Hygeia Note — The below email was sent to a group of individuals on June 1, 2020 by Lou Nelms, and is posted here with his permission. Words in [brackets] were added by Hygeia for clarity. Nelms has monitored the impact of dicamba and 2,4-D use, drift, and volatilization in Illinois since the beginning of […]
Has Bayer’s Day of Roundup Reckoning Arrived?
Within hours on this Monday, May 13, 2019, the jury in the Pilliod Roundup-non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) trial in Oakland, California is suspected to reach a verdict. It is highly likely the verdict will be the third in a row in favor of plaintiffs, following on the heels of one earlier this spring in the Hardeman […]
Herbicide Graphics Portfolio
Videos and Prezis Please cite Hygeia Analytics as a source for all materials unless otherwise noted. Resources below are in either video or prezi format. To view infographics, charts, and other static resources, see that section of the Portfolio here. Prezi is a software tool for creating dynamic, zoomable presentations. To view, just push the […]
Special Coverage
DTN and “The Progressive Farmer” Take a Closer Look at Monster Palmer Amaranth
DTN staff reporter Emily Unglesbee has ably covered the dicamba-drift crisis over the past couple of years. Her latest is a detailed, three-part series on Palmer amaranth, “possibly the most aggressive weed American farmers have ever faced” (Unglesbee, 2019a). Palmer amaranth is so scary because of its “spectacular reproductive abilities” and it’s extreme adaptability. This […]
EPA is Once Again Complicit in Driving Farmers in the Wrong Weed Management Direction
Much will be said about the EPA’s October 31, 2018 decision to extend for two more years the conditional registration of the three dicamba-based herbicides registered for post-emergence, “over the top” (OTT) applications on soybeans and cotton. The basics of the EPA’s decision are simple and not entirely meaningless in terms of reducing the extent […]
Guest Blog: Steve Smith on EPA’s Decision to Extend Extendimax et al.
Note to Readers: Steve Smith, Chairman and founder of the Save Our Crops Coalition and R+D Director of Red Gold (a major midwest tomato processor), has been actively engaged in the evolution and approval of dicamba-resistant crops. He has raised concern — and more recently alarm — over the damage done to non-target crops, trees, […]
Pesticides and Cancer Risks
Most pesticides are highly toxic chemicals, they have to be in order to perform their essential function of killing pests. Toxicity studies, including carcinogenicity research, are required as part of the registration process for any chemical, including pesticides. However, the seriously flawed system for regulating chemicals in the U.S. means that companies get to submit […]
Are Farm Bill Subsidies Holding Back U.S. Farmers?
While the Farm Bill update hasn’t made it through Congress yet, it’s passage is an eventual certainty, if perhaps broken up into pieces. In an opinion piece in The Hill, economic policy Research Fellow Michael Farren with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University proposes a different and radical option – a full repeal of […]
Palmer Amaranth Resistant to an Unprecedented Six Herbicides Identified
In an experiment conducted in Missouri, researchers have identified Palmer amaranth that is resistant to six herbicides. Amaranthus palmerii is a one tough weed. When full grown, at its base, stalks can match the circumference of a man’s wrist. One plant can set over 400,000 seeds. It has a long history of herbicide resistance, and […]