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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack faces lawmakers this week as the House Agriculture Committee starts preparing for the next farm bill, due in 2023.

The Supreme Court has stayed the COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses of 100 or more employees, finding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not have the authority to issue it.

The Department of Agriculture is making available $225 million for public-private partnerships aimed at conservation projects, with an eye on climate change mitigation, supporting urban agriculture and helping historically underserved producers.

Newsom’s budget proposal reflects his priorities for pushing California back into a climate leadership role while responding to rising crises on multiple fronts.

Environmental groups are pushing the state water board to increase freshwater flows by trimming out senior rights holders through an emergency regulation.

Western Growers (WG) plans to bring high level ag-tech classes to California college students. The group has received a $750,000 grant from CDFA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to bring training to an estimated 2,750 students in community colleges and four-year colleges and universities.

John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, has announced he will step down from the helm and Michelle Connelly has resigned as CEO and executive director of the California Walnut Board and the California Walnut Commission.

A new bill revived debate in the Legislature this week over the reach of the California Environmental Quality Act as it relates to environmental justice.

The Biden administration is moving toward providing a new round of payments to farmers who have crop insurance and plant cover crops this year, extending a temporary program created last year. A new policy endorsement designed to encourage reduced nitrogen usage also is coming on the market in 2022.