pesticides

The seed and pesticide giant Monsanto Co. has ended its attempt to buy Syngenta, its Swiss rival, says Deutsche Welle.

Initial figures on Britain's rapeseed harvest show yields are slightly above the 10-year average, says the Independent. This is the first harvest since the EU banned use of neonicotinoid pesticides out of concern that they harm honeybees and other pollinating insects.

Changing environmental conditions around the world "could negatively impact the health of millions of people by altering the amount and quality of key crops," according to two studies from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The provincial government of Ontario "is moving to take the sting out of pesticides that are killing bees," says the Toronto Star. On July 1, Ontario will be first jurisdiction in North America to limit plantings of corn and soybean seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, says The Star...

The weedkiller 2,4-D is "possibly carcinogenic to humans," says the International Agency for Research of Cancer, the same WHO agency that classified glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, as probably carcinogenic.

A widely used insecticide, the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, "does not significantly harm honey bee colonies at real-world doses," contrary to concerns that neonics, as they are called, are to blame for population declines, says a University of Maryland study.

For the third time, the House Agriculture Committee approved a bill to override a court decision on permits for pesticides applied on or near federally regulated waters.

Shoppers should always buy organic peaches, strawberries, green beans and carrots to limit their exposure to pesticide residue, says Consumer Reports.

"It sounds like the plot of a cheesy 1950s sci-fi movie," says Delta Farm Press in a story about the rapid spread of the sugarcane aphid, which can cause huge losses in sorghum yields.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and two conservation groups launched a campaign to save the monarch butterfly that includes restoration and enhancement of 200,000 acres of habitat.

"The first nano-formulations of pesticides are quietly making their way onto agricultural fields," says Modern Farmer in a story by Susan West into the likely benefits of the technology and potential adverse effects.

Some 118 foodmakers, including Clif Bar, Nature’s Path, Organic Valley and Stonyfield, called on the Obama administration to suspend immediately the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on grounds they are driving down honeybee populations.

The Center for International Environmental Law says the proposed U.S.-EU trade agreement "would reduce protection compared to the more stringent pesticide standards already in place in the EU and in individual U.S. states," says the Guardian.

The provincial government of Ontario proposed a three-point initiative to reduce use of corn and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid pesticides by 80 percent by 2017, to reduce over-wintering deaths of honeybees by 15 percent by 2020 and to develop a comprehensive plan for pollinator health, says the CBC.