Nobel Peace Prize for World Food Program: The Nobel Committee awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize to the UN World Food Program for its work in combatting hunger and warned the coronavirus pandemic has combined with armed conflict to cause “a dramatic rise in the number of people living on the brink of starvation.” (Nobel Foundation)
Smaller U.S. orange crop: Growers will harvest 109 million boxes of oranges in the 2020/21 season, down by 11 percent nationwide and down by 15 percent in Florida, where production has fallen for 17 years in a row. (The Ledger)
Federal payments could hit $46 billion: Federal payments to farmers “are projected to hit a record $46 billion this year” in a shower of support that one critic called “an authoritarian power grab to buy political support” but a farm group defended as a response to hard times. (New York Times)
House Ag panelist has coronavirus: California Democratic Rep. Salud Carbajal, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said he “will continue to monitor symptoms and carry out my duties virtually” after testing positive for the coronavirus. (Rep. Carbajal)
Nestle in dairy initiative: Food company Nestle will provide as much as $10 million toward a long-term Net Zero Initiative with the U.S. dairy industry to implement new technologies and more sustainable practices that would reduce the industry’s carbon footprint by 2050. (Food Dive)