EPA Cancels Dicamba Registration – June 9, 2020

EPA cancels dicamba registration, allows use of the weedkiller until July 31

 

Farmers and pesticide applicators can use the weedkiller dicamba until July 31, the EPA announced on Monday as it canceled its approval of the herbicide, as required by an appellate court decision announced last week. The so-called existing stocks order will allow use of the chemical on GE cotton and soybeans this crop year — the goal of farmers facing the loss of a potent weed control tool with the growing season already underway.

 

 

 

 

Ranchers, labor union call for stronger Covid-19 protections for meatpacking workers

 

As Covid-19 spreads in meatpacking plants across the country, a number of groups representing ranchers and farmers have joined with a key labor union to call for stronger protections for meatpacking workers. The alliance comes as the tally of meat industry workers who have contracted the disease approaches 25,000, even as companies restrict information about outbreaks at their facilities.

 

Global cotton stockpiles rise as pandemic curtails usage

Between stay-at-home orders and massive job losses due to the coronavirus, consumers are shunning apparel purchases, with the impact being felt all the way to the farm level, said the International Cotton Advisory Council on Monday.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Iowa leads coronavirus payments (USDA): A weekly tally showed that 80,261 producers had received $1.4 billion in coronavirus relief payments as of Monday, with five states collecting one-third of the money: Iowa ($112.1 million), Wisconsin ($108.1 million), Nebraska ($99.1 million), Illinois ($94.7 million), and Kansas ($90.4 million).

 

 

Food banks overwhelmed (Politico): The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying massive unemployment have “pushed the nation’s network of food banks to the brink” and led to calls for an increase in SNAP benefits.

 

 

Meat plant outbreaks double (USA Today): “Despite widespread implementation of protective measures like temperature checks, plastic barriers, and social distancing,” the number of coronavirus cases linked to meatpacking plants has doubled since President Trump signed an executive order directing the plants to operate during the pandemic.

 

 

‘Heroic ducks’ to battle locusts (BBC): To counter swarms of locusts attacking crops in Pakistan, Chinese researchers are considering the deployment of 100,000 ducks, which are easier to control than chickens and each able to eat 200 locusts a day.

 

 

USDA-FDA funding bill to move soon (Hagstrom Report): The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture will vote on the USDA-FDA funding bill for fiscal 2021 during the final week of June, said a press aide to the panel.

 

Top editor resigns at Bon Appétit (New York Times): Adam Rapoport, the editor in chief of Bon Appétit magazine since 2010, resigned shortly after a photo of him wearing brownface was circulated online and some of the publication’s staff and contributors called for him to step down.

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