**China’s pork output fell, but less than expected in the first half of 2019 as the battle against African swine fever continues.

The National Bureau of Statistics reports, China produced 24.7 million metric tons of pork thru June, down 5.5% from a year earlier.

According to porkbusiness.com, China’s hog herd declined 15% from a year ago to 347.61 million head, but differ from China’s numbers showing a drop of 25.8%.

**Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue has awarded more than $9 million in USDA Farm to School Program grants that will increase the amount of healthy, local foods served in schools and create economic opportunities for nearby farmers.

This year marks an all-time high of funding and projects in the program, with grants supporting 126 selected projects across 42 states.

These projects are expected to serve more than 3.2 million students in over 5,400 schools.

**A federal judge rejects Bayer AG’s bid for a new trial, but he did slash a damages award Bayer owed a California man who blamed Roundup weed killer for his cancer, to $25.27 million, down from $80.27 million.

According to agrimarketing.com, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria says evidence against the former Monsanto Co supports the $5.27 million in compensatory damages, but reduced punitive damages from $75 million to $20 million because while Monsanto "deserves to be punished" the higher award was "constitutionally impermissible."

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