7 ag stories you might have missed this week - Aug. 4, 20177 ag stories you might have missed this week - Aug. 4, 2017

Here are 7 agriculture stories you might have missed this week:

1. Farm Futures' latest survey of growers finds U.S. corn production could fall 10% compared to the record crop of 2016 and the soybean crop could be around 2% smaller, with a big hike in acreage helping to offset drop in yields. – Farm Futures

2. The Kansas cotton crop is looking good and expected to be the largest in more than a decade as more acres were planted this year. The size of harvest remains dependent on the weather. – Kansas Farmer

3. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reaffirmed a lower court ruling on Aug. 1, 2017, that vacated a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule to remove protections for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region, which includes Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. – Farm Futures

4. Rep. Mike Conaway, chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, has committed to listening as he starts the process of writing the next farm bill. – Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

5. The Environmental Protection Agency held a public hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard volume requirements this week. – Farm Futures

6. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is on a multiple week farm tour that includes listening sessions with farmers and key agricultural leaders. Pruitt says agriculture and EPA will work together. – Indiana Prairie Farmer

7. The number of U.S. honeybees is up from 2017 compared to a year earlier, according to a USDA survey of honeybee health. Commercial honeybee colonies rose 3% to 2.89 million as of April 1, 2017. – Farm Futures 

And your bonus:

A study published recently in Science concludes that eutrophication is likely to increase as a result of changes in precipitation patterns. - The New York Times