PLANET IN PERIL

By Dennis Gruending A PinP photo. A man being described as a “farm czar,” owns 225,000 acres of Saskatchewan farmland. That is equal to the size of about 125 farms based on the average farm size in the province.  Is that what we want for rural Canada? Story here.

The Guardian A  seeder at work in Manitoba, CA. A PinP photo. Soils provide 95% of all food but are damaged by industrial, farming, mining and urban pollution.  Story here.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism Cattle in the Amazon.  How industrial food is devastating the planet and driving climate change.

Science Daily A river in west-central Manitoba, Canada. A PinP photo. Fertilizer pollution can have significant ripple effects in the food webs of streams and rivers, according to a new analysis of global data.  Story here.

by Larry Powell The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), a branch of the European Union,  has declared that  chlorothalonil  "may cause cancer in humans." Several of the agency's findings were based on tests with lab rats. But it obviously believes their metabolisms are sufficiently similar to ours to place  chlorothalonil   in  "carcinogenicity category  1B - may cause cancer in humans."                                                     Chlorothalonil  is the active ingredient in  several agricultural fungicides used  to treat mildew, blight and mold in many  crops.  According to  the newspaper, The Guardian,  it is the most widely-used  pesticide  in all of the UK and the the most popular  fungicide in  the U.S. It's been used, worldwide, since the '60s. A project based at Simon Fraser University,   CAREX,   reports that 581  tonnes  of  chlorothalonil  were sold in BC alone in 2010 and 1,121 ton

Decades of  research  - recently published - has found a significant link between a chronic loss of smell (olfactory impairment or "OI") among American farmers, and their high exposure to certain chemicals they applied to their fields. Far from being a minor ailment, "OI" has long been identified as one of the earliest and most important symptoms of several neurological diseases,  including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. by Larry Powell The human "olfactory" system governs  our sense of smell. Image - public domain. Beginning in the '90s, a team of US scientists surveyed more than 11 thousand farmers from Iowa and North Carolina. They were asked about their experiences with farm chemicals during their lifetimes. In 2015, there was a follow-up survey. Almost 12 hundred (10.6%) reported they had either lost, or significantly lost, their sense of smell. And those who reported incidents of unusually high exposure to pesticides during

nature Researchers caution that stem rust may have returned to world’s largest wheat-producing region. Details here. A healthy wheat field in Manitoba.  PinP  photo.   Related: The Fusarium-Glyphosate Connection (Video)

CountryGuide Even as the negative impacts of the great Green Revolution pile up, there is hope.  Story here.

Nation Of Change To the horror of farmers across America’s farm belt, hundreds of thousands of crop acres have been adversely impacted by the apparent misuse of the drift-prone herbicide dicamba onMonsanto’s Roundup Ready Xtend soybean and cotton plants. Story here.

EcoWatch The Anthropocene Epoch has begun, according to a group of experts assembled at the International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Africa this week. Story here.

Laura Rance - Manitoba Co-Operator  Canola field - PinP photo. The world is full of customers who think they are special. Story here.

Agro Pages Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced that the Government of Canada is investing over $980,000 in research to help drive innovation and profitability in the canola industry. Story here. RELATED:  Field of Nightmares: Ottawa promotes the use of Roundup by Canadian Farmers, Letting Corporate Seduction Trump Scientific Evidence.

New Internationalist That South American country has fought off big agribusiness and promoted agroecology, explains Nick Dearden. More here. North America, on the other hand, embraces "Big Ag,"  with its warts, excesses, hazards and all. PinP photo.

Common Dreams The industry 'fuels a model of agriculture that is destroying the planet,' report states. Details here.

Grainews Prairie farmers are spending more time and money on disease prevention than ever before. Story here.

La Via Campesina Peasant seeds – the pillar of food production – are under attack everywhere. Under corporate pressure, laws in many countries... Story here.  

Organic Consumers' Association A “Cow Palace” in Washington State threatens public health with its acres of untreated animal waste.  A city in Iowa spends nearly $1 million a year to keep… Story here.