The United States Senate has been busy!

And the House has been on vacation.

But when they come back from "recess," they will have some work to do.

Most of it will be to corral the Democratic caucus into passing both Senate-passed bills (one for the $1 Trillion infrastructure package, the other for a $3.5 Trillion budget).

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In other news (read it here), California is on fire and farmers are digging up almond trees and turning them into wood chips.

Crushed by a devastating drought and new water restrictions, Daniel Hartwig had no choice but to pull thousands of precious, fragrant almond trees from his California farm.

“It breaks your heart,” he sighed as he surveyed the once vibrant landscape before him—curled, yellowed leaves covering the shrunken husks that would have been this year's crop of almonds, had the water arrived.

Their exposed roots are already starting to turn powdery with rot, and the temperature of almost 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on this summer morning speeds their decomposition.

Moving among them are huge machines that will turn Hartwig's “beautiful prime almond trees” into large piles of woodchips.

‘Brutal Shock'

“It's a sudden brutal shock,” the farmer said.

Hartwig is in charge of water management for the mega-property of Woolf Farms, an estate of over 20,000 acres (8,000 hectares) around the small market town of Huron.

This is the first time that the farm has had to uproot so many trees before they reach the end of their life.

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Get the rest of the Morning Sixpack here.

Make it a great day!

Bill

🍺 PS - Buy me a beer to keep the Daily Grind News open for business!

📰 PPS - I publish breaking news throughout the day here. Make sure you check it out.