Food safe from pesticide residues: USDA
(Reuters) — More than half of the food that the U.S. government tested for pesticide residues last year showed detectable levels of pesticides, though most were within levels the government considers to be safe, according to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA looked at fresh and processed fruits and vegetables as well as infant formula, apple juice and other products.
The Environmental Protection Agency sets “tolerance levels” for how much of a pesticide can remain in the food that reaches consumers. The USDA’s sampling is designed to help ensure that pesticide residues are kept within those tolerance levels.
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As has been the case with past analyses, the USDA said it did not test this past year for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and the world’s most widely used herbicide.
A USDA spokesperson said that the test measures required for glyphosate are “extremely expensive … to do on an regular basis.”
Concerns about glyphosate and other pesticide residues on food have been a hot topic of debate in the United States recently and contributed to the passage of the country’s first mandatory GMO labelling law in Vermont earlier this year.
Many states are pursuing similar labelling laws, and some local governments have been trying to rein in pesticide use on food because of health concerns.
Monsanto, which developed Roundup, requested and received EPA approval last year for increased tolerance levels for glyphosate.
The USDA said 99 percent of the samples showed residue levels within tolerance levels for the pesticides that it did test for.
It said more than 40 percent showed no detectable pesticide residue, and residues exceeding tolerance levels were seen in only 23 samples out of 9,990.
Additionally, residues of pesticides with no established tolerances were found in 301 samples, USDA said.
Of the total samples analyzed, 8,526 were fresh and processed fruit and vegetable samples, 356 were infant formula samples, 756 were butter samples, and 352 were salmon samples. There were also 14 groundwater samples and 100 drinking water samples.
Monsanto profits fall 34 percent
(Reuters) — Monsanto’s profits dropped 34 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago, partly because of fewer corn acres in South America and a shift in timing of some sales.
The company said net sales dropped to US$2.9 billion in the quarter ended Nov. 30 compared with $3.1 billion in the year-ago period, with sales of corn seeds and genetic traits down 12 percent.
Still, the results beat analysts’ expectations.
The company said even as corn sales dropped, results for its soybean seed and trait products surged to $396 million in the quarter, up from $267 million a year earlier.
El Nino indicators ease over recent weeks
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — Pacific Ocean temperatures have cooled during the last two weeks, easing away from El Nino thresholds, says the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Ocean temperatures have oscillated near El Nino thresholds for months but over recent weeks have again eased, the Australian weather agency said.
Sea surface temperature anomalies have cooled by around .4 degrees in parts of the central to eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, the bureau said.
However, temperatures remain above average along much of the equator, the Australian weather agency said.
Beneath the surface, temperatures have also eased closer to average in many areas, the bureau said.
Despite the cooling indicators, the bureau said its climate models continue to show warmer-than-average sea temperatures persisting over the next two to -three months.
Japan declared an El Nino in December, marking the first declaration by a major meteorological bureau of the weather phenomenon, which had been widely expected to emerge this year.
In Western Canada, El Nino normally brings above average temperatures.
China to boost protein-rich wheat imports
BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) — Chinese wheat buyers are likely to step up imports of higher quality grain to meet a domestic shortfall, even though total overseas purchases are forecast to tumble this year because of bumper production at home.
The country has seen production climb to record levels in recent years, but it faces a shortage of the high-protein wheat it needs to meet a growing appetite for noodles, bread and other baked products as incomes rise.
“Hard red spring wheat is in extremely short supply here in the domestic market because China’s own production of high quality wheat was not satisfactory despite higher output,” said an analyst with an official think-tank.
More demand for high protein wheat could bolster prices for spring wheat traded on the Minneapolis Grains Exchange, as well as support hard red winter wheat futures in Kansas.
State restricts poultry movement
(Reuters) — Washington state agriculture officials have imposed an emergency eight-month quarantine on poultry and eggs in two counties in the southeastern part of the state to contain an outbreak of highly contagious bird flu.
The quarantine restricts the movement of eggs, poultry or poultry products out of the quarantine zone, which makes up roughly 30 kilometres around Benton and Franklin counties, the Washington State Department of Agriculture said.
A highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, the H5N2 virus, was confirmed this month in two flocks of mixed poultry and other birds in the region, agriculture officials said.
The virus has not been found in commercial poultry and there was no immediate public health concern, the state agency said in a statement.
Cargill earnings jump 41 percent
(Reuters) — Global commodities trader Cargill Inc. reported a 41 percent jump in quarterly profit as a record-large U.S. harvest lowered grain prices and boosted domestic and export demand while bolstering margins on meat sales.
The privately held company based in Minnesota, reported net earnings of US $784 million for the second quarter ended Nov. 30, up from $556 million a year earlier.
Revenue fell eight percent to $30.3 billion from $32.9 billion.
Leave fuel reserves, says study
LONDON (Reuters) — A third of the world’s oil reserves, half of the gas reserves and 80 percent of current coal reserves should not be used in the coming decades if global warming is to stay below an agreed 2 C target, scientists said.
In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers said the vast majority of coal reserves in China, Russia and the United States should stay in the ground, as well as more than 260,000 million barrels of oil reserves in the Middle East, equivalent to all of Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.
The Middle East should also leave more than 60 percent of its gas reserves in the ground, the study found.
“Policy makers must realize that their instincts to completely use the fossil fuels within their countries are wholly incompatible with their commitments to the 2 C goal,” said Christophe McGlade, who led the study at University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Resources.
