Plenty of cage-free signatures (HSUS): The Prevent Cruelty California coalition collected more than 600,000 signatures, far more than the 365,880 required, for a Nov. 6 referendum to allow only cage-free eggs to be sold in the state and to eliminate so-called sow crates and veal-calf stalls.
EPA aide resigns (Axios): Albert Kelly, a top aide to and longtime friend of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, has reportedly decided to resign. Kelly, once Pruitt’s banker, was banned from banking by the FDIC last year.
Bacardi’s big buy (Bacardi): The largest privately-held spirits company in the world, Bacardi Ltd, completed its acquisition of Patrón Spirits International, making it the U.S.’s top super-premium spirits company.
ADM’s spiking profits (Reuters): The U.S. grain processing giant Archer Daniels Midland reported a 16 percent increase in quarterly profit, citing record soybean processing and higher margins.
Poet passes ADM for No. 1 ethanol maker (Reuters): Poet broke a tie with ADM to become the undisputed leader in U.S. ethanol production, expanding capacity to 1.9 billion gallons a year while ADM scaled back to 1.6 billion gallons.
Minnesota shifts to B20 diesel fuel (DTN/Progressive Farmer): Most of the diesel fuel sold in Minnesota will contain 20 percent biodiesel, a leap upward from the previous 2 percent mix, which dated from 2005.
Shrimpers pinched as “dead zone” grows (KATC-TV): As the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico expands, shrimpers are forced to travel farther from port to catch the crustacean at the same time large marine predators are squeezed into the same areas.
World cotton plantings up moderately (ICAC): Lured by higher market prices, cotton plantings will rise moderately this year from the 10-year average of 32.4 million hectares, led by an 11 percent expansion in the United States, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee.