agriculture and crop industry News

US Court Cancels Approvals for Widely Used Dicamba Weedkillers

A U.S. court has nullified the government’s latest approvals of certain agricultural weedkillers sold by Bayer, BASF and Syngenta, fueling uncertainty among farmers who spray the products on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. Environmental activists cheered the court for halting …

EU Recommends Ambitious 2040 Climate Target, Goes Light on Farming

The European Commission recommended on Tuesday that the EU slash net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, an ambitious target that will test political appetite for the region’s fight against climate change ahead of EU elections. Europe’s climate agenda …

French Farmers Head Home but Anger Spreads Elsewhere in Europe

Protesting farmers demanding just prices and less red tape blocked the border between Belgium and the Netherlands on Friday, whilst their peers in France started lifting blockades countrywide after the government made further concessions. Farmers’ protests have erupted in numerous …

Federal Crop Insurance Provides Billions in Profit for Insurers, Says USDA

Roughly one-third of U.S. government spending to insure the nation’s crops since 2011 has gone to insurance companies that derive more than $1 billion in profit from the program each year, according to a government watchdog’s report released on Monday. …

US Corn Harvest Is in Trouble

Sagging ears just short of maturity, cobs half bare of kernels as if nibbled, earth so dry that deep cracks criss-cross the fields: The US corn harvest is in trouble. The signs were already there in South Dakota. Scouts surveying …

China’s Wheat Growers Face ‘Disaster’ After Heavy Rain Batters Crop

After two weeks of continuous heavy rains, a farmer surnamed Chen in China’s Henan province surveys bent stalks of saturated wheat in sodden fields that will take days to dry out before harvesting can start. The rains are also causing …

Staff at Top US Farm Research Center File Complaint Alleging Unsafe Work Conditions

Three employees of the largest agricultural research facility in the U.S. have filed federal whistleblower complaints alleging that the facility’s conditions are hazardous to workers and undermine their research, even as farmers are facing pressing issues like climate change, according …

Ukraine Black Sea Grain Deal Extended for Two Months

The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as “good news for the world,” a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain …

Farmers Set to Abandon Wheat Crops at Highest Rate Since 1917

America’s wheat fields have become so plagued by drought that farmers are now poised to abandon crops at the highest rate in more than a century. Producers are expected to harvest about 67% of their planted acres, the US Department …

Viewpoint: Interest in America’s World-Class Crop Insurance Continues to Grow

Now standing firmly one month into 2023, we can look back at the previous year with pride that we were able to meet many of its challenges with the stability and confidence our agricultural community offers to help feed and …