Legislation aimed at improving Iowa's water quality remained alive in the Iowa Senate Wednesday, despite serious reservations by some lawmakers who are unhappy with the measure's funding plans.Senate File 482, which has been proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad, mirrors legislation considered in the House last year. [node:read-more:link]

Palmer amaranth, a so-called "super weed" from southern states that has been invading Iowa farmland, would be declared a noxious weed and eradication efforts would be authorized under a bill approved Wednesday by the Iowa Senate.  House File 410, which was managed by Republican Sen. Dan Zumbach, a grain farmer from Ryan in northeast Iowa, passed on a  50-0 vote. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. and European regulators have cleared a Chinese conglomerate’s proposed $43 billion acquisition of Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta on condition it sells some businesses to satisfy anti-monopoly objections. The Federal Trade Commission’s announcement comes alongside the approval by European regulators of the purchase by state-owned ChemChina. [node:read-more:link]

Most of Tennessee’s factory farms would no longer need state permits that regulate animal waste disposal, under the terms of a bill before the state legislature. If it passes, only animal farms that actually pollute groundwater or waterways would be subject to oversight. The debate pits the multibillion-dollar agricultural industry against environmentalists and state water quality regulators. Farmers say the current permit process is too time consuming and expensive, while conservationists and state officials warn of uncontrolled pollution by farmers who don’t follow industry standards. [node:read-more:link]

Committee’s chairman Brian Clem noted that existing farm-to-school funding would be eliminated under the 2017-2019 budget recommended by Gov. Kate Brown and halved under the proposal by the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. A bill directing $5.6 million to Oregon’s farm-to-school food program has won unanimous approval from the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. [node:read-more:link]

EPA and its experts used epidemiological data. USDA claimed EPA’s studies were federally funded and the data should be made available. At the time USDA commented EPA had not nor would not release the data. Several pages of the USDA January 5, 2016, comments obliterate EPA’s science arguments. USDA outlines for EPA what a valuable tool chlorpyrifos is for farmers and the loss of the product would have major negative impacts on our production capacity and the economic stability of farms. Not an issue EPA concerns itself with. Several crops were highlighted. [node:read-more:link]

A team of chemists and engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Iowa reported that they found neonicotinoids in treated drinking water. It marks the first time that anyone has identified this class of pesticide in tap water, the researchers write in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. Gregory LeFevre, a study author and U of Iowa environmental engineer, told The Washington Post that the find was important but not immediate cause for alarm. [node:read-more:link]

The National Milk Producers Federation, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the International Dairy Foods Association are asking the federal government, and governors in northern states, to take immediate action in response to Canada’s violation of its trade commitments to the United States. Because of the new “Class 7” pricing policy, which is expressly designed to disadvantage U.S. exports to Canada and globally, multiple dairy companies in Wisconsin and New York have been forced to inform many of their supplying farmers that the Canadian market for their exports has dried up. [node:read-more:link]

Researchers from Leigh University say emissions from coal-fired power plants can impact pregnant women 20 to 30 miles away from the source, leading to increased incidence of low birth weights. The paper, "The Impact of Prenatal Exposure to Power Plant Emissions on Birth Weight," is the first scholarly look at the prenatal effects of coal emissions. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Supreme Court declined a request to stay litigation over the controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which the White House asked for as it reconsiders the environmental regulations. Last month President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the controversial WOTUS rule, in which the Obama administration clarified federal jurisdiction over waterways and wetlands under the Clean Water Act of 1972.The question before the Supreme Court includes whether District or Circuit courts have jurisdiction over the rule. [node:read-more:link]