farmers

The agritech world got a lot bigger this week when German chemical giant Bayer inked an agreement to acquire Monsanto for $66 billion in cash. The 2 companies had been bickering for months, and this was the 3rd refurbished offer. In the end, Bayer agreed to pay $128 per share, up from the company’s previous offer of $127.50. [1]
The agreement makes it the largest all-cash deal on record.
Markus Manns of Union Investment, one of Bayer’s top 12 investors, said:

Food insecurity in the United States may be declining, but many families are still unsure of where their next meal will come from.
According to the USDA, the number of households that were food insecure at some point during 2015 was down to 12.7% from 14% in 2014. However, food insecurity is more pervasive now than it was in 2007 when it was around 11%, almost a full 2% lower than it is today.

A panel of scientists with India’s Ministry of Environment said in a risk assessment of genetically modified mustard that the crop does not “pose any risk of causing any adverse effects on human and animal health and safety.” [1]
Mustard oil accounts for more than 10% of India’s cooking requirement of approximately 21 million metric tons.
The scientists have spoken, but not everyone is convinced that the information is accurate.

Whether raw milk is safe to drink has been a controversial issue for many years, particularly in countries with more nanny-state tendencies. However, a study published in early 2015 showed that babies given raw cow’s milk instead of ultra-high temperature (UHT) processed formula actually had a reduced risk of common infections, such as colds and ear infections.

Soybean fields in parts of Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee are plagued by “superweeds” that have become resistant to glyphosate, the main ingredient in biotech company’s Monsanto’s RoundUp herbicide. Farmers are now dousing the plants with illegal chemicals to try and kill the rogue weeds.

(COMMONDREAMS) A new legal opinion penned by two former Justice Department officials bolsters warnings that the proposed merger between agroindustrial giants Bayer and Monsanto “is a five-alarm threat to our food supply and to farmers around the world.”

The military is again told to stop killing animals with sonar; that big headline about Colorado pot contamination was just a bunch of smoke on the water; and the farmer wins again.

The military is again told to stop killing animals with sonar; that big headline about Colorado pot contamination was just a bunch of smoke on the water; and the farmer wins again.

Romans sick of the corruption and crime cleaned up their own streets; a new startup aims to be the Airbnb of the coming kitchen-based sharing economy; and animals are learning how to dismantle their traps.

Romans sick of the corruption and crime cleaned up their own streets; a new startup aims to be the Airbnb of the coming kitchen-based sharing economy; and animals are learning how to dismantle their traps.