• Some regions across the world have lost honey bee colonies in recent years.

    The House Ag Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology and Foreign Agriculture held a public hearing on this topic Tuesday to review current research and application of management strategies to control this problem.

    Ranking Member Kurt Schrader of Oregon spoke from his personal experience as a farmer. Without honey bees, he says, farmers would be unable to grow many of the foods people know and love.

  • The Consumer Reports National Research Center released a survey of more than 1,000 adult U.S. residents.

    The survey found 84-percent buy organic food and 45-percent buy organic at least once a month, but 81 percent believe the organic label means no toxic pesticides were used and 61 percent believe it means no antibiotics were used.

    While federal law prohibits the use of substances such as fertilizers and antibiotics in organic agriculture, the National Organic Standards Board issues exemptions for up to five years at a time.

    The NOSB is meeting in San Antonio this week and will discuss several of these exemptions and see how they are handled after the five-years have passed.

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