Reading Time: 2 minutes California reported a third human case of bird flu on Wednesday in a dairy worker who had contact with infected cattle and said the state identified two more possible cases in people.
California confirms third human case of bird flu, finds more possible cases
Bird flu spreads to California dairy cows
Reading Time: < 1 minute Cows at three dairy farms in California tested positive for H5N1 bird flu at the end of August, marking an expansion of the virus into the largest dairy producing region of the United States, according to an announcement from the state’s agriculture department. More than 190 herds have been infected across the U.S. since March, […] Read more
Appeals court blocks California warning labels for glyphosate
Decision important in ongoing lawsuits, Bayer says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A divided U.S. federal appeals court on Tuesday said California cannot require businesses to warn consumers about the potential dangers of glyphosate, an ingredient in Roundup herbicide that has been linked to cancer. Upholding a permanent injunction, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found it unconstitutional to force Bayer’s […] Read more
Major U.S. peach producer files for bankruptcy to pursue sale
Setbacks have included salmonella, fires, heavy debts
Reading Time: < 1 minute New York | Reuters — Prima, a private-equity backed farmer that is the largest producer of peaches and other stone fruit in North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Friday. The company, owned by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners, has about $679 million in debt, and plans to sell its […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures fall on weak export data
CME cattle futures mixed
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — CME Group hog futures fell on Thursday on poor export demand for pork, traders said. Cattle futures were mixed, with live cattle easing on weakening trades in the cash market. Feeder cattle contracts were supported by falling corn prices. The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday morning that beef export sales […] Read more
U.S. Supreme Court upholds California’s pig confinement law
Dissent suggests 'substantial burden against interstate commerce'
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved a California law banning the sale of pork in America’s most-populous state from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces, rejecting an industry challenge claiming that the voter-backed animal welfare measure impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers. The justices voted 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of a […] Read more
Saputo to consolidate U.S. cheesemaking, shut three plants
Plans include one new plant, one repurposed
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian company ranked among the three biggest cheesemakers in the U.S. is preparing to consolidate five of its cheese plants in that country down to two. Montreal-based Saputo announced last Thursday it has construction underway on a new $240 million cut-and-wrap cheese plant in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, to be up and running […] Read more
Suspect in California farm worker shootings appears in court
Early evidence suggests workplace grievance, authorities say
Reading Time: 3 minutes Redwood City, Calif. | Reuters — A California farm worker accused of shooting seven people to death near San Francisco, some of them his co-workers, made his first court appearance on Wednesday after he was charged with murder in the state’s second deadly gun rampage in recent days. Chunli Zhao, 66, the lone suspect in […] Read more
California rainstorms fade as death toll reaches 20
Drought to remain an issue for much of state
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The parade of atmospheric rivers that pounded California for three weeks finally faded on Monday, enabling the state to begin lengthy repairs to roads and levees as the White House announced U.S. President Joe Biden planned to survey the damage. The nine consecutive rainstorms that inundated California in succession since Dec. 26 killed […] Read more
California picks up debris from latest storm, braces for next
Also: Why all this rain won't end California's drought
Reading Time: 4 minutes Sacramento | Reuters — Rain-soaked Californians took advantage of a break in a weeks-long deluge to haul away dead trees, restore downed power lines and prepare new stacks of sandbags before another series of storms hits the state beginning Friday. In Monterey County along the state’s central coast, communities near the still-rising Salinas River were […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
