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State lawmakers blasted the Newsom and Biden administrations for not repealing Trump-era policies before California entered another drought.

California has its first known appearance in a commercial crop of the black fig fly, a pest that only feeds on that particular fruit. Figs are not a major crop in California, though more are grown in the state than anywhere else in the United States.

In a unique philanthropic effort, the heavy metal band Metallica is funding a scholarship to prepare veterans for careers in agriculture and connect them with job opportunities, according to Hartnell College.

Gov. Newsom appoints Craig Scholer to be the deputy secretary for legislative affairs at the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Congressional Democrats are pushing for a historic increase in conservation program funding that would help pay farmers to address climate change, but the money also could create some challenges for the House and Senate Agriculture committees as they write the new farm bill.

The 21st Annual National Farmers Market Week kicked off Sunday, Aug 1. The week is meant to highlight the essential role that farmers markets play in the food system and celebrate their resilience and safety during the pandemic, according to the Farmers Market Coalition.

The Senate's proposed fiscal 2022 funding bill for the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration would provide $7 billion in disaster assistance to cover producers' losses in 2020 and 2021.

The Senate debates its bipartisan infrastructure bill this week in hopes of sending the legislation off to the House before senators start their August recess.

The Biden administration has reiterated its pledge to get input from a wide variety of stakeholders, including the agricultural industry, on how it plans to define “waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act, as it announced a series of upcoming “community engagements.”

The bipartisan infrastructure agreement that the Senate is preparing to debate includes $8.3 billion in western water infrastructure funding sought by farm groups in the region that is suffering through an extended drought.