Agriculture

"Environmentalists are giving Gov. Peter Shumlin early accolades for his proposal to reduce the amount of phosphorus running into Lake Champlain. But a prominent agriculture group says the plan to clean up the lake might end up hurting the farms that operate near it."

"The trade in bees used for honey or to pollinate crops could have a devastating impact on wild bees and other insects, say scientists."

"A U.S. federal court has ruled for the first time that manure from livestock facilities can be regulated as solid waste, a decision hailed by environmentalists as opening the door to potential legal challenges against facilities across the country."

"California farmers must restrict their use of a tear gas-like pesticide applied to strawberries and other crops under new rules designed to protect farmworkers and people who live, work and go to school near agricultural fields."

"New legislation to allow member states of the European Union to restrict or ban the cultivation of crops containing genetically modified organisms on their own territory, even if this is allowed at the EU level, was passed by the European Parliament on Tuesday."

"On the face of it, the new potato varieties called "Innate" seem attractive. If you peel the brown skin off their white flesh, you won't find many unsightly black spots. And when you fry them, you'll probably get a much smaller dose of a potentially harmful chemical.:"

"An insecticide used on corn and other U.S. crops poses health risks to workers who mix and apply it and also can contaminate drinking water, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report released this week."

"Iowa’s largest water utility may soon file a lawsuit challenging the state’s voluntary approach to dealing with farm fertilizer run-off."

"Bacteria that is destroying ancient olive groves in the Apulia region of southern Italy is very likely to spread to other areas of Europe, says report."