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California has launched the Statewide Mobile Monitoring Initiative (SMMI), a program that will collect local data on air pollution to guide future air quality improvement efforts in the state.

More than 15,000 Agriculture Department employees have accepted deferred resignation offers from the Trump Administration. Most are from outside of the Washington D.C. region and waited until the program's second round to accept, according to data obtained by Agri-Pulse. 

Cattle imported from Mexico have become a significant part of the U.S. beef supply, raising the stakes for the Trump administration’s battle against an outbreak of New World screwworm at a time when U.S. cattle production is in a down cycle. Consumers are feeling the pinch of higher beef prices due to the reduction in cattle supplies, while ranches and feedlots in the southwestern United States that rely on Mexican cattle for their normal operations also are being hurt.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), the Almond Board of California, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture will be hosting a trade delegation from Morocco June 22-28.

The Almond Board of California selected new members to the board of directors including Paul Ewing of Atwater, Brandon Rebiero of Modesto, Chad DeRose of McFarland and Darren Rigg of Le Grand, among others. The Water, Energy and Technology center at Fresno State University hired Kent Pelisari as associate director. 

Ken Melban was named president of the California Avocado Commission. Connor Ferguson returned to Wilbur-Ellis as a senior branded technologies adjuvant portfolio manager. Land Trust Alliance hired Kara Heckert as the California senior program manager. The Kern County Water Agency promoted Nick Pavletich and Craig Wallace to co-manage the agency.

Counties that include about one-third of all SNAP recipients in the country are warning that proposed cuts to the feeding program would hinder their ability to reduce food insecurity.