As bird flu is confirmed in 33 cattle herds across eight US states, Ian Sample talks to virologist Dr Ed Hutchinson of Glasgow University about why this development has taken scientists by surprise, and how prepared we are for the possibility it might start spreading among humans

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Region near Tulare Lake has been put on ‘probation’ as overpumping of water has caused faster sinking of ground

Even after two back-to-back wet years, California’s water wars are far from over. On Tuesday, state water officials took an unprecedented step to intervene in the destructive pumping of depleted groundwater in the state’s sprawling agricultural heartland.

The decision puts a farming region known as the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin, which includes roughly 837-sq-miles in the rural San Joaquin valley, on “probation” in accordance with a sustainable groundwater use law passed a decade ago. Large water users will face fees and state oversight of their pumping.

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Creating visually distinctive plants likely to become important as more weed-like crops are grown for food

Genetically engineering crops to be colourful could help farmers produce food without pesticides, as it would make it easier to spot weeds, scientists have said.

This will be increasingly important as hardy, climate-resistant “weeds” are grown for food in the future, the authors have written in their report published in the journal Trends in Plant Science .

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Annual watchlist raises concern for native chicken, duck, geese and turkey populations as well as rare pig breeds

All of the UK’s native breeds of chicken, duck, geese and turkey are under threat because of bird flu, a report from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) has found.

The disease, which has swept the globe after it originated in poultry farms in Asia, has caused devastating declines in bird populations. It has also now jumped to mammals and some cases have been found in humans, though it has not been found to be spreading from human to human .

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Heavy rain likely to cause low yields in Britain and other parts of Europe, with drought in Morocco hitting imports

• Which UK foods are at risk?

The UK faces food shortages and price rises as extreme weather linked to climate breakdown causes low yields on farms locally and abroad.

Record rainfall has meant farmers in many parts of the UK have been unable to plant crops such as potatoes, wheat and vegetables during the key spring season. Crops that have been planted are of poor quality, with some rotting in the ground.

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A highly misleading new documentary claims soil carbon storage can redeem the livestock industry – it’s all so much ‘moo-woo’

We draw our moral lines in arbitrary places. We might believe we’re guided only by universal values and proven facts, but often we’re swayed by deep themes of which we might be unaware. In particular, we tend to associate the imagery and sensations of our earliest childhood with what is good and right. When we see something that chimes with them, we are powerfully drawn to it and attach moral value to it.

This results from a combination of two factors: finding safety and comfort in the familiar, and what psychologists call “ the primacy effect ” – the first thing we hear about a topic is the one we tend to recall and accept. These tendencies contribute to the illusory truth effect : what is familiar is judged to be true. We go to war for such illusory truths, and sacrifice our lives to them.

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UK vineyards are sprouting as far north as Yorkshire and Scotland as investors cash in on tax breaks and hotter summers

“We’ve never had frost here,” says Adrian Pike, gesturing across rows of vines just starting to show signs of tiny buds in the weak Kent spring sunshine.

Westwell vineyard is on the site of a former monastery and sits close to the Pilgrims’ Way on the North Downs, the historic route to Canterbury that runs along the top of the hill behind the vineyard.

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Government’s farming recovery fund scheme stipulates proximity to designated major rivers

Farmers who have their entire cropping land submerged underwater have found they are ineligible for a government flooding hardship fund – because their farms are too far from a major river.

According to the Met Office, 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024, the highest amount for any 18-month period in England since the organisation started collecting comparable data in 1836. Scientists have said climate breakdown is likely to cause more intense periods of rain in the UK.

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Visitors to the countryside objecting to a variety of rural noises are such a problem that legislators feel compelled to act

The French parliament is taking aim at noise complaints in the countryside. Lawmakers say they are well acquainted with the problem of residents who have moved to the countryside from the big cities bemoaning the way livestock, church bells and other rural sounds impinge on their newly claimed right to pastoral quiet.

A new law aims to stop these néoruraux (rural newcomers) from taking farmers to court over farming activities that were already happening long before they arrived. Opposition MPs have derided the new bill as hot air, because it mostly just reorganises existing bits of legislation. But what is new is an emphasis on what the justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, calls le vivre-ensemble : living together in a respectful way – something I feel is sorely needed.

Dale Berning Sawa is a freelance writer based in London

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