Bird flu in the wild: Highly pathogenic avian influenza is increasingly common among wild species, prompting some wildlife experts to suggest a shift to the goal of wildlife health from the longtime approach of disease prevention. (High Country News)
Inspection challenge dismissed: A U.S. district judge in San Francisco dismissed a challenge to USDA’s new swine inspection system by consumer and animal welfare groups that said government had abdicated its meat-inspection duties. (Center for Food Safety)
‘Worse than prisoners’: Thousands of undocumented workers are employed on illegal marijuana farms, where wage theft, threats of violence, unsanitary work conditions and dangerous pesticides are common. (Politico)
Clear GE corn, potato: A genetically engineered corn variety by Agrivida Inc., and a GE potato from Toolgen Inc., can be commercialized without federal review because they are “unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk.” (USDA)
Ag overtime in New York: The state labor commissioner approved a recommendation to phase in, over the next decade, overtime pay for farmworkers after they work 40 hours, from the current 60-hour threshold. (Associated Press)