The debate about whose to blame for the dicamba drift crisis of 2016 and 2017 continues, with a new lawsuit filed in federal court last week taking aim at the Environmental Protection Agency for their approval and regulation of the new dicamba formulations. A recent story in the Wisconsin Gazette describes the suit against the EPA […]
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Thanks to Mark Keating for sharing these sage words on the ODairy listserv. “Many people blame science for our surplus of farm products. They say that science taught us how to grow two blades of grass where one grew before. I think the trouble is that is exactly what science did not teach us. Instead, […]
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The German media outlet Deutsche Welle, or DW, has produced a compelling video report called “Glyphosate – The Sick Children of Argentina” about the rise of childhood cancers in Argentina, a country where 300 million liters of glyphosate is applied on GMO crops each year, in particular tobacco, cotton, and soybeans. Over the last decade in […]
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The expansion of ethanol and other biofuel production from 2008-2012 has triggered the conversion of an estimated 7 millions of acres of mostly grasslands, and a smaller number of wetland, shrub, and forest acres, to predominantly corn and soybean production. In the course of doing so over just five years, renewable fuels-driven land conversion released […]
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Here’s a quick update on the ongoing dicamba drift crisis unfolding across the Midwest and Midsouth. The “Herbicides in the Midwest” project has produced detailed timelines of developments with dicamba-resistant crops, including what we call “Dicamba Watch,” a dynamic presentation of this unfolding drama that is available in both condensed and comprehensive versions. For media […]
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While Bayer’s $57 billion deal to acquire Monsanto has received regulatory approvals in most of the world, it has not in the European Union. EU competition law is, in general, stricter than U.S. law. There are also huge differences, especially now, in willingness to enforce existing competition laws in Europe versus the U.S. An active […]
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Biotech, seed, and ag chemical industry news over the last 18 months has been dominated by the process and impacts of three big mergers — Bayer buying Monsanto, Dow and DuPont merging and then splitting off a combined ag business, and ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta. It was inevitable that in this process of consolidation within […]
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Maharashtra is one of the major cotton growing areas in India. Most of the cotton planted in recent years has expressed the Bt gene to control certain insects, but a combination of factors including resistance has eroded its efficacy. Between higher priced seed and the need to apply extra insecticide, cotton farmers in the region […]
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The tagline in the remarkable New York Times story on junk food in Brazil reads: “As growth slows in wealthy countries, Western food companies are aggressively expanding in developing nations, contributing to obesity and health problems.” The Times story appeared September 16, 2017 and is accessible online. The authors, Andrew Jacobs and Matt Richtel, explain […]
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A highly-respected farm magazine editor, Greg Horstmeier, has called a spade a spade re the unfolding, dicamba crop-damage train wreck occurring across corn-soybean country. This is a must-read piece, because of the important historical context it provides. Horstmeier’s play-by-play of how we got here is a chilling account of how badly farm industry leaders and […]
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