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Dry weather has helped speed Midwestern and Southern farmers through most of this fall’s corn and soybean harvest while also limiting the amount of grain they could send down the Mississippi River. As many park their combines for the year, they are hoping rain storms can replenish soils parched and waterways shrunk by months of drought.

Election results should start coming in tonight, with control of the White House, Senate and House all very much up in the air. But keep in mind it could be days before we know which party controls the White House and U.S. House, given the time it will take to count votes.  

USDA plans to sample milk in states where dairy herds have been infected with avian flu, in an effort to stamp out the virus, which was first confirmed in Texas in March before spreading to herds in 14 states.

The hog industry says the U.S. pork supply is safe following detection of H5N1 in a pig from a backyard farm in Oregon, but concerns remain about possible mutations in the virus.

Thirteen World Food Prize laureates, including 2024 honoree Geoffrey Hawtin, issued a statement Wednesday calling global hunger the “big issue being overlooked” in U.S. elections.

Avian influenza has been detected in a pig for the first time in the United State, USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed.

FDA's Human Foods Program released its 2025 Priority Deliverables today, which details the primary focuses for its first year under the reorganization. Highlights include a goal to issue guidance on action levels for lead in food intended for infants and young children, finalizing the rule on the “healthy” claim and proposing a rule on front of package nutrition labeling. 

A Trump administration would fire all federal nutrition scientists as part of its effort to determine what is causing the nation’s chronic disease epidemic, Trump ally and possible future administration official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pledging as he campaigns relentlessly on his Make America Healthy Again platform.

Hurricane Milton caused widespread destruction to Florida’s nursery infrastructure and crops, including damaged poinsettia plants that could lead to holiday season shortages. 

The “genetic revolution” in agriculture powered by gene editing can help preserve access to traditional foods in the future, protecting them from environmental threats, says Qu Dongyu, director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.