EU okays Bayer-Monsanto (Reuters): The European Union approved Bayer’s $62-billion acquisition of Monsanto. The deal is still under review in the United States.
‘Catastrophic’ decline in birds in France (The Guardian): Intensive use of pesticides by French farmers is believed to be the primary reason bird populations in the country have declined by one-third in the past decade and a half.
Ag commissioner is Mississippi’s new U.S. senator (New York Times): Gov. Phil Bryant rejected a White House appeal in appointing the state’s agriculture commissioner, Cindy Hyde-Smith, as the successor to Sen. Thad Cochran.
Meat eaters add a lot to greenhouse gases (Inside Climate News): Researchers say that just 20 percent of Americans account for half of diet-related greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and that their diets are heavy on beef.
Vanishing profit margin in grain trade (Financial Times): A senior executive at Cargill says a lasting shift in the grain market has made it impossible to make money through traditional marketing models.
No payouts from Louis Dreyfus (Bloomberg): The company, one of the world’s top four agricultural commodity traders, didn’t pay any dividends to its family owners in 2017, as commodity prices stayed low.