(Beyond Pesticides, July 26, 2012) The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced this week that it is formally deregulating a line of sugar beets genetically engineered (GE) to resist applications of the herbicide glyphosate. Developed by chemical and seed giant Monsanto Co., the new sugar beets, referred to [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 17th, 2012) On July 8, The New York Times ran an article indicting the organic food industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculgture (USDA) for their involvement in advancing a number of standards, practices, and decisions allowed under the organic label. The Times piece, “Has ‘Organic’ Been Oversized?,” written by Stephanie Strom [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 2, 2012) The French Ministry of Agriculture has issued a ban on the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam due to concerns over the chemical’s impacts on pollinators, especially honey bees. The pesticide product containing thiamethoxam, Cruiser OSR, is manufactured by Swiss chemical giant Syngenta and has been used as a seed treatment on canola [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 22, 2012) In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) met to decide on a range of issues concerning allowable materials and practices in certified organic farming. The recommendations adopted by the board have been sent on to USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) for incorporation into federal regulations. [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 8, 2012) The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) has published a final rule in the Federal Register officially codifying into federal regulations changes to organic standards that were recommended by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) over the past year and a half. The changes to the National [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 30, 2012) A settlement between plaintiffs and the manufacturer of the endocrine disrupting herbicide atrazine, Syngenta, will pay $105 million to settle a nearly 8-year-old lawsuit and could help reimburse community water systems (CWS) in 45 states that have had to filter the toxic chemical from its drinking water, according to news [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2012) American farmers are growing increasingly more frustrated with the lack of commercially available seeds that have not been pretreated with pesticides. Farmers across the Midwest have called on federal officials this week to provide greater access to seeds without pesticide treatments. The request comes as scientists and beekeepers highlight the [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 9, 2012) In what is being presented as “a clear risk to British farming,” protesters in the United Kingdom have organized a campaign to protest field sites being used to test a new strain of genetically modified (GM) wheat. The industry developing the GM wheat is asking the campaigners not to ruin [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 7, 2012) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has quarantined a second California farm as part of its ongoing investigation into a confirmed incidence of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), first reported on April 24. USDA quarantined the second farm because it is operated in close association with the dairy that housed the [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 25, 2012) Researchers at Portland State University have found that the cultivation of corn genetically engineered (GE) to express the insecticidal soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has negative impacts on beneficial soil life. The research team, led by PhD student Tanya Cheeke, was interested in determining whether the cultivation of Bt corn [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 23, 2012) A diverse coalition of farm groups has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact statement on the cumulative effects of a new generation of genetically engineered (GE) crops modified to tolerate the herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba. The Save Our Crops Coalition filed the petition [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 20, 2012) The public comment period on proposals from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) regarding updates to standards governing organic food and farming remain open until then end of Thursday May 3, 2012. Beyond Pesticides has updated our Keeping Organic Strong web page with information on a number of issues that [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 10, 2012) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened the public comment period on proposals from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) prior to the board’s spring meeting on May 22-25, 2012 in Albuquerque, NM. The proposals will be open for public input until 11:59pm Thursday, May 3, 2012. The documents [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 26, 2012) Organic and sustainable agriculture advocates achieved a milestone victory on March 23 when a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must act promptly to determine whether to ban subtherapeutic uses of antibiotics in livestock. The ruling is the latest step in a regulatory process that [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 7, 2012) Researchers in Europe have found that the insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) when incorporated into genetically engineered (GE) plants, and the herbicide glyphosate, used widely with GE glyphosate-tolerant crops, are toxic to human cells, disputing commonly held assertions by regulators and the chemical industry that these substances are entirely harmless to [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2012) A study by researchers at the University of Padova in Italy and published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology has confirmed the findings of previous research showing that honey bees are exposed to toxic neonicotinoid insecticides during spring seed planting. Neonicotinoids are known to be highly toxic to honey [...]

Beyond Pesticides, February 21, 2012) Last week, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors urged California Governor Jerry Brown to reconsider the state’s approval of the carcinogenic fumigant methyl iodide. Monterey County, one of the largest agricultural counties in California, joins Santa Cruz County in mounting pressure to re-examine the controversial decision to approve the toxic [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 25, 2012) Apple growers in Michigan are seeking a Section 18 emergency exemption from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an unregistered pesticide to curb fire blight on 10,000 acres of apples trees that are susceptible to a deadly disease. Even though Section 18 exemptions from federal pesticide law are only [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 20, 2012) A California Superior Court Judge has questioned whether the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) complied with its legal obligation to consider alternative options before approving use of the toxic fumigant methyl iodide in 2010. Judge Frank Roesch raised the concern in comments from the bench during a January 13 [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 17, 2011) The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) Board of Directors announced last week that it will invest $50,640 in four new grants to improve the success of organic farmers. The projects include helping organic growers to increase yields while decreasing nitrogen and impacts on surrounding waterways, preventing organic seed-producing crops from [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 13, 2012) A U.S. District Judge in San Francisco has issued a ruling finding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to deregulate genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa was not unlawful, as has been charged by organic and environmental advocates, including Beyond Pesticides. Judge Samuel Conti of the U.S. District Court for [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 12, 2012) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it will step up testing for a fungicide not registered for use in the U.S. that has been found in low levels in orange juice. The fungicide, carbendazim, does not have any food tolerances and thus its presence in orange juice is [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 11, 2012) On January 10, beekeepers from across the country gathered at a national conference, with environmental organizations at their side, to draw attention to the growing plight facing their industry –the decline of honey bees, a problem that has far reaching implications for the U.S. economy. The disappearance of the bees [...]