Both sides hold ground on ethanol (DTN/Progressive Farmer): Neither ethanol makers nor the oil industry was making concessions during ethanol negotiations refereed by the White House, with the ethanol industry saying the administration has to offer more than an increase in the ethanol mandate to offset EPA waivers that free refineries from having to comply with the RFS.
Insecticide causes weight loss in songbirds (National Geographic): North American songbirds that eat the equivalent of one or two seeds treated with an neonicotinoid insecticide suffered immediate weight loss, with potential harm to survival or reproduction, say Canadian scientists.
Amazonian deforestation worsens (InsideClimate News): Agricultural expansion and demand for beef, palm oil and soybeans are the driving reasons that forest in the Amazon is being cleared at an alarming rate, says a World Resources Institute report.
Europe rebounds in wheat production (USDA): The EU is forecast to reap 151 million tonnes of wheat this year, up 10 percent from last year’s poor harvest; the EU crop will nudge aside the United States and be second to Russia as the world’s largest exporter of the food grain.