Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species. (ABC News

In the last three months, soybean prices have shot up to levels not seen since around 2014. Prices have been increasing due in part to increased exports to China and dry weather this summer. (The News-Gazette)

Elevated feed costs and the likelihood of smaller meat shipments to China in 2021 threaten to shrink profits for livestock and poultry farmers in the U.S, Brazil and elsewhere, as well as the companies that process the animals into meat. (Bloomberg)

While the current crop of lawmakers and White House officials wrap up their work, much of agricultural policy world’s attention is already turning to 2021 — especially now that President-elect Joe Biden has formally announced Tom Vilsack as his pick for Agriculture secretary. (Politico)

Humans inhabiting Mars might still be quite a distant reality, but this study seems to suggest that we could be on a path to ensuring sustainability—in space—even before we actually get there. (Science X)

The Spaces of Opportunity neighborhood food system is among several initiatives launched in Phoenix in recent years, following other U.S. communities like Oakland, California; Detroit and Chicago where urban gardens aim to improve food options in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. (KIMA