Pesticides manufacturers asking feds for new review of chemical restrictions
The manufacturers of certain pesticides for agricultural use have written to the Trump administration asking that government studies showing that the chemicals harm protected species be set aside in favor of more public comment and study.
Record-setting rainfall for the last two weeks has dramatically impacted spring planting in Indiana, Missouri, Illinois and Ohio. Arkansas and Louisiana also saw record rainfalls, resulting in heavy flooding along river basins.
Floods in Illinois, Missouri briefly delay river shipping
Early last week Chapin farmer John Werries said a sizeable portion of his 3,800 acres of corn and soybeans near the Mississippi River bottoms turned into a large swimming pool, with “standing water everywhere.”
Deere/Precision Planting deal called off, under DOJ scrutiny
Any hope Deere and Co. had remaining to acquire central Illinois-based Precision Planting LLC – a specialty tillage equipment business owned by The Climate Corp. (TCC), a subsidiary of Monsanto – was plowed under when TCC terminated its agreement to sell the company to Moline-based Deere on May 1.
New Labor secretary tackles H2-A visas program, budget
s new U.S. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta settles into his new job, high on the agenda is a review of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) H-2A visa program for immigrant farm workers, and cuts of more than $2.5 billion to DOL’s $9.2 billion budget, including the elimination of long-supported jobs programs for rural America.
$1.1 trillion federal budget passes; shutdown averted
Farm and agriculture programs escaped the White House’s sharp knife days ago, after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a $1.1 trillion appropriations bill for 2017, averting another shutdown deadline and funding the federal government though September.
