Agriculture

"Mink at two Utah fur farms have tested positive for the virus that causes covid-19 in humans, the Department of Agriculture said Monday, announcing the first U.S. cases in a species that has been widely culled in Europe following outbreaks there."

"Humble dirt could pack an unexpected climate punch, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. An experiment that heated soil underneath a tropical rainforest to mimic temperatures expected in the coming decades found that hotter soils released 55 percent more planet-warming carbon dioxide than did nearby unwarmed areas."

"Mexico will gradually phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate by the time the current administration ends in late 2024, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday, following a ministerial spat over the product."

"Monday’s derecho across the Corn Belt and Midwest laid siege to more than 10 million acres of Iowa’s corn and soybean crop, devastating farmers and capping off what has already been a difficult few years of farming for many."

"Harmful algal blooms are a health hazard in all 50 states. But Lake Erie, the shallowest, and therefore the warmest, of the five Great Lakes, is uniquely vulnerable to algal blooms. Like most other water bodies suffering from blooms, the lake is overloaded with nutrients, forming the perfect breeding ground for a bacteria known to poison pets, contaminate drinking water and create oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that kill aquatic life."

"Popular pesticides are causing bird species to decline at an alarming rate in the US, adding fuel to a 50-year downward trend in bird biodiversity, a new report has found."

"The human destruction of natural ecosystems increases the numbers of rats, bats and other animals that harbour diseases that can lead to pandemics such as Covid-19, a comprehensive analysis has found."

"How is the climate crisis affecting Siberia's last great reindeer herds — and the people who live and move alongside them? Researchers are working to find out."

"Biologist Egor Kirillin is on a special mission. Deep in the Siberian wilderness in the Russian Republic of Sakha, he waits on the Olenjok river until reindeer come thundering into the water.

"For a glimpse of what could happen to a trillion dollars worth of American farmland, meet Ray Williams. He's a lawyer-turned-farmer, growing organic grain and feeding young cows on 3,000 acres in northeastern Oregon. Last year, he and his brother Tom decided that they were getting too old for the long hours and hard work."

"Every day, California farmworkers worry that the pandemic plowing through agricultural hubs will catch them and kill them. They also worry that not working will kill them."