit six food dyes and the food additive titanium dioxide from food served in California’s public schools. (Environmental Working Group)
Critique of USDA loan appeals: When farmers appeal the USDA denial of a farm ownership or farm operating loan, only one in seven of them will be successful, said a report that called for reform in the National Appeals Division. (Center for Agriculture and Food Systems)
Re-elect NFU leaders: Delegates to the National Farmers Union annual convention re-elected Rob Larew as president and Jeff Kippley as vice president of the 234,000-member farm group; it will be Larew’s third and Kippley’s second two-year term. (NFU)