Tag Archives: Monsanto

Ace Worldwide News Group 15:00 on 20/12/2021
Tags: , , , , , , , , Monsanto   

(LOS ANGELES) Justice Dept Court Report: Monsanto Agrees to Plead Guilty to Illegally Using Pesticide at Corn Growing Fields in Hawaii and to Pay Additional $12 Million under DPA #AceNewsDesk report

#AceNewsReport – Dec20: Monsanto admitted in a plea agreement filed today that it committed 30 misdemeanor crimes related to the use of a glufosinate ammonium-based product sold under the brand name Forfeit 280. After using the product in 2020 on corn fields on Oahu, Monsanto allowed workers to enter the fields during a six-day “restricted-entry interval” (REI) after the product was applied.

#AceDailyNews DOJ Court Report: Company also Agrees to Plead Guilty to Felony Offenses Related to Banned Pesticide Alleged in $10 Million Deferred Prosecution Agreement Filed in 2019

LOS ANGELES – In court documents filed today in Hawaii, Monsanto Company agreed to plead guilty to 30 environmental crimes related to the use of a pesticide on corn fields in Hawaii, and the company further agreed to plead guilty to two other charges related to the storage of a banned pesticide that were the subject of a 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).

          The plea agreement calls for Monsanto to serve three years of probation, pay a total of $12 million and continue for another three years a comprehensive environmental compliance program that includes third-party auditor.

          As a result of the conduct in which Monsanto allowed workers on 30 occasions to enter fields sprayed with Forfeit 280 during the REI, the company violated a 2019 DPA related to the storage of a banned pesticide. According to the documents filed today, Monsanto will plead guilty to two felony charges filed in 2019 that the government would have dismissed if the company had complied with federal law. In conjunction with the DPA related to the two felony charges of illegally storing an acute hazardous waste, Monsanto pleaded guilty in early 2020 to a misdemeanor offense of unlawfully spraying a banned pesticide – specifically methyl parathion, the active ingredient in Penncap-M – on research crops at one of its facilities on Maui.

          “Monsanto is a serial violator of federal environmental laws,” said United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “The company repeatedly violated laws related to highly regulated chemicals, exposing people to pesticides that can cause serious health problems.”

          “The defendant in this case failed to follow regulations governing the storage of hazardous wastes and the application of pesticides, putting people and the environment at risk,” said Scot Adair, Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal enforcement program in Hawaii. “Today’s plea agreement shows that EPA will hold responsible those who violate laws designed to protect communities from exposure to hazardous chemicals.”

          In the new case filed today, Monsanto admitted that “due to a lack of oversight and supervision by Monsanto,” its workers violated a change to the REI period after the spraying of Forfeit 280 “by entering the fields 30 times to perform field-corn scouting within six days of spraying.” (“Corn scouting” consists of checking the corn for things such as weeds, insects and disease.) The REI change for Forfeit 280 – which was extended from 12 hours to six days – was part of an industry-wide change for products containing glufosinate ammonium prompted by an EPA decision in late 2016.

          Monsanto admitted that it violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which regulates the registration, sale, distribution and use of pesticides, by failing to comply with Forfeit 280’s labeling. The label for Forfeit 280 stated: “It is a violation of Federal law to use Forfeit 280 in a manner inconsistent with its label.” Monsanto illegally used Forfeit 280 on Oahu facilities known as Lower Kunia and Haleiwa.

          In the 2019 case related to Penncap-M, Monsanto pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of unlawfully spraying the banned pesticide on corn seed and research crops at its Valley Farm facility on Maui in 2014. Monsanto admitted using Penncap-M in violation of FIFRA, even though the company knew its use was prohibited after 2013 pursuant to a “cancellation order” issued by the EPA. The company further admitted that, after the 2014 spraying, it told employees to re-enter the sprayed fields seven days later – even though Monsanto knew that workers should have been prohibited from entering the area for 31 days.

          The felony offenses covered by the DPA – the two charges to which Monsanto will plead guilty – are the unlawful storage of an acute hazardous waste in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Penncap-M was a “restricted use pesticide” that could not be purchased or used by the public, and it could only be used by a certified applicator because of the possible adverse effects to the environment and injury to applicators or bystanders that could result.

          From March 2013 through August 2014, even though the pesticide was on the company’s lists of chemicals that needed disposal, Monsanto stored 160 pounds of Penncap-M hazardous waste at a facility on Molokai, which made Monsanto a “Large Quantity Generator” of hazardous waste under RCRA. “Monsanto knew that Penncap-M had the substantial potential to be harmful to others and to the environment,” it admitted in the documents filed today.

          In addition to spraying the banned pesticide at one of its three facilities on Maui, Monsanto also stored a total of 111 gallons of Penncap-M at Valley Farm and two other sites known as Maalaea and Piilani. Just like on Molokai, the storage of Penncap-M at the three Maui sites made Monsanto a “Large Quantity Generator” of acute hazardous waste at the three locations, according to court documents.

          Furthermore, when it transported Penncap-M to its Valley Farm site in 2014, the company violated federal law when it failed to use a proper shipping manifest to identify the hazardous material and when it failed to obtain a permit to accept hazardous waste at that site.

          In relation to the DPA and the prior guilty plea, Monsanto paid $10.2 million – a $6 million criminal fine under the DPA, a $200,000 fine for the FIFRA offense, and $4 million in community service payments to Hawaiian government entities.

          In the plea agreement filed today, Monsanto agreed to pay another $6 million criminal fine, as well as an addition $6 million in community service payments. Four Hawaiian agencies will receive $1.5 million payments:

  • The Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Use Revolving Fund – Pesticide Disposal Program/Pesticide Safety Training;
  • the Department of the Attorney General, Criminal Justice/Investigations Division;
  • the Department of Health, Environmental Management Division, to support environmental-health programs; and
  • the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources.

          As a result of the two actions taken by the Justice Department, Monsanto has agreed to pay a total of $22.2 million for the two RCRA felonies and the 31 FIFRA misdemeanor offenses.

          Monsanto has agreed to have representatives appear in United States District Court in the near future to enter guilty pleas to a total of 32 offenses.

          The sentence detailed in the court documents today are subject to the approval of United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright.

          This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division.

This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Erik M. Silber and Dennis Mitchell of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section and Mark A. Williams, Chief of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section. In this case, these prosecutors are acting as special attorneys appointed by the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii was recused from this investigation.Thom Mrozek Director of Media Relations thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov (213) 894-6947

#AceNewsDesk report …………Published: Dec.20: 2021:

Editor says …Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency is not responsible for the content of external site or from any reports, posts or links, and can also be found here on Telegram: https://t.me/acenewsdaily all of our posts fromTwitter can be found here: https://acetwitternews.wordpress.com/ and all wordpress and live posts and links here: https://acenewsroom.wordpress.com/and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and free help and guidance tips on your PC software or need help & guidance from our experts AcePCHelp.WordPress.Com

#court, #doj, #dpa, #guilty, #los-angeles, #monsanto

Ace Worldwide News Group 13:00 on 27/03/2021
Tags: , , Bayer AG, , Monsanto   

(NEW DELHI, India.) JUST IN: Bayer AG said on Friday it had reached an “amicable settlement” in its #Monsanto unit’s long-running intellectual property dispute with Indian seed maker Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL) over genetically modified cotton seeds #AceNewsDesk report

#AceNewsReport – Mar.27: Bayer’s Monsanto, India’s NSL settle long-running GM cotton seed dispute: In a statement to Reuters, the German company said it had resolved “outstanding issues and differences” over the dispute, giving no further details: Two sources familiar with the matter said the companies had reached a legal settlement that would end all ongoing litigation.

‘Mahyco #Monsanto Biotech (India) (MMB), a joint venture between Monsanto and India’s Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co (Mahyco) had been at loggerheads with the NSL and the Indian government over how much it could charge for its genetically modified cotton seeds’ NSL did not immediately respond to a request for comment: https://t.me/reuters_news_agency/70072

Reuters Wire News, [Mar 26, 2021 at 3:46 PM]

The dispute triggered a clutch of legal cases, antitrust investigations and orders against Monsanto from the farm ministry, costing Monsanto tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue each year and eventually drawing in the Indian and U.S. governments. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

One of the sources with direct knowledge said the companies had been in talks for more than a month, and that the settlement efforts were being handled by Bayer.

“It was a very big dispute … This will be relief for both,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Bayer spokesman said the company looked forward to working collaboratively with all stakeholders for the benefit of Indian agriculture, but did not elaborate.

New Delhi approved the first GM cotton seed trait in 2003 and an upgraded variety in 2006, helping transform India into the world’s top producer and second-largest exporter of the fibre. Monsanto’s GM cotton seed technology went on to dominate 90% of India’s cotton acreage.

NSL, which produces GM cotton seeds, stopped paying royalties to Monsanto in 2015, arguing that Indian law did not grant Monsanto patent protection for the seeds. The companies have been entangled in litigation ever since.

#AceNewsDesk report ………Published: Mar.27: 2021:

Editor says #AceNewsDesk reports by https://t.me/acenewsdaily and all our posts, also links can be found at here for Twitter and Live Feeds https://acenewsroom.wordpress.com/ and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and free help and guidance tips on your PC software or need help & guidance from our experts AcePCHelp.WordPress.Com

#bayer-ag, #india

Ace Worldwide News Group 13:35 on 14/11/2019
Tags: , , , , Monsanto, ,   

(BERLIN, Germany.) Lawsuits Report: Bayer ‘ rise over claims that subsidiary ‘ Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup ‘ causes cancer risks associated with its glyphosate-based weedkillers #AceNewsDesk reports

 #AceNewsReport – Nov.14: More than 42,000 plaintiffs have joined lawsuits against German chemical giant Bayer, blaming the company’s glyphosate-based weedkiller for their cancer: The number of plaintiffs, largely brought by US citizens, is now at 42,700 — more than double the 18,400 reported in the middle of July, Bayer announced on Wednesday.

DW Reports: The legal cases all concern Roundup, a weedkiller with controversial active ingredient glyphosate: “This significant increase is clearly driven by the plaintiff-side television advertising spend which is estimated to have roughly doubled in the third quarter compared with the entire first half of the year,” Bayer said in a statement: “However, the number of lawsuits says nothing about their merits,” it added: Claims against the company gathered momentum following a lawsuit in August 2018 that found Monsanto, a Bayer subsidiary, should have warned of alleged cancer risks associated with its glyphosate-based weedkillers: Read the Full Article The Guardian news, [Nov 10, 2019 at 07:20] Thailand wants to ban these three pesticides: The US government says no | Carey Gillam reported that The Trump administration is putting profits before people by pressuring the country not to ban harmful chemicals made by Dow, Syngenta and MonsantoYou know it’s a dark day for America when foreign leaders have to lecture US officials about the importance of prioritising public health over corporate profits.Yet that is what is happening now, as the Trump administration pressures Thailand not to ban three pesticides that scientific research has shown to be particularly dangerous to children and other vulnerable populations. Continue reading…here ……………………..https://clck.ru/JsP4W #

#Health #Thailand #Monsanto #Agriculture #Pesticides

AceNewsDesk reports …………Published: Nov.14: 2019: 

Editor says #AceNewsDesk reports are provided by Sterling Publishing & Media News here: https://t.me/SterlingPublishingPanel  and all our posts, links can be found at here Live Feeds https://acenewsroom.wordpress.com/ and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and free help and guidance tips on your PC software or need help & guidance from our experts AcePCHelp.WordPress.Com or you can follow our breaking news posts as a member on Telegram https://t.me/acebreakingnews 
Ace Worldwide News Group 20:17 on 31/08/2016
Tags: Monsanto,   

#WikiLeaks – Uncovers the company that was purchased by #Monsanto to acquire the patent to aspartame in 1985 and begin poisoning people with the words ‘ Sweetener ‘ Not Sugar it’s better for you and neither white sugar or aspartame is good for you – @AceNewsServices

#AceNewsReport – Aug.31: In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active… fb.me/85nfFpsgH

16c69926f9a148236dfc7b58deeff018_normal.png The WikiLeaks Party (@WikiLeaksParty)
29/08/2016, 20:46
In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active… fb.me/85nfFpsgH

image1478
image2107
image31
image48

Editors Notes:

I would remind you that this blog is produced free for the public good and you are welcome to republish or re-use this article or any other material freely anywhere without requesting further permission.

News & Views welcome always published as long as NO bad language or is not related to subject matter.

To keep online information secure, experts recommend keeping your social media accounts private, changing your passwords often, and never answering unsolicited emails or phone calls asking for your personal information. Need help and guidance visit https://acepchelp.wordpress.com and leave a comment or send a private message on Telegram @Aceone31

Ace News Services Site Links Listed Here:

AceTweet This News

#monsanto, #wikileaks

Ace Worldwide News Group 21:09 on 16/06/2015
Tags: , Monsanto   

FRANCE: ‘ Stop Over-Counter-Sales of #Monsanto Weed Killer – Minster States ‘

#AceNewsReport – FRANCE:June.16: ‘Stop over-the-counter sales of #Monsanto’s weed killer’ – French minister to garden shops

June 14, 2015 20:37

Reuters / Emmanuel Foudrot

French environment and energy minister Segolene Royal has asked garden centers to stop self-service sales of #Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer to fight the harmful effects of pesticide.

“France must be offensive on stopping pesticides,” Segolene Royal told France 3 television on Sunday. “I have asked garden shops to stop over-the-counter sales of #Monsanto’s Roundup.

The US agribusiness giant’s weed killer came back under scrutiny in March, after its main active ingredient, glyphosate, was branded “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Earlier this month, the French consumer association CLCV asked authorities to ban glyphosate herbicides, which are used domestically by amateur gardeners in France.

On Thursday Royal and the Minister of Agriculture made a joint statement announcing that phytosanitary products used to control plant diseases would only be available to amateur gardeners “through an intermediary or a certified seller” from January 2018.

Read More:>>>>

@AceNewsServices

Ace Worldwide News

#gmo

Ace Worldwide News Group 18:59 on 17/09/2014
Tags: , , , , Monsanto, ,   

UNITED STATES: Bill Gates Owns Patent to Ebola Vaccine and All Other Related Vaccines ‘

#AceNewsServices – UNITED STATES – September 17 – This is post from a fellow blogger and writer David Hodge and this a snippet from his article – source link to more at the bottom of this post:

Bill Gates Owns Patent to Ebola Vaccine '

Bill Gates Owns Patent to Ebola Vaccine ‘

Nothing changed just as he wrote it but no surprise for me! He wrote as follows: 

I have previously reported that Monsanto, or Monsatan as many call them, has partnered with the Department of Defense to use a proxy third party company to develop a vaccine against Ebola.

The seed money began at $1.5 million. The value of the deal could grow to an estimated $86 million dollars.

The company’s name is Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (TKMR) (TKM.TO), a leading developer of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. “TKM-Ebola, an anti-Ebola virus RNAi therapeutic, is being developed under a $140 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defence’s Medical Countermeasure Systems BioDefense Therapeutics (MCS-BDTX) Joint Product Management Office”.  

As breaking and shocking of a news story as this has the potential to be, the real story is that this is not the most important part of the Ebola threat which has invaded the United States. The truth of the matter is that these unholy and untrustworthy associations, when it comes to “fighting” the Ebola virus, represent the mere tip of the iceberg.

Source:

#ANS2014

Related articles

#bill-gates, #cdc, #monsanto, #nih, #united-states

Ace Worldwide News Group 13:26 on 10/08/2014
Tags: , , , Monsanto, ,   

INDIA: ' Marking the Anniversary 67 Years-Ago of the Independence from Britain But Is India Selling-Out its People to Multinationals Such as Monsanto '

#AceNewsServices (Exclusive) – INDIA (Mumbai) – August 10 – On 15 August, India will mark its 67th anniversary of independence from Britain. It may seem strange to some that a nation would publicly celebrate its independence while at the same time it less publicly cedes it to outsiders Global Research reported.

​The gleaming façade of flags and fly-pasts will belie the fact that national security and independence do not depend on military might and patriotic speeches.

Eye-catching celebrations will take place in Delhi and much of the media will mouth platitudes about the strength of the nation and its independence.

​The reality is, however, an ongoing, concerted attempt to undermine and destroy the very foundation and security of the country.

The bedrock of any society is its agriculture. Without food there can be no life. Without food security, there can be no genuine independence.

​A recent report by the organisation GRAIN revealed that small farms produce most of the world’s food and are more productively efficient than large farms.

Facilitated by an appropriate policy framework, small farmers could easily feed the global population. But small farmers are currently squeezed onto less than a quarter of the world’s farmland and the world is fast losing farms and farmers through the concentration of land into the hands big agribusiness and the rich and powerful. If nothing is done to reverse this trend, the world will lose its capacity to feed itself.

The Oakland Institute in the US recently stated that the first years of the 21st century will be remembered for a global land rush of nearly unprecedented scale . An estimated 500 million acres, an area eight times the size of Britain, was reported bought or leased across the developing world between 2000 and 2011, often at the expense of local food security and land rights.

This trend could eventually result in the permanent shift of farm ownership from family businesses to institutional investors and other consolidated corporate operations.

MONSANTO PURCHASE AND DEVELOPMENT OF LAND SCHEMES:

​In India, small farms account for 92 percent of farms and occupy around 40 percent of all agricultural land. They form the bedrock of food production. However, there is a concerted effort to remove farmers from the land. Hundreds of thousands of farmers have taken their lives since 1997 and many more are experiencing economic distress or have left farming as a result of debt, a shift to (GM) cash crops and economic liberalisation .


​Monsanto already controls the cotton industry in India and is increasingly shaping agri-policy and the knowledge paradigm by funding agricultural research in public universities and institutes. Its practices and colonisation of institutions have led to it being called the ‘contemporary East India Company’ and regulatory bodies are now severely compromised and riddled with conflicts of interest where decision-making over GMOs are concerned.


​In the meantime, Monsanto and the GM biotech (India) sector forward the myth that GM food is necessary to feed the world’s burgeoning population. They are not. Aside from the review by GRAIN, the World Bank-funded International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge and Science for Development Report stated that smallholder, traditional farming (not GMO’s) can deliver food security in low-income countries through sustainable agri-ecological systems .


​The Standing Committee on Agriculture in Parliament unequivocally concluded that GM seeds and foods are dangerous to human, animal and environmental health and directed the former Government of Manmohan Singh to ban GMO’s Despite such evidence and the recommendations to put a hold on open field GM trials by the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee, the push is on within official circles to give such trials the green light.

History on Day of independence:

This is a far cry from that day on the August 15 1947, when Jawaharlal Nehru, who had become the first Prime Minister of India that day, and they raised the Indian national flag above the Lahore Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi. On each subsequent Independence Day, the Prime Minister has raised the flag and given a speech.

This same holiday is still observed throughout India with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events. Indians celebrate the day by displaying the national flag on their attire, accessories, homes and vehicles; by listening to patriotic songs, watching patriotic movies; and bonding with family and friends. Books and films feature the independence and partition in their narrative.

Separatist and militant organisations have often carried out terrorist attacks on and around 15 August, and others have declared strikes and used black flags to boycott the celebration.

European traders had established outposts on the Indian subcontinent by the 17th century. Through overwhelming military strength, the British East India company subdued local kingdoms and established themselves as the dominant force by the 18th century. Following the Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led the British Crown to assume direct control of India. In the decades following, civic society gradually emerged across India, most notably the Indian National Congress, formed in 1885.

The period after World War I was marked by British reforms such as the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, but it also witnessed the enactment of the repressive Rowlatt Act and calls for self-rule by Indian activists. The discontent of this period crystallized into nationwide non-violent movements of non-cooperation and civil disobedience, led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

During the 1930’s, reform was gradually legislated by the British; Congress won victories in the resulting elections.

The next decade was beset with political turmoil: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress’s final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism led by the All-India Muslim League. The escalating political tension was capped by Independence in 1947.

The jubilation was tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, this was when both countries became independent and a time when both retained their own identity.

Fast forward to India and Pakistan of today and a very different story emerges, where people become surplus to requirements unless they fulfil the golden rule of consumerism and the politicians see a burgeoning population of poor, tipping the scales into anarchy and injustice. with the rise of terrorist groups with one intention to destabilise and create unrest in the country.

So what of their Independence from Britain 67 years-ago and their new development strategy will they as so many before them sell-out to the highest bidder of the likes of Monsanto and allow themselves to become not independent but to tempt billionaire politicians of the use of GM and to use their poor, uneducated people as guinea pigs, to test their food theories.

#ANS2014

#india, #monsanto, #mumbai, #pakistan

Ace Worldwide News Group 17:27 on 15/02/2014
Tags: , , Monsanto, , ,   

” Bank of America Spy’s on `Anti-Government Protester’s’ for the Fed’s over Monsanto”

#AceNewsServices says according to StoryLeak they state that we have been contacted by legislators who have revealed that thanks to exclusive information leaked via Storyleak, such as the reality that Bank of America is actually spying on ‘anti-government’ protesters for the fed’s, legislation has been launched to protect our privacy in an entirely new way on state-wide levels — and it’s expected to pass.

We have seen the same sentiments in exclusive interviews regarding anti-drone spying legislation, which is yet another reminder of how simple it can be to spring real action from truth.

Read More at: http://www.storyleak.com/corrupt-mega-corps-monsanto-bank-america-business/

#bank-of-america, #monsanto, #spying, #storyleak, #truth

Ace Worldwide News Group 17:50 on 15/01/2014
Tags: , Biotechnology, , , , Genetically modified wheat, , Monsanto, , , , , Wheat   

US Dakota: “Farmer Readies His First #GMO Wheat Crop”

#AceNewsServices says over the past 20 plus years the “The Rise and Rise of Monsanto” has made significant advances in the development of herbicide-tolerant wheat, the company announced recently, and could have the first-of-its-kind crop ready for farming in just a few years’ time.

sayno2gmo

sayno2gmo

Genetically-modified wheat is not legally approved anywhere in the world, but the billion-dollar St. Louis, Missouri–based agriculture company has for years been determined to develop the first #GMO variety of the cash crop. Now Monsanto’s chief technology officer thinks the company is on the right track with regards to research.

Monsanto’s GMO wheat-in-progress is among 29 endeavours being undertaken by the group to have made “phase advancements” recently, company reps said in a conference call last week, and testing has advanced from the “proof of concept” stage to early development.

monsanto-labeling-300x300Monsanto-made wheat, like other #GMO crops created by the company, would be resistant to their weed killer Round-up and thus join the likes of other “Round-up Ready” products already sold by the company, including bio-engineered soy-bean and corn.

“From an overall market perspective, the grain industry and the wheat industry — specifically the wheat trade industry — has remained very interested and supportive of biotech advances,” Monsanto CTO Robb Fraley said during last week’s call, according to Baking Business reporter Eric Schroeder.

“A wheat farmer generally is also a corn and soy-bean farmer, and they understand the benefits of the technology, and the wheat industry has watched the benefits that this technology has brought to both corn and soy-beans. So we continue to make advances,” added Schroeder.

According to the company’s top technologist, though, GMO wheat would likely not be reality until a couple of years down the road.

“We are still several years away from a product launch, but it is nice to see those products in the pipeline,” Fraley  added.

Indeed, Monsanto has actually spent the better part of a decade-and-a-half researching GMO wheat. The company began field testing a variety starting in 1998, but suspended operations in 2005 after determining that a super-wheat strain was not quite ready to be launched.

As RT  states Monsanto also recently announced that sales of its Round-up Ready soy-bean grew 16 percent during the quarter ending November 30, 2013.

Piper Jaffray Cos analyst Michael Cos told Bloomberg News at the time that Monsanto’s GMO soybean “will prove to be the single most important earnings driver” for the company during the course of the next two years. According to Fraley’s  assessment, though, the company could be nearly completion on its GMO wheat by then.

Should Monsanto stay on track, however, they’ll still have to worry about the restrictions currently in place in the United States and abroad against #GMO wheat. The company became the centre piece of a biotech scandal last year when remnants of old biotech wheat turned up on an Oregon farm practically a decade after Monsanto supposedly stopped testing the crop. After those reports circulated, a government official for Japan’s farm ministry placed an embargo on all US wheat.

Many others countries outside the US have banned #GMO imports, and China recently refused no fewer than five shipments of American corn allegedly over concerns it could have been tainted by a biotech variety of the crop.

Ace Related News : ETH 

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

#acenewsservices, #biotechnology, #china, #genetically-modified-crops, #genetically-modified-organism, #genetically-modified-wheat, #monsanto, #oregon, #soybean, #st-louis, #united-states, #wheat

Ace Worldwide News Group 12:04 on 05/01/2014
Tags: , , Animal rights, Animal Welfare, , Argentine people, , , , Compassion in World Farming, Concentrated Animal Feed Operations, , Factory farming, Farm, Farming, , Friends of the Earth, Monsanto, , Sofia Gatica, ,   

“Soy Factory Farming and the Destruction of Lands and Lives In Argentina”

#AceGuestNews and Views provided the basis of this article on “Factory Farming and the Destruction of Lands and Lives in Argentina due to the Soy Industry” For which our thanks goes to her.

The world’s reliance on soy to feed factory farmed animals is having a devastating impact. In Argentina, ’Big Soy’ production is ruining lands and lives. Raw campaigners spent time with Argentinean communities to investigate the true cost of factory farming. Witness the Soy Story below.

The logo for Compassion in World Farming.

The logo for Compassion in World Farming. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the write upJonty Whittleton, campaigner at Compassion in World Farming, recounts the time he spent with communities in Argentina, where the ‘Big Soy’ boom is ruining lands and lives – and it’s all in the pursuit of cheaper meat and bigger profits.

Argentina is the world’s biggest exporter of soy meal – the solid, protein-rich part of the bean that’s left after grinding. On paper, it’s the agricultural lifeblood of the country (the UK imports more soy meal than wine), but there’s a dark side to this green-gold rush. The bean isn’t feeding Argentinians; 97% of soy meal is used to fatten up farm animals around the world, most of whom are reared in factory farms (also known as concentrated animal feeding operations – CAFOs). The animal-welfare problems associated with these intensive systems are well documented, but their impact goes far beyond this; these systems are also ruining people’s lands and lives.

In October 2013, I travelled to the Chaco and Pampas regions of Argentina, northwest of the country’s capital, Buenos Aires. Big Soy has come at a heavy cost for many Argentinians, with lands being grabbed, rampant deforestation and intense chemical spraying. Here’s what I found.

Soybeans: Not so Green

First, I met Alicia Barchuk, who works at the University of Cordoba. She told me that more than 100 million hectares of native forest have been lost to Big Soy in the last 50 years – only 10–12% of the original forest still stands.

A similar story came from my guide, Alberto Villarreal, who works at Friends of the Earth in Uruguay. He spoke of the ‘ecological graveyards’ that are brought about by Big Soy’s reliance on chemicals – they don’t just kill everything on the ground, but also everything in the ground (apart from the genetically modified soy beans, of course).

Living on the Front Line of Big Soy

Alberto also talked about Big Soy’s far-reaching social impact. He introduced me to Ramona Bustamante, who is in her late 80s. She told me that her home has been bulldozed twice by soy barons, who wanted to take her land. Ramona even showed me where her house once stood, now a heap of rubble.

I also met peasant farmer Christina Sanaviron, who spent three days in jail with her 11-month old baby, just for standing up to the land-grabbers. ‘The land is for everyone’, her family told me. ‘It belongs to the people, not the government.’

Sick to Your Stomach

There has been much speculation about the possible links between the chemicals sprayed on the crops (glyphosate, in particular) and sickness in humans. According to the Associated Press, in Argentina ‘agrochemical spraying has increased nine fold, from 9 million gallons in 1990 to 84 million gallons today’. And although the manufacturers insist that these chemicals are safe to use, a lack of awareness around their proper handling and ineffective enforcement of legislation have created a dangerous situation, with medical cases that are hard to ignore.

Both Norma Herrera and Marcela Ferreyra have deeply personal reasons to fight Big Soy: Norma’s daughter had leukemia and one of Marcela’s children was stillborn. They showed me a worrying map in a recent newspaper article – it suggested that the closer you get to the soy fields, the more sick people you find.

Driving past a small school, I stopped to talk to teacher Marta Ferreyra. The spraying planes apparently come dangerously close to the school, and pupils are regularly affected by breathing problems from the haze of chemicals in the air.

I spoke to Doctor Medardo Avila Vazquez – a well-known face in the Argentinean media. He’s studied the effect of the industry’s chemicals on humans and has found a significant increase in the number of babies born dead or with severe physiological problems in areas where the soy spraying is intense.

A Violent Legacy

On my last day in Argentina, I visited a protest camp, full of people resisting companies, like Monsanto, who are responsible for the soy boom here. Later, I read reports of intimidation and violence against camp members – desperate attempts to prevent the public’s voice from being heard.

The soy story in Argentina is a truly toxic tale. Lands are being grabbed, lives are being ruined. And so much of this is happening to fill the bellies of farm animals around the world – mostly in factory farms.

For me, it’s yet more proof that factory farming isn’t just an animal welfare issue.

Fighting Back

We can all help to tackle this crisis. You can cut down on the amount of meat you eat, and make it as high quality as possible. And if you eat soy products, you can look for options that are GM-free and organic.

You can also help spread the word. Witness the full Soy Story and help break the world’s addiction to cruel, destructive, intensive farming on our website.

Help us end the addiction

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

#aceguestnews, #aceguestviews, #animal-rights, #animal-welfare, #argentina, #argentine-people, #associated-press, #buenos-aires, #business, #compassion-in-world-farming, #concentrated-animal-feed-operations, #european-union, #factory-farming, #farm, #farming, #food, #friends-of-the-earth, #monsanto, #organizations, #sofia-gatica, #soybean, #united-states

Ace Worldwide News Group 21:35 on 30/12/2013
Tags: , , , American Farm Bureau Federation, Big Data, Climate Corporation, Data analysis, , , John Deere, Monsanto, , Precision agriculture, Venture capital   

#Monsanto Gathers Data – So What is the Reason Why?

The Start-up Stage

The Start-up Stage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#AceFoodNews says with #Monsanto collecting #data from every source what can we imagine the future of our food production could look like. So try to this is RSN’s take so just …………………….

magine cows fed and milked entirely by robots. Or tomatoes that send an e-mail when they need more water. Or a farm where all the decisions about where to plant seeds, spray fertilizer and steer tractors are made by software on servers on the other side of the sea.

This is what more and more of our agriculture may come to look like in the years ahead, as farming meets Big Data. There’s no shortage of farmers and industry gurus who think this kind of “smart” farming could bring many benefits. Pushing these tools onto fields, the idea goes, will boost our ability to control this fiendishly unpredictable activity and help farmers increase yields even while using fewer resources.

The Second Stage

The Second Stage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The big question is who exactly will end up owning all this data, and who gets to determine how it is used. On one side stand some of the largest corporations in agriculture, who are racing to gather and put their stamp on as much of this information as they can. Opposing them are farmers’ groups and small open-source technology start-ups, which want to ensure a farm’s data stays in the farmer’s control and serves the farmer’s interests.

Who wins will determine not just who profits from the information, but who, at the end of the day, directs life and business on the farm.

The Third Stage

The Third Stage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One recent round in this battle took place in October, when Monsanto spent close to $1 billion to buy the Climate Corporation, a data analytics firm. Last year the chemical and seed company also bought Precision Planting, another high-tech firm, and also launched a venture capital arm geared to fund tech start-ups.

In November, John Deere and DuPont Pioneer announced plans to partner to provide farmers information and prescriptions in near-real time. Deere has pioneered “precision farming” equipment in recent years, equipping tractors and combines to automatically transmit data-collected from particular farms to company databases. DuPont, meanwhile, has rolled-out a service that analyses data into “actionable management strategies.”

The Seed Stage

The Seed Stage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many farmer’s are wary that these giants could use these tools to win unprecedented levels of insight into the economics and operational workings of their farms. The issue is not that these companies would shower the farmers with ads, as Facebook does when it knows you’re looking to buy sneakers. For farmers, the risks of big data seem to pierce right to the heart of how they  make a living. What would it mean, for instance, for Monsanto to know the intricacies of their business?

Farm advocacy groups are now scrambling to understand how – if given free rein – these corporations could misuse the data they collect. “We’re signing up for things without knowing what we are giving up,” said Mark Nelson, director of commodities at the Kansas Farm Bureau. In May, the American Farm Bureau Federation, a national lobbying group, published a policy brief outlining some potential risks around these data-driven farm tools.

American Farm Bureau Federation

American Farm Bureau Federation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#AceHealthNews

Related articles

#acefoodnews, #acehealthnews, #agriculture, #american-farm-bureau-federation, #big-data, #climate-corporation, #data-analysis, #dupont, #farmer, #john-deere, #open-source, #precision-agriculture, #venture-capital