(Dave Bedard photo)

Several U.S. scientists to skip Monsanto’s dicamba summit

Chicago | Reuters — Monsanto invited dozens of weed scientists to a summit this week to win backing for a controversial herbicide but many have declined, threatening the company’s efforts to convince regulators the product is safe to use. Monsanto faces a barrage of lawsuits over its dicamba herbicide and risks of tighter restrictions on […] Read more

BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)

U.S. EPA aims to allow dicamba use, with safeguards

Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to allow farmers to spray the controversial herbicide dicamba next year, but with additional rules for its use, an official with the agency said on Tuesday. Reuben Baris, acting chief of the herbicide branch of the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs, said the agency […] Read more

(Arkansas.gov/government)

Monsanto presses against Arkansas’ dicamba limits

Chicago | Reuters — Monsanto Co. pushed Arkansas authorities on Thursday to reject a proposed April 15 cutoff date next year for sprayings of the agricultural herbicide dicamba, which has been linked to crop damage across the U.S. farm belt. The company further said that Arkansas’ plant board should allow farmers in the state to […] Read more


Photo: iStock

Court decision may boost biofuels, hit refiners

New York / Reuters – The U.S. government may have to require more biofuels to be blended into the country’s fuel supply after a court ruled on Friday that the mandates must be reconsidered, a decision that boosted renewable fuel credits to seven-month highs on financial markets. The decision sank stock prices of independent refiners […] Read more


Photo: iStock

U.S. senators seek ban on pesticide chlorpyrifos

New York / Reuters – A group of Democratic senators hopes to ban a pesticide the U.S. government has greenlighted for use, according to a bill unveiled on Tuesday in a challenge to Republican President Donald Trump’s push to loosen environmental regulations. The bill, introduced by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, would outlaw chlorpyrifos, […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Monsanto ghostwrote Roundup studies, plaintiffs in U.S. suit say

Reuters — Employees of Monsanto ghostwrote scientific reports that U.S. regulators relied on to determine that a chemical in its Roundup herbicide does not cause cancer, farmers and others suing the company claimed in court filings. The documents, made public Tuesday, are part of a mass litigation in federal court in San Francisco claiming Monsanto […] Read more


RFA CEO Bob Dinneen, shown here last March in New Orleans, has said the group is optimistic for biofuel’s prospects under a Trump administration. (EthanolRFA.org)

U.S. ethanol sector pumped on Trump

San Diego | CNS Canada — “Building partnerships and growing markets” was the theme of the National Ethanol Conference in San Diego — a theme members of the U.S. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) believe aligns well with an increased focus on national security and protectionist policies under new President Donald Trump. Speaking Tuesday, the head […] Read more