Agriculture

"Washington state voters on Tuesday rejected an initiative that would have required foods containing genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled."

"One afternoon last winter, Julie Ellis unfurled a long, white tarp under a stand of trees near Coes Pond where hundreds of crows roost. Her mission: to collect as much bird poop as possible. Back in the laboratory, Ellis’ colleagues combed through the feces. Testing its bacteria, they discovered something unusual -- genes that make the crows resistant to antibiotics."

"More than half of all facilities licensed last year by Texas to carry ammonium nitrate lacked either secure fencing or locked storage areas for the potentially explosive chemical compound."

"Much of the world is turning hotter and dryer these days, and it's opening new doors for a water-saving cereal that's been called 'the camel of crops': sorghum. In an odd twist, this old-fashioned crop even seems to be catching on among consumers who are looking for 'ancient grains' that have been relatively untouched by modern agriculture."

"The mayor of Kauai County, Hawaii, has vetoed a hotly contested bill that would have restricted the use of pesticides by companies developing genetically modified crops on the island."

"Nearly 1 million chickens and turkeys are unintentionally boiled alive each year in U.S. slaughterhouses, often because fast-moving lines fail to kill the birds before they are dropped into scalding water, Agriculture Department records show."

"Officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have been busy meeting with chemical and energy companies in recent days, ahead of the expected release of new biofuel standards."

"Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co., among the biggest makers of bioengineered crop seeds, are persuading Washington state voters to change their minds about a proposal to require labels on genetically modified food."

"A federal court ruled yesterday that U.S. EPA cannot require a West Virginia poultry operation to obtain a Clean Water Act permit for its stormwater in what farm groups are calling a major victory."

"Five years ago, a excoriated the animal agriculture industry's practices and laid out a road map for how it could do better. But in the years since, the problems are just as bad — and maybe even worse."