Farmers Weekly
EU’s imminent embrace of gene-edited crops threatens to leave New Zealand a science laggard
The European Union is poised to make changes to allow gene editing technology in mid-May that, if passed, would put ...
Glyphosate’s contributions to cutting greenhouse gas emissions
I get many emotive emails about the evils of glyphosate, many of them from sources who also send me anti-vax ...
Viewpoint: New Zealand rebuffs science-rejectionist attack on the safe use of glyphosate weedkiller
I agree with the recent decision by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority concerning glyphosate. It states that glyphosate can ...
Will the regenerative agriculture movement be hijacked away from farmers by ‘big corporations and hungry start-ups’?
In farming today, it sometimes feels as though whatever the problem, whether it’s soil health, yields, carbon or profitability, the ...
Supporters of organic and genetically engineered crops want the same thing. How we get there most sustainably is the sticking point
Glyphosate (Roundup) is out but fungicides like copper sulphate are in. Genetically modified Bt corn is out but Bt spray ...
Plant biotechnology is an indispensable tool for enhancing crop resilience to droughts and floods
As climate change intensifies extreme weather events, the agriculture sector is faced with the arduous task of finding ways to ...
Viewpoint: ‘It is a myth or a lie to contend that New Zealand is GM free’
There have been claims by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand and other groups that the change in the regulation of genetic technologies ...
US judge throws out case claiming paraquat causes cancer, suggesting tide may be turning against environmental activists’ bogus campaigns targeting safe crop chemicals
It’s big business in the US and elsewhere, with lawyers making a fortune out of class actions. The process is ...
From ‘lifeless dust’ to livestock farm: Farmer credits regenerative agriculture for soil transformation
In 2010, when Barry Meijer bought Meijer’s Rust near De Rust in the Klein Karoo, the soil was bare and ...
Carbon-neutral farming policies will fail without a science based approach, new report warns
The development and application of agricultural technologies must become a priority for the UK government if the farming sector is ...
What are the barriers to engineering perennial, high-yield grain crops?
Perennial grain crops –those you only plant once before harvesting multiple times – would potentially deliver many favourable on-farm attributes ...
Frying foods like wheat and potatoes can produce a carcinogen, acrylamide. A CRISPR gene-edited wheat in development could prevent that
Asparagine is a naturally occurring amino acid, and while most is made into protein, plants such as wheat can accumulate ...
Viewpoint on COP26: ‘Agriculture is a solution to climate crisis, not the main problem’
Among the many documents on the table [at the COP26 climate talks] will be the latest climate report from the ...
UK sugar beet farmers could be growing gene-edited, disease-resistant crops within 5 years
[British Sugar] is investigating gene-edited beet seed as a long-term solution to [virus yellows] disease, which devastated crops across eastern ...
With sugar output down nearly 25%, UK beet farmers pressure government to lift ban on neonic pesticides
Sugar beet processor British Sugar said that just over two months into the beet harvesting campaign, white sugar production is ...
UK extends license for glyphosate 5 years, will put in place post-Brexit review process
Speaking at the virtual British Crop Production Council (BCPC) 2020 congress, Darren Flynn, head of active substances delivery for the ...
Post-Brexit UK likely to back crop gene editing, but won’t abandon EU’s strict GMO rules
Moves to facilitate the development of gene editing once the UK is free from EU regulation at the end of ...
France poised to lift neonicotinoid insecticide ban to save pest-ravaged sugar beet industry
The French government is planning to lift a blanket ban on the use of neonicotinoids to help save its sugar ...
Comprehensive pig genomes could advance animal gene editing—and help produce more bacon
For the first time, scientists have decoded the whole genetic make-up of pigs in a development that they say will ...
Ban of neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments pushes UK farmers to grow non-GMO disease-resistant wheat
Season-long protection against barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) without the use of insecticides is set to become a reality through ...
Bayer, UK farmers appeal EU neonicotinoid insecticide ban, citing lack of scientific evidence
Lawyers acting on behalf of the [National Farmers Union] are in court battling to overturn a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, ...
EU could make 25% of its farmland organic by 2030 to combat biodiversity loss
The EU could set a target of one-quarter of agricultural land in Europe to be farmed organically by 2030, with ...
French agriculture minister says glyphosate key to sustainable farming, raising doubts about proposed weedkiller bans
France’s agriculture minister has declared glyphosate is an essential tool of the agroecological transition, raising hopes of a change in ...
UK farmers struggle to control ‘largely symptomless’ virus without neonicotinoid insecticides
A mild autumn and winter combined with a build-up in aphid numbers since the loss of neonicotinoid seed treatments has ...
Neonicotinoid insecticide ban fuels ‘big rise’ in cabbage stem flea beetle damage to UK oilseed rape crops
Oilseed rape crops across southern England are seeing a big rise in pest damage from cabbage stem flea beetles, with ...
‘Unintended consequences’: UK restrictions on neonicotinoid insecticides may have harmed bees
One of Britain’s biggest beekeepers says he must relocate hundreds of hives because cabbage stem flea beetle has destroyed so ...
Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer boosts cancer risk? New analysis challenges scientific consensus on glyphosate
Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have published a new scientific analysis of glyphosate (PDF), the active ingredient in Monsanto’s ...
Conventional dairy farms do less environmental damage than their organic counterparts
Organic farming has long been considered more environmentally friendly than intensive, conventional farming. But a study led by scientists at ...
