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 […]

$200M facility in Ohio will farm AquaBounty’s genetically engineered salmon

By 2023, 10,000 metric tons of genetically modified salmon will come to market each year from a land-based Ohio fish farm being built by AquaBounty. The developer of the first GM animal approved for human consumption in the U.S. is investing $200 million in a 479,000-square-foot facility, expanding by eight times the capacity of its […]

Insta-Pro International announces Jonathan Kingsbury as President & Chief Executive Officer

Insta-Pro International, a leading global manufacturer of processing equipment for the feed and food industry, recently announced that Jonathan Kingsbury has been named as President and Chief Executive Officer. Kingsbury has more than 20 years of senior-level sales and marketing experience in industrial equipment roles as well as a depth of international experience, most recently […]

U.S. beekeepers report second highest colony losses ever—with pesticides as major culprit

The Bee Informed Partnership reported in June the second-highest annual losses of honeybee colonies for the second year running. A preliminary report reveals that beekeepers lost nearly half (45.5%) of their colonies over the past year. Agricultural pesticides are a key driver of population decline for honeybees and other pollinators, like native bees and butterflies. […]

Sri Lanka’s ban on agrochemicals lowers suicide rates, earning “Policy Oscar”

The country of Sri Lanka has received the Future Policy Special Award 2021 from Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific. The award recognized two policies that were instrumental in banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HPPs), chemicals responsible for thousands of suicides in the country. Five winners of the award—the “Oscar on Best Policies”—were chosen from 55 policies […]