Environmentalists won a victory in the U.S. Senate when Senators approved a Farm Bill that would require farmers to comply with some minimum conservation requirements to be eligible for subsidized crop insurance. The struggle to keep the conservation compliance measure in the 10-year, $1 trillion Farm Bill now moves to the House. And 45 of the world’s biggest companies call on national governments to work for sustainable water use, including setting “fair and appropriate” water prices for agriculture, industry and government. Read about these issues and more in the Freshwater Blog.