Agriculture

"Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water."

"Newly revealed documents from inside the most powerful farming lobby in Europe show how it delayed, gutted and overturned some of the most sweeping farming reforms in EU history, including a plan to cut pesticide use in half."

"A National Academy of Sciences report on extreme climate event attribution confronts political climate denialism with scientific evidence."

"For half a century, millions of workers have repeated a task across the deserts in northern China: inserting forearm-length sticks into shifting sand, ... The technique, known as “straw checkerboards,” is a simple yet widely used method to stabilize sand dunes against the wind and help plants take root by using water supplied through an irrigation system."

"The Trump administration has signed off on a company’s plan to convert an oil and gas pipeline to pump groundwater from the Mojave Desert to thirsty California cities for the first time, a lucrative venture that critics say threatens natural springs and wildlife."

"The world’s largest meat company is backing away from its climate and deforestation commitments after claiming for several years that reducing its greenhouse gas emissions was a key goal."

"The plan to bury carbon under remote Indiana farmland is supposed to be a slam dunk for the climate, according to its supporters – all generously funded by US tax dollars. But as far as Melissa Harrison and some other residents of Clymers, Indiana, are concerned, it just might be the end of their town."

"Salt water from the Atlantic Ocean used to stop 150 kilometers from the mouth of The Gambia River. But now, with sea level rise, it intrudes 300 kilometers or more, triggering an agricultural crisis."

"Large concentrated hog farms that send manure contamination into local waterways not only impact human health but threaten the existence of more than a dozen endangered species, according to a new study."