Agriculture

"Up to 17 percent of the planet’s agricultural land may be contaminated by toxic heavy metals, a new study has found. As many as 1.4 billion people reside in areas with soil dangerously polluted with compounds like arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel and lead, according to the study, published in Science."

"“Off spec” liquid from Winston Weaver fertilizer fire that was applied on a nearby farm field contained toxic PFAS."

"Besieged by thousands of lawsuits alleging that its paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s disease, Syngenta has entered into an agreement aimed at settling large swaths of those claims."

"When President Donald Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his choice to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services, one group of health researchers was cautiously optimistic that their cause would finally have a champion at the highest levels of government: those focused on food and nutrition."

"The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed a major change to how threatened species are considered in agency actions by removing regulatory language that seeks to prevent their habitats from being degraded."

"In the state with the second-highest cancer rate in the nation, the legislation would have made it harder for residents to sue pesticide companies for illnesses linked to their products."

"Experts say the drop in abundance is largely due to chemical use, habitat loss, and a warming climate"

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday said it had canceled a $3 billion program for climate-smart farming projects after a review found it did not align with the priorities of the Trump administration."

"Mexico will make an immediate water delivery to Texas farmers to help make up its shortfall under a treaty that has strained US relations and prompted tariff threats by Donald Trump, said Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Friday."