The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

Sri Lanka’s ban on agrochemicals lowers suicide rates, earning “Policy Oscar”

The country of Sri Lanka has received the Future Policy Special Award 2021 from Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific. The award recognized two policies that were instrumental in banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HPPs), chemicals responsible for thousands of suicides in the country. Five winners of the award—the “Oscar on Best Policies”—were chosen from 55 policies […]

Changes in farming practices could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2036

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory participated in a study that shows innovation in technologies and agricultural practices could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from grain production by up to 70% within the next 15 years. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identifies a combination of […]

U.S. beekeepers report second highest colony losses ever—with pesticides as major culprit

The Bee Informed Partnership reported in June the second-highest annual losses of honeybee colonies for the second year running. A preliminary report reveals that beekeepers lost nearly half (45.5%) of their colonies over the past year. Agricultural pesticides are a key driver of population decline for honeybees and other pollinators, like native bees and butterflies. […]

Missouri farmers embrace cover crops with federal and state assistance

Cover cropping is known to prevent soil erosion and create efficient water cycles, and Missouri farmers are seeing the benefits. The 2017 Census of Agriculture highlighted cover crops as the third most planted crop in the state. Cover crop acreage has doubled in five years, to 850,000 acres. Corn and soybean farmer John Hemme cites […]

Conservationists and farmers sue over Trump administration removal of most GMO regulations

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and allied plaintiffs recently filed a new federal lawsuit challenging the 2020 decision by the Trump administration’s Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) to eliminate most genetically modified organism oversight, including future GMO crops, trees, and grasses. Previously nearly all GMO plants had to go through formal USDA approval before open […]