Synergistic action of pesticide “cocktails” is escalating bee mortality

A meta-analysis of 90 studies found that bees are dying in greater numbers from the overall synergistic effect between multiple anthropogenic stressors—including agrochemicals, nutritional stressors, and/or parasites. Impacts of these stressors individually were already taking a toll on bee populations; but strong evidence of synergy when bees are exposed to multiple agrochemicals at field-realistic levels […]

New scorecard reports 10 major U.S. food retailers’ progress on protecting bees from toxic pesticides

Giant Eagle, Whole Foods, and Walmart take top positions on Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard Friends of the Earth recently released its latest Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard, ranking 25 of the largest US grocery retailers on pesticides and pollinator protection in their food and beverage supply chains. Ten retailers improved their scores since last year, with Giant Eagle, Whole Foods, and Walmart ranking […]

Dicamba herbicide continues to harm crops, as tension mounts between farmers, industry

Incidents of off-target injury from dicamba spray and drift have risen for the fifth consecutive year across the Midwest and South—and conflicts between farmers who rely on dicamba for weed control and those whose crops are suffering from damage are getting heated. The EPA approved new labels and registration for three dicamba products—but despite new […]

Bayer ordered to change Roundup label and pay $39.5 million for misleading advertising

Law firm Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman announced a $39.5 million settlement to resolve a Monsanto Roundup class action litigation centered on the herbicide’s misleading, essentially false, label. Bayer is also required to reword the label, which states that glyphosate (Roundup’s key ingredient) “targets an enzyme found in plants but not in people or pets.” […]

2.6 million acres of grassland habitat lost in North American Great Plains in one year

Across the U.S. and Canadian Great Plains, approximately 2.6 million acres of intact grassland—an area larger than Yellowstone National Park—were plowed up in 2019 to make room for row-crop production, according to World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) 2021 Plowprint Report. The new findings represent an increase of 500,000 acres of grassland conversion over the previous year, highlighting […]