The Smithfield resident isn t the only senior citizen who s still climbing on a tractor; a growing number of farmers are working long into their golden years. The expensive equipment requires tens of thousands of dollars in capital and is most efficient when used on a vast acreage pushing farms to expand while employing fewer workers. The forces are that the more acres you can harvest, the better the return for your dollar. Causes of the change are complex, but trace back to technology,...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has issued a warning to drug manufacturers, suppliers and health professionals that counterfeit drug additives have been using diethyline glycol, or DEG as a substitute for glycerin in cough medicine, fever medication and injectable drugs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has issued a warning to drug manufacturers, suppliers and health professionals that counterfeit drug additives have been using...

In today's decision, Judge Breyer affirmed his preliminary ruling, which upheld the Center for Food Safety s arguments in their lawsuit against USDA, that the crop could harm the environment and contaminate natural alfalfa. Monsanto and Forage Genetics, the developers of the genetically engineered alfalfa seed, failed to convince the Judge that their interests outweighed the public interest in food safety, freedom to farm natural crops, and environmental protection. In his preliminary...

The tourists pet the burros, have their pictures taken with them, chat with them, and feed them carrots, available for $1 a bag from the Oatman General Store or any of a dozen other stores. But, ranchers, who had already seized land from the Indians and were deep into a land war with farmers, saw horses as competition for unfenced grazing land. No one remembers when the burros first came into the mountain town that is bisected by the hairpin curves and switchbacks of Old Route 66, but they...

In a release, the DRC and Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) said the court ordered USDA to make the location of these plots "publicly available as soon as practicable" so that growers of organic and conventional alfalfa "can test their own crops to determine if there has been contamination. Another take on the Roundup Ready alfalfa ruling. Several organic farming and environmental groups have a different take than Monsanto's on a U. District Court ruling that has halted...