Today’s Quick Hits, March 19, 2020

Florida moves to protect seagrass beds (Pew): State lawmakers sent the governor bills that would create a 400,000-acre aquatic preserve off the state’s west coast.

General Mills launches regenerative wheat project (FoodTank): The three-year program is designed to help 24 Kansas wheat farmers transition from conventional to regenerative practices.

What to do with all that food? (The Counter): As restaurants shutter, their owners are scrambling to freeze, donate, or give away perishable food before it rots.

Farmers worry about workers getting sick (NPR): Migrant farmworkers “often live together, sharing kitchens and bedrooms and traveling together on buses,” conditions ripe for spreading the Covid-19 outbreak.

Virtually all craft brewers affected by Covid-19 (Brewers Association): A survey by the independent brewers’ group found that 98.9 percent of small brewers are seeing a negative impact from the Covid-19 outbreak, and 95 percent expect their sales to be down this month compared to the same time last year.

Climate change spurs pests, diseases (CIMMYT): Climate change is one factor driving the spread of pests, affecting their population size, survival rate, and geographic distribution; it’s also a factor in the intensity, development, and geographic distribution of crop diseases.