DTN Progressive Farmer reports that dicamba-resistant weeds appear to have started to crop up in the Midwest and Midsouth regions. These soy and cotton growing regions have seen a huge increase in dicamba use over the last couple of years since dicamba-resistant varieties of these crops were introduced. An estimated 60 million acres of dicamba […]
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The winner of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism’s John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism was announced this week. InsideClimate News beat out the New York Times and ProPublica to take the top spot for their series “Harvesting Peril: Extreme Weather and Climate Change on the American Farm.” “Harvesting Peril describes how the […]
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A Scientific American piece on neonicotinoid insecticides begins with a fascinating story about a wildlife rehab clinic in Montana. In the 1990s, a “bizarre trend” was noticed — an unusual number and diversity of birth defects in roadkill deer and other big game autopsied at the clinic. Scientists at the clinic pondered what could have […]
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“Forever chemical” contamination of groundwater is both extremely hazardous and difficult to clean up or otherwise mitigate. They don’t break down, and can continue to move through the hydrogeological system for years, often ending up in wells used for human and livestock drinking water, and crop irrigation. In a compelling, detailed story by Chris Clayton, […]
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Reprinted with permission from an email update sent March 26, 2019 by Steve Smith, Senior Director of Agriculture for Red Gold and Chairman of the Save Our Crops Coalition. Links and photos added by Hygeia. For background on the dicamba drift crisis, see our Special Coverage. Updates are coming fewer and farther between as the […]
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The U.S. federal pesticide law is called the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA. Ever wonder why FIFRA seems so feckless in dealing with the deepening economic, ecological, and public health problems arising from excessive reliance on herbicides in major row-crop weed management systems? Might no “H” in FIFRA have something to do […]
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Ever wonder about the impact of heavy, year-to-year applications of glyphosate-based herbicides on wildlife and ecosystem food chains? Environmental Health News provides some key, fresh insights in “What’s the world’s most widely used herbicide doing to tiny critters?” We already know that glyphosate and other pesticides have become ubiquitous in streams and groundwater, suggesting ecological impacts are likely […]
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A new presentation is circulating among ag nerds that was given by Tim Creger, the Pesticide/Fertilizer Program Manager for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO). Creger and his team are responsible for handling all reports of damage from drifting herbicides, and like state agencies around the Midwest […]
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We have posted a summary of an important report from a European think tank — “An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years For Agroecology (TYFA) “. This report that lays out a concrete plan — and path — toward a safer, sustainable agricultural system that promotes human […]
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The European sustainable development think-tank IDDRI has a 10 year plan to get the continent on a track towards sustainable agriculture, while producing ample food to provide a healthy diet to 530 million Europeans. Their fascinating new report is entitled “An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years […]
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