Steve Davies

Crop insurance for corn, soybeans and wheat will cost more because of the expected effects of climate change on yields, the Economic Research Service concluded in a report made public Monday.

USDA is working to ensure the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture continue to perform “mission-critical work” during the transition of the two agencies to the Kansas City region, a top-ranking science official told the Senate Agriculture Committee today.

Fewer than 150 employees of the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture have agreed to move to the Kansas City region, where their agencies are being relocated, according to USDA.

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the insecticide sulfoxaflor for use on corn, cotton, sorghum and citrus, as well as other crops, the agency announced Friday, saying it had concluded the chemical posed no significant risk to bees and that alternatives to the chemical are worse for the environment.

Advocates of plant-based diets, including several people who claimed they had improved their health significantly by adopting them, showed up in force Thursday to make the case that the federal government should radically modify its nutritional advice.