Trump funnels record subsidies to farmers ahead of Election Day [New York Times]
… The gush of funds has accelerated in recent weeks as the president looks to help his core supporters who have been hit hard by the double whammy of his combative trade practices and the coronavirus pandemic. … “Nearly every major sector of the farm economy will have lower cash receipts this year compared to last year, and total cash receipts will be the lowest since 2010,” John Newton, the American Farm Bureau’s chief economist, wrote in a report on the state of the industry last month. The desire to help struggling farmers is bipartisan, but Democrats and critics of the aid programs have argued that the money has been paid out unevenly by the Trump administration and with the intent of currying favor with a politically important constituency in swing states.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/us/politics/trump-farmers-subsidies.html?searchResultPosition=2
Trump letter causes a stir among food aid distributors, recipients [Southern California News Group]
… For the past few months, their pantry and its squad of 60 good-hearted volunteers have been among the many across the country receiving and handing out boxes from the $4 billion Farm to Families program, created to take food from distributors who can no longer send them to restaurants to instead aid families struggling during the pandemic. But seemingly out of the blue, an unusual addition started appearing in the boxes shipped in the past two weeks. Tucked inside the boxes was a letter printed with President Donald Trump cardiogram-like signature at the bottom.
Confusion reigns on split roll’s impact to ag [The Business Journal, Fresno]
… Prop. 15 was specifically written to exempt agricultural land from being assessed at market rate, says Evan Wiig, director of communications for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a nonprofit that advocates for sustainable food and farming systems. … While the proposition exempts properties zoned for commercial agriculture, the definition of what qualifies as real property is very much in the air. … “Essentially, everything but the dirt itself will be taxed under Prop 15. Barns, irrigation systems, solar panels, and even trees and vines are considered when assessing market value,” said Ryan Jacobsen, president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.
https://thebusinessjournal.com/confusion-reigns-on-split-rolls-impact-to-ag/
Environmentalists and dam operators, at war for years, start making peace [New York Times]
The industry that operates America’s hydroelectric dams and several environmental groups announced an unusual agreement Tuesday to work together to get more clean energy from hydropower while reducing the environmental harm from dams, in a sign that the threat of climate change is spurring both sides to rethink their decades-long battle over a large but contentious source of renewable power. … In a joint statement, industry groups and environmentalists said they would collaborate on a set of specific policy measures that could help generate more renewable electricity from dams already in place, while retrofitting many of the nation’s 90,000 existing dams to be safer and less ecologically damaging.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/climate/environmentalists-hydropower-dams.html
About 50,000 PG&E Northern California customers may lose power in safety shutoffs [Sacramento Bee]
About 50,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in portions of 21 Northern California counties could lose their electricity as early as Wednesday afternoon in the latest series of the utility’s public safety power shutoffs to prevent new wildfires. PG&E Corp. on Monday notified customers of the potential electricity shutdown as hot and dry conditions, along with wind gusts, are developing in the region. These conditions present an increased risk of damage to the utility’s electrical system, which has the potential to ignite fires in areas of dry vegetation, PG&E officials said in a news release.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article246413650.html
Do babies need to eat meat? [Wall Street Journal]
A federal committee’s recommendations for what babies and toddlers should eat highlight growing concerns about nutrient deficiencies and later obesity. But advice that youngsters eat a significant amount of meat is spurring a backlash from advocates of plant-based diets. … The advice is part of a process of revising the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It’s the first time the guidelines will include recommendations for kids under two. Dietary recommendations are a fractious topic right now, with debates over the impact of carbohydrates, meat and many other foods.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-babies-need-to-eat-meat-11602543600?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
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