Agriculture

"Though the amount of microcystin present in raw Lake Erie water near Toledo’s water-system intake Wednesday was double the amount detected two days earlier, city officials announced they planned to scale back testing for the toxin."

"More than 70 percent of pollen and honey samples collected from foraging bees in Massachusetts contained neonicotinoids, a type of insecticide that has been linked to colony collapse disorder, researchers are reporting. The disorder causes adult bees to abandon their hives in winter."

"JOHNSON, Kan. -- The prairie wind buffeted Brant Peterson as he stood in a half-dead field of winter wheat."

"Food companies would not have to disclose whether their products include genetically modified ingredients under legislation passed by the House Thursday."

"Microscopic bugs and mildew can destroy a marijuana operation faster than any police raid. And because the crop has been illegal for so long, neither growers nor scientists have any reliable research to help fight the infestations."

"Intense drought conditions have shrunk the kernels and disrupted the proteins of winter wheat crops in Montana, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the region that produces a fifth of the U.S. harvest."

"It was touted as the bill “where everybody wins” — a common-sense approach to providing badly needed drought relief to California growers, and a measure that would place the needs of people above those of fish."

"A bill preventing states from requiring labels on foods containing genetically modified ingredients easily passed a House committee Tuesday, but the legislation has drawn widespread opposition from many Democrats and consumer groups and faces an uncertain future."