Illinois Farm Bureau is partnering with the IL Specialty Growers Association and the USDA Farm Service Agency to offer a special conference call on July 21st at 11:00am for farmers raising specialty crops in Illinois. The call will offer an opportunity for Q&A with FSA leaders regarding the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). For more information, or to register for the call, visit our COVID-19 page.

It’s been more than 15 years since Illinois farmer Steve Turner has grown green beans on his sandy, irrigated soil, but this year opportunity came knocking. While he hadn’t planted the legume in more than a decade, he’s always keeping an ear open for the opportunity. (AgWeb

In what it says is an effort to address a core industry challenge — the environmental impact of beef — Burger King is debuting a reduced-methane emissions beef Whopper sandwich, which is made with beef sourced from cows that emit less methane. (Feedstuffs)

With 60 million acres of Xtend cotton and soybeans and rising herbicide-resistance problems across the crop spectrum, dicamba use in U.S. agriculture is at or near record heights this year. Yet the chemical’s future has never been less certain. (DTN)

U.S. oil and gas drilling along with agricultural production worldwide are driving up global emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, two new studies show. (Reuters)

Effective July 16, 2020, the U.S.-Japan organic trade arrangement adds livestock to the list of products that may be certified to either country’s organic standards for sale as organic in both markets. (WBIW)