Note to Hygeia Analytics Readers — I sent the following May 13, 2017 letter to individuals in the Sherman County government and the local weed control district. These individuals are responsible for acting on an almost unbelievable new policy, given April Fool’s day is long past. Sherman County, located in north-central Oregon near the great […]
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The new EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced March 29, 2017 that the agency will retain the existing registrations of the high-risk insecticide chlorpyrifos (aka Lorsban). Eric Lipton of the New York Times covered the announcement, and the EPA press release and the full text of the decision is posted on the EPA website. As the New York […]
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By Lynn Clarkson, Chairman of Clarkson Grain Note to Readers – Lynn Clarkson sent the following message, or one very similar to it, to a number of individuals in the Trump Administration, or influential with key players in the Administration. He agreed to share his message with the broader community. So, please enjoy and share […]
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Among the fake news making the rounds is that organic food is no safer than conventional food because organic farmers use pesticides too. Ken Roseboro debunks many of the “alternate” facts circulating about pesticide use on organic farms in a well-researched story in The Organic and Non-GMO Report. Of course organic farmers have to manage […]
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Backed up by a glossy report by two ag economists from the University of Minnesota, the Farm Journal Foundation has issued a remarkably unimaginative call for a doubling of public funding for agricultural research…because U.S. ag research funding is falling behind China, Brazil, India…and because we have to feed 9 billion people. Over the years there […]
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Farmers are bracing for a rough season contending with the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds throughout the Heartland. The collapsing efficacy of genetically engineered (GE), herbicide-resistant (HR) technology coincides with a serious downturn in corn, soybean, and cotton prices. Rising costs for GE-HR seed, the need to markedly intensify herbicide use (driving production costs higher), and […]
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Virtually all Americans who enjoy at least a few servings of fresh fruits and vegetables are exposed on a daily basis to one to four residues of neonicotinoid (nicotinyl for short) insecticides. That’s why they are in me and you most every day, except of course for the days we purchase and consume organic produce. […]
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Despite the mountains of evidence showing that we are loosing the race to preserve the efficacy of medically important antibiotics, sales of these vital drugs to livestock farmers have risen 26% since 2009, according to the latest FDA report on the subject, “Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food Producing Animals”. I first studied […]
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A tipping point for the ages occurred in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump. Such dramatic changes almost always reflect deep and strong undercurrents that have built up over time. Several are unfolding now in the food and agricultural arena. I spent the first week of 2017 in the U.K., meeting with colleagues at […]
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Talk about swimming upstream, but overall feeling so glad that open-source seed initiatives are springing up around the world. This in-depth story explains why the trend toward patenting seeds and traits locks farmers and amateur breeders out of the process of incrementally improving crop genetics. Big mistake, unless you trust the biotech-seed companies to deploy […]
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