4pgs, A wetland contaminated by industrial waste is slowly coming back to life. Nature’s tenacity found a powerful ally in a kayak tours operator and her many volunteers.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12108
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Online from Radio Free. 3 pages., Author reports on helping the U.S. Senate draft and pass the Physician Payments Sunshine Act a decade ago. It requires companies to report monies and gifts they give physicians, which are known to influence what doctors prescribe or promote. "We need a 'sunshine law' for science that would expose all sorts of conflicts of interest and industry manipulation that skew research on food, synthetical chemicals, pesticides, air pollution, genetic technology, and the climate."
Via online magazine. 9 pages., An old 1,300-acre oil refining site in South Philadelphia is being converted into a vast e-commerce distribution center. "But the developers of these brownfields must confront a legacy of toxic pollution and neglect of surrounding communities of color." A Philadelphia council member reports, "We have a long way to go as relates to community engagement, as well as paying attention to the environmental remediation process."
7 pages, via Online journal, Hair fescue (Festuca filiformis) is a tuft-forming perennial grass that reduces yields in lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) fields. Nonbearing year foramsulfuron applications suppress hair fescue, but there is interest in increasing suppression through foramsulfuron use in conjunction with fall-applied herbicides. The objective of this research was to determine the main and interactive effects of fall-bearing year herbicide applications and spring-nonbearing year foramsulfuron applications on hair fescue. The experiment was a 5 × 2 factorial arrangement of fall-bearing year herbicide (none, terbacil, pronamide, glufosinate, dichlobenil) and spring-nonbearing year foramsulfuron application (0, 35 g·ha−1) arranged in a randomized complete block design at lowbush blueberry fields in Portapique and Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, Canada. Spring-nonbearing year foramsulfuron applications did not reduce total tuft density or consistently reduce flowering tuft density, flowering tuft inflorescence number, or flowering tuft seed production. Fall-bearing year pronamide applications reduced hair fescue density for the 2-year production cycle, although additional bearing year density reductions occurred when pronamide was followed by spring-nonbearing year foramsulfuron applications at Stewiacke. Fall-bearing year dichlobenil applications reduced total and flowering tuft density at each site, although reductions in flowering tuft inflorescence number and seed production were most consistent when followed by spring-nonbearing year foramsulfuron applications at Stewiacke. Suppression extended into the bearing year at each site, and dichlobenil should be examined further for hair fescue control. Fall-bearing year glufosinate applications reduced hair fescue total tuft density at each site and flowering tuft density and flowering tuft seed production at Stewiacke. Fall-bearing year glufosinate applications followed by spring-nonbearing year foramsulfuron applications also reduced nonbearing year flowering tuft inflorescence number and bearing year hair fescue seedling density at Stewiacke, indicating that this treatment may reduce hair fescue seedling recruitment at some sites. Fall-bearing year terbacil applications did not suppress hair fescue and are not recommended for hair fescue management in lowbush blueberry.
Via UI online subscription., This article discusses food fraud as not a phenomenon of modern times. The author notes that illegal manipulations occurred as soon as humankind started to trade with food. Examples feature various kinds of manipulations by ancient Greeks and Romans.
6 pages, via Online journal, Most agricultural soils are depleted of their soil organic matter (SOM) reserves. A severe loss of SOM content may degrade soil functionality, its capacity for provisioning of essential ecosystem services, and soil health. Therefore, restoration of SOM content in soils of agroecosystems may reverse the degradation trends, enhance ecosystem services (Banwart et al. 2015), and advance Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. (Lal et al. 2018a). Increase in SOM content may also partially replace the use of chemical fertilizers and supplemental irrigation, while restoring the environment.
4 pages., Posted online February 12, 2020., Describes career and retirement plans of Ken Root, veteran agricultural broadcaster and former executive director of NAFB.
7 pages, via Online journal, The mid-nineteenth century Hudson River School of painting reflects artists' views of American paradise, a glorified Hudson River landscape where the disappearing wilderness, agriculture, and human settlements coexisted along the river in perfect harmony. The romantic, peaceful coexistence of nature and humans became an unsustainable illusion as the twentieth century 507 km (315 mi) Hudson River became a major transportation route to the northern and western interior of the United States (figure 1). Like many rivers throughout history, navigation of the Hudson River waters fostered tanneries, paper mills, factories, electrical plants, and other enterprises along its coastline (Rothstein 2019). Rivers, with their abundant water supply and capacity to transport raw materials and finished goods, fueled the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, and the Hudson River was exemplary in its contributions. Settlements and industries along the Hudson River valley flourished, creating jobs, expanding communities, and bringing economic prosperity to the region and the nation. In its wake, followed an era of industrial pollution that left an ugly mark on the river celebrated for its beauty and pristine waters. In 1984, 321 km (200 mi) of the Hudson River was classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site—one of the largest in the country.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10563
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2 pages., From Bayer AG - online via AgriMarketing Weekly., Leverkusen, Germany - Bayer is raising the bar in transparency, sustainability and engagement, reflecting its heightened responsibility and potential as a new leader in agriculture. "We're making good progress on integrating the acquired agriculture business, and are now starting to implement a series of measures to drive transparency and sustainability across our business," Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG, said on Friday.
8 pages., ISSN: 2284-7995, via online journal., The study accessed agrochemical based information usage among cocoa farmers in Nigeria with a view to determine the sustainability of information sources for an increased cocoa production in the study area. Simple random sampling was used to select 120 cocoa farmers using structured interview schedule. Results showed that farmers were in their 50s with about 12 years of formal education. Radio (mean = 2.56) ranked highest among the sources of information while about 60 percent of the respondents indicated a very high level of usage of agrochemical information in cocoa production. Results of Pearson Product Moment Correlation showed a significant relationship between farmers’ perception (r = 0.365; p≤0.01) and usage of agrochemical based information. The findings conclude that the use of mass media as the most frequently used among farmers for agrochemicals in cocoa production may be sustainable. It is therefore recommended that the use of mass media for agrochemicals usage in cocoa production should be reinforced in passing other information to cocoa farmers.
