Today’s quick hits, Oct. 20, 2022

Grassley a potential upset: With polls showing Sen. Chuck Grassley, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, with an unimpressive lead, the Senate race in Iowa is among the “deep sleeper potential upsets” nationwide. (Sabato’s Crystal Ball)

Fewer fear climate change: Less than half of participants in a global survey, 48.7 percent, see climate change as “a very serious threat” over the next 20 years, a drop of 1.5 percentage points from 2021. (Guardian)

Vote set in Oklahoma: Gov. Kevin Stitt set March 7 for a statewide referendum on legalizing recreational marijuana in Oklahoma; a 2018 referendum approved the use of medical marijuana. (Governor Stitt)

European bread prices surge: With a food inflation rate of 16 percent in Europe, bakers across the continent are setting sharply higher prices for bread — up 77 percent in Hungary, 30 percent in Poland, and 18 percent in Germany — because of rising costs for grain and utilities. (New York Times)

Vilsack, Axne in Iowa: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne are scheduled to announce rural development funding in Guthrie County, in west-central Iowa, on Friday. (FERN’s Ag Insider)