Reading Time: 2 minutes 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 […] Read more
U.S. EPA aims to allow dicamba use, with safeguards
Monsanto presses against Arkansas’ dicamba limits
Reading Time: 2 minutes 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 […] Read more
U.S. farmers confused by Monsanto’s Xtendimax instructions
Reading Time: 3 minutes 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 […] Read more
Court decision may boost biofuels, hit refiners
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York / Reuters – The U.S. government may have to require more biofuels to be blended into the country’s fuel supply after a court ruled on Friday that the mandates must be reconsidered, a decision that boosted renewable fuel credits to seven-month highs on financial markets. The decision sank stock prices of independent refiners […] Read more
U.S. senators seek ban on pesticide chlorpyrifos
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York / Reuters – A group of Democratic senators hopes to ban a pesticide the U.S. government has greenlighted for use, according to a bill unveiled on Tuesday in a challenge to Republican President Donald Trump’s push to loosen environmental regulations. The bill, introduced by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, would outlaw chlorpyrifos, […] Read more
U.S. proposes cutting biofuels requirements due to ‘market realities’
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — The U.S. government on Wednesday proposed reducing the volumes of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel in 2018, in a move that could mark the first step towards a broader overhaul to the controversial energy policy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal marked a slight decline […] Read more
Monsanto ghostwrote Roundup studies, plaintiffs in U.S. suit say
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Employees of Monsanto ghostwrote scientific reports that U.S. regulators relied on to determine that a chemical in its Roundup herbicide does not cause cancer, farmers and others suing the company claimed in court filings. The documents, made public Tuesday, are part of a mass litigation in federal court in San Francisco claiming Monsanto […] Read more
U.S. ethanol sector pumped on Trump
Reading Time: 4 minutes San Diego | CNS Canada — “Building partnerships and growing markets” was the theme of the National Ethanol Conference in San Diego — a theme members of the U.S. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) believe aligns well with an increased focus on national security and protectionist policies under new President Donald Trump. Speaking Tuesday, the head […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans fall on Argentina weather
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell to a 1-1/2-week low on Wednesday on an improved South American crop weather outlook while corn edged higher on export demand, traders said. Wheat sagged on ample old-crop supplies and a lack of supportive news. Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures settled down 3-1/4 cents at $10.55-1/4 per […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans down on profit-taking before USDA data
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures dropped two per cent on Thursday, the steepest decline in 2-1/2 months, on profit-taking tied to lower veg oil prices and extended weather outlooks for rainfall in Argentina, traders and analysts said. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to run the nation’s Environmental […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
