U.S. should broaden its safety review of new plant strains, says NAS panel
The National Academy of Sciences, pointing to the emergence of new technology such as gene editing and the sometimes startling effects of conventional plant breeding, said the government should conduct safety reviews of all new plant varieties that pose potential hazards, not only the results of genetic engineering.
USDA increases sugar import quota 15 percent
U.S. sugarcane growers will be unable to provide enough sugar to meet demand from food and beverage makers, so the USDA raised the import quota for cane sugar 15 percent for the year ending on Sept. 30.
Agriculture a major source of air pollution in northern hemisphere
Farms outweigh all other human sources of fine-particulate air pollution in much of the United States, Europe, Russia and China, says a study by the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Perdue nixes contract clause that ‘gagged’ farmers
Perdue will no longer require farmers to request permission before visually or audibly documenting their chicken operations, says Tom Philpott in Mother Jones.
Claim: new SNAP rule disqualifies ‘tens of thousands’ of stores
The USDA proposal for grocers to stock a greater variety of healthy foods would push "tens of thousands" of convenience stores out of the food stamp program, one-third of the members of the House said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Vermont to delay citizen right to sue over GMO labels
Consumers will not be allowed to sue over companies' failure to label GMO foods until next summer, Vermont legislators decided, with the state's first-in-the-nation label law taking effect July 1.
Organic is big in Yuma County; blight-resistant potatoes in UK
Organic farms operate 1 percent of U.S. cropland, so Yuma County in the southwestern corner of Arizona is exceptional. As much as 12 percent of farmland in the county is in organic production, reports the Yuma Sun, up from an estimated 7 percent in 2012.
‘Ignore the subsidy lobby,’ says EWG in review of farm economy
"There's a lot of doom and gloom in the air about the state of the farm economy," says a report by the Environmental Working Group, and much of it is a campaign for larger crop subsidies. "The farm subsidy lobby has been working overtime to sue what it calls a 'farm crisis' to deflect well-deserved criticism of the fatally flawed federal subsidy program that they're desperate to protect."
U.S. beef is back in South Africa after 13-year ban
The first shipment of U.S. beef has arrived in South Africa, part of a reopening of a market that was closed to U.S. beef, pork and poultry for years, said the USDA.
Scratch that: WHO and UN say glyphosate not carcinogenic after all
Two days before the EU is set to vote on whether to relicense the pesticide glyphosate, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization have decided that the chemical is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet,” reports The Guardian.
Judge postpones to 2017 trial of Des Moines Water Works lawsuit
Trial of the potentially precedent-setting lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works over high nitrate levels in river water was rescheduled to June 26, 2017, rather than starting this August, reports the Des Moines Register. The lawsuit says federal clean-water laws should apply to agricultural runoff that flows through drainage districts in three northwestern Iowa counties and into the Raccoon River, a source of drinking water for Iowa's capital city and suburbs.
North Dakota farm groups take opposite sides on corporate farming
The North Dakota Farmers Union "has funded almost all the campaign" to retain a ban on corporate farming in the state, says The Associated Press.
Once the soybean king of Brazil, Maggi becomes its agriculture minister
Farmer-turned-policitian Blairo Maggi, from the powerhouse agricultural state of Mato Grosso, is the new agriculture minister of Brazil under interim President Michel Temer. Maggi is expected to be a strong voice for the farm sector in one of the world's largest producers and exporters, said Reuters.
In rebound from El Niño, world heads for record rice crop
Rice growers around the world are planting more land to rice this year, an additional 2.8 million hectares that the USDA estimates will result in a record harvest of 480.7 million tonnes, 10 million tonnes larger than last year. "The global area expansion is largely due to few economically viable alternative planting options, producer support programs in several Asian countries and a desire by many countries to rebuild stocks after El Niño reduced production in 2015/16," said the monthly Rice Outlook report.
Iowa teacher no longer tells students about his McDonald’s diet
Fast-food giant McDonald's "has ended a controversial practice of giving nutrition advice to students in schools, pulling back on a program that critics said was a subtle form of fast-food marketing that could imperil kids' health and understanding of nutrition," reports the Washington Post.
White House announces $500 million for microbiome research
Private sector groups joined the Obama administration in pledging $500 million for "the integrated study of microbiomes across different ecosystems." Microbiomes, communities of micro-organisms that live on or in people, plants, soil, oceans and the atmosphere, maintain healthy functioning of diverse ecosystems and influence human health, climate change and food security, said the White House science office.
Oregano oil could help save the planet from cow belches
Feeding cows oregano oil may help cut back on their methane-laced belching, says NPR. Bovine belching accounts for one third of global methane emissions, and methane is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Honeybee colonies heavily affected by Varroa mites
During spring and summer, four of 10 honeybee colonies will be under stress from Varroa mites, beekeepers said in the first issue of USDA's Honey Bee Colonies report. By far, the parasitic insects are a greater problem than other pests, diseases, pesticides, bad weather and poor nutrition, according to the survey of beekeepers.
Farmers tighten belts to endure low crop prices
Ag bankers across the Farm Belt expect the slump in farm income to persist through spring, with producers economizing on household spending and big-ticket purchases due to low commodity prices, according to reports by Federal Reserve banks in the Midwest and Plains.
Tom Vilsack, vice-presidential timber?
It's the political murmur with legs — the idea of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as running mate for Hillary Clinton, the presumption Democratic nominee for president. In the latest whisper, Vilsack is among 21 vice-presidential "possibilities," including two other members of the Obama cabinet, listed by the political website Sabato's Crystal Ball.