Agriculture

"No other region in the state had a comparable level of outbreaks. The Hochul administration is spending millions to help farmers limit nutrient runoff."

"The number of fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest region for the month of August surged to the highest level since 2010, government data showed on Sunday, after a record drought that has been plaguing the biome."

"Fertilizer made from city sewage has been spread on millions of acres of farmland for decades. Scientists say it can contain high levels of the toxic substance."

"The new guidelines from the Agriculture Department encourage third-party assessments of environment-related claims, which have come under fire."

"Buried in the earth, almost too small to see, seeds have long been underestimated — dismissed as mere inert specks, barely even considered alive. Yet the more closely researchers have examined these embryonic plants, the more they have learned about their dynamism and endurance."

"Barb Boustead remembers learning about corn sweat when she moved to Nebraska about 20 years ago to work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and found herself plunked down in an ocean of corn. The term for the late-summer spike in humidity from corn plants cooling themselves was “something that locals very much know about,” Boustead, a meteorologist and climatologist, recalled."

"The consultants, who worked for Dow, the pesticide’s manufacturer, help corporate interests defend their products against environmental and health regulations."

"Researchers in California are working to genetically engineer the cow microbiome -- and in the process, eliminate methane emissions."

"State lawmakers, responding to a report that the agency charged with ensuring worker safety in California has sharply cut back on enforcement of outdoor heat protection laws, said new legislation is needed to protect employees amid escalating periods of extreme heat."