California Livestock & Wolves and Drone Swarm Exemption

**Farmers and ranchers gathered at the state Capitol in Sacramento recently to advocate on policies impacting agriculture, from groundwater management to wildfires to technology.

As they met with lawmakers during the annual Capital Ag Conference, California Farm Bureau members focused on trying to rescue a program that provides financial support for ranchers whose livestock are impacted by wolves.

Amid the budget deficit, money ran out for the pilot program.

**The USDA says the total number of cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.8 million head on March 1,1% higher than a year earlier.

Placements in feedlots during February totaled 1.89 million head, 10% above 2023.

At 1.83 million head, placements were the highest for February since the series began in 1996.

**The Federal Aviation Administration issued an exemption for “drone-swarm” agriculture, a method of seeding and spraying crops at a fraction of the traditional cost.

Hylio (HEE-lee-oh), a Texas-based drone manufacturer, successfully applied for the exemption to allow fleets of drones weighing 55 pounds or more to fly together.

It’s the first exception of its kind for machines that carry what the company calls a “meaningful payload” and makes it competitive.