"US researchers claim to have identified a new potential cause for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in honeybees." They think a synergistic effect of two pathogens -- a fungus and a family of viruses -- may be the culprit.

The Labor Department and the Environmental Protection Agency pledged to do a better job of protecting the 300,000 to 400,000 child farmworkers from threats including pesticide exposure, after a stinging new report from Human Rights Watch.

"For 100 years, Mexico City has flushed its wastewater north to irrigate the farmland of Hidalgo State. This foul cascade, which the farmers call 'the black waters,' flows through a latticework of canals and then trickles over the fields. So when word got out that the government was finally going to build a giant wastewater treatment plant, one might have expected the farmers around here to be excited. Instead, they were suspicious."

After years of heavy application of glyphosate (Roundup) herbicide, farmers are struggling with superweeds that have developed resistance.

"Urban farming is a growth industry in New York city's concrete jungle, and with little open land free agriculturalists and beekeepers have taken to the rooftops to pursue their passion."

"The alcohol in silage can drive significant ozone formation, exceeding the contribution from tailpipe emissions."

"The U.S. Supreme Court is considering genetically engineered crops for the first time, in a case that has divided conventional and organic farmers."

"A tiny Asian fly that is new to North America is threatening much of the West Coast fruit industry and has been detected in Florida too, warn state and federal agricultural experts."

"Nutrients in manure and synthetic fertilizers deplete oxygen in streams while fecal bacteria are posing health risks."
 

"Weeds are developing resistance to the herbicide that genetically engineered crops are designed to tolerate, finds the first major assessment of how biotech crops are affecting all U.S. farmers, released today by the National Research Council."

"The National Organic Program's failure to promptly follow through on investigations has allowed some companies to continue falsely advertising products as organic for years and let one company off the hook entirely, according to an audit released yesterday by the inspector general of the U.S. Agriculture Department."

"A federal judge on Tuesday said farmers could harvest their genetically engineered sugar beets this year, ruling that the economic impact would be too great if the crop were to be destroyed."

"Farmers say consolidation in the industry means they're forced to buy more costly seeds. But Monsanto, the world's largest seed firm, says competition 'is alive and flourishing.'"

Those who sold their land to the massive Premium Standard hog-feeding operation in northern Missouri or went to work for it loved it. Those whose property was next door generally did not.

"Natural food advocates are optimistic that the government is committed to a meaningful certification process. They point to an edict that livestock must graze on pasture at least four months a year."