Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers have overwhelmed state governments with thousands of complaints about crop damage linked to new versions of herbicides, threatening future sales by manufacturers Monsanto and BASF. Monsanto is banking on herbicides using dicamba — and seeds engineered to resist it — to dominate soybean production in the U.S., the world’s
Monsanto, BASF herbicides strain states with damage complaints
McDonald’s sets new welfare standards for chicken suppliers
Chicago | Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. will require suppliers to improve the living conditions and slaughter process for chickens raised to be served in its restaurants, the company said on Friday, the latest changes affecting popular menu items such as McNuggets. Under new guidelines for animal welfare, suppliers such as Tyson Foods and Cargill must
CME plans no more changes to cattle contract for now
Chicago | Reuters — CME Group plans no further moves to reduce volatility in its cattle futures market, after making a series of changes to rein in wild price swings that drove away hedgers, a managing director said on Wednesday. Over the past two years, the exchange operator, which owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and
Several U.S. scientists to skip Monsanto’s dicamba summit
Chicago | Reuters — Monsanto invited dozens of weed scientists to a summit this week to win backing for a controversial herbicide but many have declined, threatening the company’s efforts to convince regulators the product is safe to use. Monsanto faces a barrage of lawsuits over its dicamba herbicide and risks of tighter restrictions on
U.S. EPA aims to allow dicamba use, with safeguards
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to allow farmers to spray the controversial herbicide dicamba next year, but with additional rules for its use, an official with the agency said on Tuesday. Reuben Baris, acting chief of the herbicide branch of the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs, said the agency
Irma whips orange trees, shuts meat plants
Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane Irma stripped oranges from trees and prompted Tyson Foods to shut meat plants in Florida and Georgia on Monday to keep workers safe. Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company, hopes to resume normal operations soon at chicken plants it shuttered in Cumming, Dawson and Vienna, Ga., and at a beef
Monsanto presses against Arkansas’ dicamba limits
Chicago | Reuters — Monsanto Co. pushed Arkansas authorities on Thursday to reject a proposed April 15 cutoff date next year for sprayings of the agricultural herbicide dicamba, which has been linked to crop damage across the U.S. farm belt. The company further said that Arkansas’ plant board should allow farmers in the state to
U.S. farmers confused by Monsanto’s Xtendimax instructions
Chicago | Reuters — With Monsanto’s latest flagship weed killer, dicamba, banned in Arkansas and under review by U.S. regulators over concerns it can drift in the wind, farmers and weed scientists are also complaining that confusing directions on the label make the product hard to use safely. Dicamba, sold under different brand names by
Tyson posts better-than-expected profit, bets on chicken
Reuters – Tyson Foods Inc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Monday, sending its shares up 5 percent, and said it would ramp up chicken production in the face of record demand from U.S. consumers. Tyson said it spent more money on advertising and marketing for chicken in the third quarter ended on July 1, bringing
Canada, other countries raise meat inspection bar for Brazil
Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Meat-importing countries from North America to Europe and Asia have tightened inspection standards for shipments from Brazil in a bid to protect consumers, following a probe into possible corruption involving inspectors. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said on Wednesday that the tighter inspection standards it enacted in April have resulted
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
