The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) has released the results of its first ever Honey Bee Colony Loss survey, which queried the nation’s honey beekeepers about the number of colonies, colonies lost, colonies added, and colonies affected by certain stressors and gleans state-level estimates on key honey bee health topics. Survey results will help to … Read More
EPA Concludes Glyphosate Doesn’t Cause Cancer
In the ongoing registration review of herbicides, the EPA has placed glyphosate in the “Not Likely to be Carcinogenic to Humans” category. This assessment was posted to the website on Friday, April 29, but taken down on Monday, May 2 with no explanation. Monsanto is currently questioning the EPA about the removal, but the report is also accessible from Bloomberg. … Read More
NCGA Asks EPA to Delay Pesticide Review
The EPA has scheduled an April 19-21 meeting of the Science Advisory Panel to review the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Forty-two ag groups, including the National Corn Growers Association, have responded to this action by sending a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. The organizations say the meeting was “hastily called” and is an attempt to “fundamentally alter [the … Read More
Bayer Seeks Hearing on Pesticide
Bayer is taking its disagreement with the Environmental Protection Agency over registrations for the pesticide flubendiamide, marketed as Belt® in the United States, to the administrative level. This week, the company formally requested a hearing before EPA’s Administrative Law Judge to argue their case. Bayer has already rejected a request by EPA to voluntarily withdraw registration for flubendiamide-containing products, which … Read More
Ag Groups Ask to Join EPA Lawsuit
The American Soybean Association as well as CropLife America, the American Seed Trade Association, the Agricultural Retailers Association, the National Cotton Council of America, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Corn Growers Association have joint an industry coalition and petitioned a federal court to allow them to join the Anderson v. McCarthy lawsuit. The suit, brought to … Read More
EPA Moves to Cancel Flubendiamide
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week issued a notice of intent to cancel all flubendiamide products “that pose a risk to aquatic invertebrates that are important to the health of aquatic environments.” Flubendiamide is an insecticide marketed commercially by Bayer under the trade name Belt, and also by Nichino America as Tourismo and Vetica. Both companies rejected a recent … Read More
House Ag Grills EPA Chief on WOTUS
During a hearing on Wednesday, House Agriculture Committee members questioned EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, on the agency’s overreaching, burdensome regulations and policies such as the “waters of the United States” rule, and proposed changes to the ozone standard and pesticide uses. “America’s farmers, ranchers, and foresters are the original conservationists who take great pride in their stewardship of the land. … Read More
WOTUS Strikes Back
Farmers and ranchers will need the force to be with them as the EPA has struck back with an even more extreme version of the Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS). Known as the Chesapeake Blueprint, the new rules will severely regulate and burden farms, possibly removing thousands of acres from production agriculture. The American Farm Bureau Federation is once … Read More
AFBF Urges Representatives To Disapprove WOTUS
The Waters of the U.S. rule is still very much a main topic in 2016. The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support S.J. Res. 22, a resolution to disapprove the Waters of the U.S. rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers. “The EPA rule poses a … Read More
EPA Releases Risk Assessments for Insecticides
Today the EPA announced a preliminary pollinator risk assessment for the neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, which, according to the assessment, is a threat to some pollinators. EPA’s assessment, prepared in collaboration with California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, indicates that imidacloprid potentially poses risk to hives when the pesticide comes in contact with certain crops that attract pollinators. “Delivering on the President’s … Read More