Support for Torres Small: Five dozen food and agriculture groups urged the Senate Agriculture Committee to quickly clear for a floor vote the nomination of Xochitl Torres Small for Agriculture deputy secretary, saying she “has tirelessly served agricultural stakeholders and the American people for decades.” (Corn Refiners Association)
NRCS assistant chief named: Kenneth Walker, 70, a lifelong farmer and second-term member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, was appointed assistant chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. (USDA)
Innovative water funding needed: FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said the lack of “adequate, timely, and innovative financial resources” was a major barrier to assuring water supplies for agriculture in a period of increasingly frequent and severe droughts. (Food and Agriculture Organization)
Limiting eminent domain: In a setback to carbon pipeline projects, the Iowa House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that requires pipelines to obtain voluntary easements for 90 percent of their routes before they can use eminent domain for the rest. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)