Agriculture

"When Marla Waseka converted the gracious Franciscan nunnery northwest of St. Cloud to a boutique lakeside resort and retreat in 2008, the nitrate levels in her well were low. A few years later they were so high she had to warn her guests not to drink the water. And when authorities warned they’d shut her down if it weren’t fixed, she spent $12,000 to drill a deeper well for clean water."

"As soybean and cotton farmers across the Midwest and South continue to see their crops ravaged from the weed killer dicamba, new complaints have pointed to the herbicide as a factor in widespread damage to oak trees."

"A group of 38 U.S. senators asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday to abandon plans to lower biofuel requirements for oil refiners in 2018, according to a letter made public by the office of Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota."

"Monsanto’s flagship weed killer, Roundup, has had a tough year. And it could get worse."

"Of the many terms attached to our burgers and steaks, "sustainable" and "grass-fed" often sit next to each other. But a new study finds that raising livestock on grassy pastures is far from sustainable and doesn't have the climate benefits proponents have claimed."

"A potentially harmful algae bloom covered more than 700 square miles in the western basin of Lake Erie last week, turning the lake bright green and alarming residents and local officials."

"A new study says small patches of native prairie plants provide a range of conservation benefits to Iowa’s landscape and could reduce water pollution from farm fields."

"A sprawl of mobile home parks house 10,000 people in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, but their drinking water is chronically contaminated. Now some solutions are in sight."

"José A. Rivera, a farmer on the southeast coast of Puerto Rico, stood in the middle of his flattened plantain farm on Sunday and tried to tally how much Hurricane Maria had cost him. 'How do you calculate everything?' Mr. Rivera said."

"France reaffirmed on Monday its opposition to plans by the European Commission to extend its approval for the weedkiller product glyphosate, the prime minister’s office said."