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The nominee for undersecretary of natural resources and environment at USDA, who will oversee the Forest Service, promised he would work closely with local communities in managing the more than 190 million acres of national forests to prevent wildfires and create markets for wood products.

During a visit with Gov. Gavin Newsom to the site of the massive 2020 August Complex fire, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack promised the federal government would send more resources to California, and other states combatting increased wildfire threats, to prevent catastrophic fires.

The Biden administration is not letting up pressure on Mexico to resume its approvals of genetically modified crops and is continuing to formulate its next steps in addressing the precarious trade relationship with China, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Agri-Pulse in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal 2022 spending bill for the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration that includes about $7 billion in disaster assistance and $700 million for USDA’s ReConnect program for rural broadband.

The state water board has approved a regulation granting it new authority to curtail senior water rights and ramp up enforcement for illegal diverters.

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.