Farmers Struggle Against Chemical-Resistant Weeds
At least 28 states have confirmed the presence of Palmer amaranth. And many are struggling with strains resistant to common herbicides.
View ArticleCrop Dusting Pilots Navigate Dangerous Airspace
According to the National Agricultural Aviation Association, 18 to 20 percent of commercial cropland receives some sort of aerial application.
View ArticleNo Organic Certification? No Problem.
Living Roots grows food organically, but since they are not USDA certified, Michael Hicks has to come up with other ways to describe their growing practices.
View ArticleAg Industry At Odds Over Pesticide Studied In Bee Deaths
After studying 64 test plots of soybeans, the EPA did not see a significant difference in yields between plants treated with neonics and those without.
View ArticleMLK Day Service Projects, Burns Supper, Beef Checkoff
A day on, not a day off, for local food organizations. Haggis and mashed rutabaga for Burns Supper. And, ranchers get critical of federal beef checkoff program.
View ArticleEat Organics For Lower Levels Of Pesticides
In the largest study of its kind, researchers have found lower levels of pesticides in those who consume organic foods.
View ArticleTour The World Of Urban Farms, Trouble At Dairies, B-Sprouts
We go around the world of urban gardens with Jennifer Cockrall-King. Harvest Public Media has two stories about dairy. Brussels spouts plus polenta on the menu.
View ArticleCould Roundup Cause Cancer?
Here are five things you should know about the World Health Organization saying Roundup could cause cancer.
View ArticleStudy Says Bees Are Drawn To Neonic Pesticides
A new study indicates that bees can get hooked on foods laced with nicotine-like pesticides.
View ArticleWhite House Releases Strategy To Save Bees
The White House's plan outlines how to save habitat and promote research. Some environmentalists wonder if it goes far enough to protect pollinators.
View ArticleColorado’s Pot Industry Is On Its Own With Pesticides
The parts of the federal government that regulate agricultural pesticide use want nothing to do with legalized marijuana.
View ArticleBack To Organic, Berry Bread Pudding, The Hub’s Tool Share
White Violet Center hopes organic certification will differentiate them from other growers. Strawberry bread pudding with Jackie Howard. Pesticides and pot.
View ArticleTwo Pesto Recipes, Pesticide Drift, Gardening As We Age
Green thumbs modify their gardens to suit their aging bodies. Two pesto recipes use carrot tops and mint. And, unwelcome pesticides on organic farms.
View ArticleMonsanto Sets Off A Corporate ‘Feeding Frenzy’
In the past few years, Monsanto has purchased weather analysis companies and big data firms. The company now wants to buy the Swiss chemical company, Syngenta.
View ArticleOrganic Farmers On The Social Stigma Of ‘Dirty’ Fields
A study found that farmers who go organic are often subject to a “weedy field bad farmer” mentality in their communities.
View ArticleWhat’s Organic? In Marijuana Industry, It’s A Hard Question
There’s no such thing as a government-sanctioned certification for organic marijuana in large part, because growing or using marijuana is still a federal crime.
View ArticleFruit Fly Threatens Florida Crops
An alien pest was found in Florida last month in Miami-Dade County, where an infestation could devastate its $1.6 billion agriculture industry.
View ArticleNew Research Shows People Help Move Deadly Bee Virus
Researchers explain that moving bee hives across long distances, as is common in the U.S. to pollinate crops, speeds up the process of disease spread.
View ArticleIn Argentina, A Locust Plague For The Ages
As a major agricultural player, Argentina is a place whose rural problems raise eyebrows in U.S. farm country.
View ArticleReport: Pesticide Mixtures Threaten Human Health
A new UCLA report shows that combinations of commonly used pesticides can create toxic cocktails that increase health risks.
View ArticleHouse Bill Could Shield Monsanto From PCB Lawsuits
A chemical safety bill that the US House passed last year includes a provision that could help Monsanto get lawsuits for past making PCBs dismissed.
View ArticleEU Mulls New License For Weed Killer
The European Union is drawing battle lines over whether to renew a license for glyphosate, an herbicide the World Health Organization says is linked to cancer.
View ArticleGarden Giant Ditches Class Of Pesticides That May Harm Bees
Ortho is part of the Miracle-Gro family. The company says it decided to phase out neonics from its home and garden products after reviewing possible threats posed to bees and other pollinators.
View ArticleBuzzkill: Surveys Say Bee Colonies Continue To Decline
According to the National Agriculture Statistics Service survey, varroa mites were the top colony stressor for beekeeping operations with five or more colonies.
View ArticleWatch: The Insect Factory That Breeds Better Bugs
Colorado’s Insectary began in response to a peach pest called oriental fruit moth that devastated the local crop in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
View ArticleThe Colony-Killing Mistake Backyard Beekeepers Are Making
Bee experts warn that novices may be inadvertently putting their hives in danger by not keeping the mite population in check.
View ArticleFarmers Look To Chickens And Bugs As Natural Pesticides
Researchers are looking at ways to combat pests by introducing predatory bugs, but there is danger in introducing a new species to an ecosystem.
View ArticleHow GMOs Cut Pesticide Use, And Perhaps Boosted It Again
There's new and detailed data on the impact of genetically modified crops on pesticide use. Those crops replaced insecticides, and, at first, some herbicides. But herbicide use has rebounded.
View ArticleMinnesota Cracks Down On Neonics, Promising Aid To Bees
Minnesota's governor has ordered new restrictions on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been blamed for killing bees. Many details of the plan, however, remain to be worked out.
View ArticleMonsanto Accepts $66 Billion Bayer Offer
Together, Bayer and Monsanto will create the largest crop supply company in the world.
View ArticleCut Down On Bee-Killing Pesticides? Easier Said Than Done
Pesticides called "neonics" are popular among farmers, but also have been blamed for killing bees. In Canada, the province of Ontario is trying to crack down on neonics, with mixed results.
View ArticleEat Or Be Eaten: How ‘Big Ag’ Came To Be
The consequences of corporate changes will reach nearly every American’s dinner table. To understand the significance, you have to go back a century to look at how the industry got to where it is today.
View ArticleFarm Groups Blast Dannon For Pledge Against GMOs
A cluster of agriculture organizations has criticized Dannon’s plan to use fewer genetically modified ingredients, calling the move a “major step backward.”
View ArticleReport Stirs Debate Over GMO Benefits
A New York Times investigation showing questionable gains from GMO crops over the last twenty years has sparked a new round of controversy.
View ArticleChlorpyrifos: Linked To Autism, Still On The Market
The safety of chlorpyrifos has been in question for almost three decades. The next step is an outright ban by the EPA, though it's unclear if that will happen.
View ArticleCrop-Protecting Fungicides May Be Hurting The Honey Bees
Bees have been dying in unprecedented numbers. A new study has found that fungi-destroying chemicals may make it harder for bees to metabolize their food. And if they can't get energy, they can't fly.
View ArticleEPA Will Not Ban Pesticide Despite Its Own Evidence Of Risk
New EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has decided not to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide widely used on produce. That's despite evidence previously compiled by EPA showing it could pose risks to consumers.
View ArticleWatch: What Are Pesticides And How Are They Used?
Conflicting interpretations of scientific research have led various authorities to issue different levels of concern over pesticide use. Whether synthetic or organic, however, pesticides in the wrong...
View ArticleTwo Different Approaches To Saving Bees From Poison Dust
Two scientists agree that pesticide-laden dust from planting equipment kills bees. But they're proposing different solutions, because they disagree about whether the pesticides are useful to farmers.
View ArticlePopular Pesticides Keep Bumblebees From Laying Eggs
A new study is adding to evidence that a popular class of pesticides can harm wild bees, like bumblebees.
View ArticleBabies Of Mothers Highly Exposed To Pesticides See Problems
Researchers matched birth records for more than a half-million babies born 1997-2011 to pesticide application rates for a one-square-mile region including the mother’s address.
View ArticleDicamba Has Been Around For Years, But Causing Problems Now
Superweeds are part of the reason Dicamba is causing more problems now.
View ArticleTo Protect Pollinators, Researchers Look To Land For Answers
Neonicotinoids threaten bee populations, but instead of limiting their use, researchers look to evergreens and prairie strips for minimizing the threat.
View ArticleOn Food and Connection, Earth Eats Talks With Alton Brown
"It keeps you from dying and it connects you." Alton Brown talks about food's power to connect, and how media and technology impact that relationship.
View ArticleChina Pledges To Use Fewer Pesticides
China has announced plans to phase out at least 10 more toxic pesticides within the next five years in a bid to improve food safety and soil health.
View ArticleNative Bees And Alfalfa Farmers — A Seedy Love Story
Northwest farmers produce a quarter of the country's alfalfa seeds, but they get help from millions of alkali bees, thanks to one of the most unique agricultural partnerships in the country.
View ArticleWind-Blown Pesticides An Issue In Courtrooms, Communities Across U.S.
In much of the Midwest, state-mandated buffer zones, for certain pesticides near schools and waterways, don’t exist.
View ArticleStudy Warns Of Global Insect Collapse
A new study warns that more than 40 percent of the world’s insect species are at risk of extinction, and a third are endangered.
View ArticleWill An Appeals Court Make The EPA Ban A Pesticide?
Chlorpyrifos has been linked to developmental delays in kids and other health problems. The EPA is fighting a lower court's ruling that it must ban the pesticide, which farmers say they need.
View ArticleFarmers Running Out Of Easy Options As Weeds Outsmart Weedkillers
In the long-running war between farmers and weeds, it's advantage, weeds. Scientists in Kansas have found examples of the dreaded pigweed that are immune to the newest weed-killing technologies.
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