Agriculture

"More than 15 years after a fertilizer bomb was used to blow up a government building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, the federal government is proposing to regulate the sale and transfer of the chemical ammonium nitrate."

"Rich countries grabbing farmland in Africa to feed their growing populations can leave rural populations there without land or jobs and make the continent's hunger problem more severe, an environmental think tank said on Tuesday."

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Oluf Johnson and organic farmers like him can sue for damages from neighboring farmers who apply pesticides that drift beyond their fencelines.

Weeds in southern Missouri are becoming resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Some farmers now resort to chemical cocktails -- or even hoes.

"Bayer CropScience has agreed to pay $750 million to settle claims by U.S. rice farmers that the company's genetically modified rice has contaminated their crops."

"Phosphate has been essential to feeding the world since the Green Revolution, but its excessive use as a fertilizer has led to widespread pollution and eutrophication. Now, many of the world’s remaining reserves are starting to be depleted."

"Three senators reached a deal on Thursday to repeal the $6 billion per year ethanol tax credit by the end of July, an agreement that must still be passed by Congress."

"The Energy Department plans to provide a $105 million loan guarantee for the expansion of an ethanol factory in Emmetsburg, Iowa, that intends to make motor fuel from corncobs, leaves and husks."

"The Agriculture Department has exempted a genetically engineered grass from federal regulation, a decision that some critics say could portend a loosening in oversight of biotech crops."