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Hi, folks! Getting some contradictory information, and I know you guys can straighten me out. KS particularly and OK somewhat also, have been very wet all year. That's fine until it's time to harvest wheat. I'm hearing tales that the crop is so wet that it's starting to sprout from the head. Questions -- Is this true? Is the ground really that wet? It has looked for a couple of days after Friday that KS and OK are no precip with a nice breeze, but...who trusts weatherguessers, eh? If anyone would care to offer a local weather report, esp. regarding...

Pharmed food crop approved for growth despite controversy.Rice modified to express proteins often found in breast milk will be planted in Kansas. It's certainly not the first crop designed to produce pharmaceutical proteins given the go-ahead in the United States or elsewhere (see 'Turning plants into protein factories'). But this is among the first food crops containing genes that produce human proteins to gain approval for large-scale planting. Many other pharmaceutical genetically-modified (GM) crops are grown indoors or in inedible plants such as tobacco. The rice strains, made by Ventria Bioscience in Sacramento, California, produce lysozyme, lactoferrin and human serum...

Go to work, come home. Go to work -- and vanish without a trace. Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why. The phenomenon was noticed late last year in the United States, where honeybees are used to pollinate $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts and other crops annually. Disappearing bees also have been reported in Europe and Brazil. Commercial beekeepers would set their bees near a crop field as usual and come back in two or three weeks to find the hives bereft of foraging...

For a long time now, Americans have been told by the scientists who developed genetically modified (GM) crops and organisms that GM is safe and wonderful. This was done with the blessing of government regulators, such as the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was alleged that GM crops, such as Bt and Roundup Ready, to use the best known biotech products, are good for biodiversity, increase yields, are resistant to pests, reduce the need for pesticides, are more profitable for the farmers, and less labor intensive. But a close examination of...

Stepping into the middle of a growing debate, a freshman assemblyman has introduced legislation that would make companies developing genetically engineered crops liable for damages if their work results in contamination of other fields. The bill by Assemblyman Jared Huffman also would ban open-field production of genetically engineered crops used in the development of medications. And it would require growers to give county agriculture commissioners at least 30 days notice before engaging in open-field development of other genetically modified plants. Huffman, D-San Rafael, said the measure is needed to protect California farmers against significant losses if their conventional or organic...

Aid has cropped up for California workers and growers hurt by a devastating cold snap that froze more than $1 billion in crops and left thousands jobless. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Thursday he had issued an executive order to waive a one-week waiting period required before filing for unemployment. The frigid temperatures that dealt an $800 million blow to citrus growers and other industries earlier this month left more than 12,000 farm workers jobless. "This way we can provide quick help for the people who need help right way," the governor said during a visit to Tulare County where he...

RESNO, Calif. -- At first, Larry Ladd just let it go. But after the farmer caught six thieves plundering his walnut orchard in less than a day, he knew he had a problem. He's not the only one. As prices for almonds and walnuts rise with demand, a growing black market has emboldened nutnappers to cut holes in fences, sneak into distribution centers and drive off with truckloads of nuts. "At first, I'd just ask the deputy to impress upon them that this is the wrong thing to do," said Ladd. "But then it got ridiculous." California farmers like Ladd...

MARION — Farmers are angry about an increasing number of crop circles popping up in their fields, costing them time and money. The circles — crops that have been flattened to form geometric patterns — have nothing to do with supernatural or extraterrestrial beings. Farmers say it's probably rambunctious teenagers vandalizing their fields. "Aliens don't typically leave beer cans or tire tracks," said Ron Burkhart of Bucyrus, about 60 miles north of Columbus. About a dozen cases of crop circle vandalism have been reported in nearby Marion and Crawford counties. Bucyrus farmer Richard Grau said he's never seen more widespread...

EPA plans to phase out use of common pesticide on fruit, other crops 6/12/2006, 9:51 p.m. ET By GENE JOHNSON The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The federal government plans to phase out a common pesticide that has been used on apples, pears and other crops since the late 1950s, acting amid complaints from environmental groups that the chemical poisons farmworkers. The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it would end the use of azinphos-methyl beginning next year on nuts, nursery stocks and Brussels sprouts. The pesticide, also called AZM, would be banned on apples, blueberries, cherries, pears and parsley...

TIKRIT, Iraq, May 29, 2006 – Operation Barnstormer, part of the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry's program to protect key staple crops from insect damage, wrapped up yesterday with a final day of aerial spraying in the northern Iraqi province of Dahuk, Task Force Band of Brothers officials reported. Flying low to the ground, an airplane sprays pesticide on wheat crops in the northern Iraqi province of Dahuk. The spraying was part of the Ministry of Agriculture's Operation Barnstormer. U.S. Army photo   The operation began May 16 and covered most of the major agricultural areas in the Iraqi provinces of Karbala,...

US crops left to rot as Mexicans leave the fields for better-paid jobs Low pay, harsh conditions and security checks force immigrant workers into other sectors Dan Glaister in Calexico Saturday February 4, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Standing in the early morning darkness just 50 metres inside the United States, Roberto Camacho is doing his best to ward off the cold. Dressed in a black bomber jacket with a baseball cap pulled low over his brow, he shuffles from foot to foot as he waits for a lift to work. After 15 years working in the fields of California for...

Zimbabwe crops fail despite good rain By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 01/02/2006) Food crops in Zimbabwe have failed again despite ample rainfall. Zimbabwe is expected this year to grow less than half of what it needs to feed the population and the rains have denied President Robert Mugabe his standard explanation of poor weather for slumping production. Foreign exchange-earning crops, such as tobacco, flowers and coffee, are now almost too small to count. More than 20 million acres of Zimbabwe's well-developed agricultural land has been confiscated from about 4,000 experienced white farmers since 2000 and handed to Mr Mugabe's...

This month will be important for the future of agricultural biotechnology in Europe. A World Trade Organization panel is expected to deliver in the next few days its long-awaited verdict on a trade dispute brought by a coalition of countries, including the U.S., Canada and Argentina, against the EU over its continued resistance to the authorization of genetically modified seeds. And while that decision -- whichever way it goes -- will have far-reaching implications for the future of agricultural biotechnology on the Continent, when seen in the context of the global biotech landscape, Europe's continued ambivalence toward this technology seems...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.Unilever will move work to its facility in Stockton The Unilever tomato processing plant on Ashby Road in Merced will close its doors next summer, leaving more than 100 employees without jobs. The plant, which has manufactured tomato paste and Ragu and Bertolli sauces since 1974, will stop production by June 30, 2006, according to the Netherlands-based corporation. The plant employs 124 full-time workers and 228 seasonal employees during the summer harvest season. "We will do everything we can to place them with other Unilever sites," Operations Manager Larry Pitts said. Unilever...

It's the middle of harvest season for California raisin grapes, and only half of the farmworkers needed are in the fields. What holds for raisin grapes is happening widely in California agriculture. In the Central Valley alone, there is a shortage of from 70,000 to 80,000 workers to bring fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables to market, according to an estimate by the trade association Western Growers. Some growers are planting fewer acres than normal as they scramble to save the season. Western Growers is worried that the lack of workers -- mostly immigrants from Mexico and Central America -- could...

On top of a severe drought, France is fighting a plague of hundreds of thousands of locusts. The locusts are devouring everything from crops to window-box flowers, reported the Observer. The French environment ministry said drought could be felt across most of France, but it mostly impacted from the Atlantic Ocean to Paris. "There is nothing we can do for the 700 or 800 farmers affected," said Patrice Lemoux, an agriculture official. "The locust has no known predator and the only insecticides which might make a difference are banned."

Scientists have begun mixing human genes with rice in an attempt to take genetically modified crops to the next level. Researchers have inserted into rice a gene from the human liver that produces an enzyme which is good at breaking down harmful chemicals in the human body. They hope the enzyme, CYP2B6, will do the same to herbicides and pollutants when combined with rice. But anti-GM campaigners say using human genes will scare off consumers worried about cannibalism and the idea of scientists playing God. Sue Mayer of GeneWatch UK said: 'I don't think anyone will want to buy this...

Cool summer, bright days led to the highest crop yields ever in the US. Not a good omen for the chicken little crowd. See the article at Science Daily.

The Congress of Racial Equality’s recent conference, video and commentary on agricultural biotechnology* presented personal testimonials from African farmers whose lives have been improved by GM crops, impressive data on progress, and a message of hope for poor, malnourished people in developing countries. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. But not from all quarters. Predictably, anti-GM zealots continue to offer a steady stream of unsupported and unsupportable invective. To hear them tell it, biotechnology is a "scourge" that will do nothing to save lives or reduce poverty and malnutrition. "Evil multinationals" like Monsanto are determined to impose "a new form...

Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Ruth Oniango has a dream. A member of Kenya’s parliament, she dreams of the day when the people of her poor country "can feed themselves." Congress of Racial Equality national chairman Roy Innis shares that vision. But he also knows the obstacles. "Over 70 percent of Africans are employed in farming full time," he points out. "Yet, half of those countries rely on emergency food aid. Within 10 years, Africa will be home to three-fourths of the world’s hungry people." Many of the continent’s farmers are women who labor sunup to sundown on 3...