In apparent rejection of federal court, EPA allows continued dicamba use

A recent federal court ruling that effectively bans harmful herbicide dicamba seems to have been rejected by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Trump administration announced this week that farmers have until July 31 to phase out their dicamba-based products via a 12-page cancellation order. The Center for Food Safety, which filed the initial lawsuit along with several other conservation groups, plans to "bring the EPA's failure to abide by the Court's order to the Court as expeditiously as possible." Read more at The Counter...

In absence of federal action, farmworkers' coronavirus cases spike

The agriculture industry is panicking as COVID-19 outbreaks continue cropping up in rural farmland in the midst of harvest season. Farmworkers are deemed essential, like meatpacking plant employees, but many are undocumented or on temporary work visas, making federal aid hard to come by. As a result advocates are asking state governments to support crop-pickers and prevent the spread of the virus by implementing comprehensive COVID-19 testing and contact tracing methods. Read more at Politico...

Amazon rivals struggle to nab business during pandemic

When online orders began skyrocketing after coronavirus lockdowns, few online retailers were prepared. Thrive Market co-founder and Chief Executive Nick Green described the situation as "excruciating." Shoppers threatened to leave over delays and the retailer's members were frustrated that it was accepting new customers at all. Now that it is in recovery mode, the company plans to add a third warehouse to its delivery network by the end of 2021, will hold 20% more inventory and will also work with a wider range of suppliers. Read more at The Wall Street Journal...

DOJ reportedly subpoenas 'Big Four' meatpackers

The Department of Justice is taking aim at the dangerously consolidated meat industry by allegedly sending civil investigative demands to the four corporations that control over 80% of the American beef processing market. This news follows an investigation that resulted in four executives being charged for conspiring to fix the price of chicken last week. Read more at Modern Farmer...

Beef and pork exports run ahead of 2019 pace despite pandemic

Exports of U.S.-grown pork and beef aren't suffering; in fact, they're moving at a higher volume than they were in 2019. Meatpackers ran at three-quarters capacity in the midst of COVID-19 but fast-paced exports earlier in the year buoyed the sudden drop in production. Read more at The Fern...