by: Brownfield News

Monsanto's request to have the case filed against it by a southeast Missouri peach farm be heard in federal court has been granted automatically.

The suit filed on behalf of Bill Bader and Bader Farms in Dunklin County, Missouri in December accuses Monsanto of knowingly marketing its Xtend cotton and soybean seeds without a safe formulation of dicamba herbicide.  The suit says dicamba drift from older, more volatile formulations used by farmers caused the loss of 30-thousand fruit and nut trees on the farm and 1-and-a-half million dollars in damages. [...] READ MORE.

by: Pilot Tribune 

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey recently highlighted some of the top agriculture issues in Iowa in 2016.

"Iowa farmers saw record production for both corn and soybeans again in 2016, however low prices are making profitability a real challenge on both the crop and livestock side. Despite the economic challenges, farmers are by nature optimistic and we continue to see investments in the future and new and innovative technologies that will allow them to be even more productive while also reducing environmental impact," Northey said. [...] READ MORE.

It's an attitude shared by many other agricultural leaders. As lawmakers return to Des Moines for the next legislative session in January, water quality and the idea of finding a large and dedicated funding stream for those efforts is front and center on the legislative to-do list.

"It takes a lot of investment," says Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Hill. "We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars." [...] READ MORE.