
		" I heard it through the AgLine"

January 11, 2010

· Bee colony collapse may have several causes

· Pioneer calls rival Monsanto a seed monopoly

· Utah Farm Bureau counters ‘eco-propaganda’

· Gates Foundation picks new ag program chief

· World Ag Expo launches digital show grounds

Bee colony collapse may have several causes

(Wired News) – When suspiciously large numbers of honeybee colonies started collapsing in late 2006, the search began to find the culprit behind the mysterious deaths. Now it seems a whole web of problems may be causing what’s known as colony collapse disorder.

It’s becoming clear that there is no single parasite, virus or chemical to blame, argues Frances Ratnieks, a bee scientist at University of Sussex in Brighton.

Instead, honeybees are probably dying for all kinds of different reasons from loss of their foraging grounds to increased exposure to global pathogens, Ratnieks wrote in a review of the issue in the journal Science.

“We may conclude that colonies are dying for different reasons in different parts of the world and I would say that if that is the case, I would not be the least bit surprised,” Ratnieks told Wired.com.

A variety of pests, viruses and parasites could all be working together to stress the bees. And in some ways, that’s worse than trying to take on a single culprit: The problems with beekeeping are systemic, Ratnieks said, and can’t be solved with a new pesticide or technique.

In an increasingly globalized world, bee pathogens travel quickly between bee populations. Over the last decades, the Varroa destructor mite has spread from Asian honeybees to the rest of the continents. The gut parasite Nosema ceranae has taken the same path. Both species are believed to make existing bee diseases worse. V. destructor took about four decades, reaching North America about a decade ago. N. ceranae circled the globe in a quarter of that time.

“It is certainly a case in the modern world, pathogens can be transmitted from one corner of the world to an another quickly,” Ratnieks said.

He compared the bee pathogen problems to those humans are encountering with swine flu and other emerging diseases, which can spread quickly thanks to modern transportation.

“Even though the U.S. is a big country, what shows up in one part of the country shows up in the other parts of the county in no-time flat,” he said.

That’s in part because of the economics of beekeeping. The $2 billion almond crop in California requires 1,000,000 honeybee hives for cross-pollination. That’s more than 40 percent of all the beehives in the country. So, come almond-tree flowering season, which begins in February, apiarists load up their hives on flatbeds and truck them to San Joaquin Valley. While this pilgrimage may be necessary to keep churning out cheap almonds, it also creates a melting pot of pathogens. And the moving and trucking itself could negatively impact the bees, too.

Ratnieks also suspects that honeybees are more susceptible to disease because their natural forage — weeds and gardens, etc. — has been wiped out by single-crop farming in the major farming valleys of the country.

Add it all up and the honeybees are fighting the battle to survive on several, interconnected fronts.

“It’s harder to keep a hive alive now. It used to be with bees in America, if the hive was alive and thriving, chances are the hive would be alive and thriving the next year,” said Ratnieks. “Now, they are feeding their hives with supplements and feeding them with chemicals, they are having to peddle pedal quite hard just to keep their hives alive.”

Last year, there were enough honeybees to keep the almond trees pollinated, but last summer’s weather conditions were bad in North Dakota and the neighboring states where the California hives often spend the season.

With the big almond flowering coming up, and the bees in bad condition, the beginning of next month could harbor a nasty surprise for nut farmers.

“In early February, that’s when the rubber hits the road or the shit hits the fan,” Ratnieks concluded.

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Pioneer calls rival Monsanto a seed monopoly

(DesMoinesRegister.com) – Pioneer Hi-Bred on Friday called rival seed company Monsanto an "overwhelming monopoly" and said it had "encouraged the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice to examine the current state of ag biotech competition and take appropriate action to restore a competitive environment."

In comments to the two Cabinet departments, Pioneer said Monsanto uses its shares of the soybean and corn biotech trait markets - 98 percent and 78 percent shares, respectively - to act as a "bottleneck" to competition and innovation.

Monsanto, in its own filings with the government, said that farmers can purchase seed from more than 20 companies, and it noted that "traits are only a part of the total value of the seed, which is why there is substantial competition and variation in price even among seeds that contain the same trait combination."

The two companies' filings are in preparation for a March 12 hearing in Ankeny sponsored by the USDA and the Justice Department on competition in the seed industry.

Monsanto has achieved its market share through its ownership of DeKalb, Asgrow and other seed companies and use of genetic traits that enable seeds to resist Monsanto's popular Roundup glyphosate herbicide.

Pioneer, like other seed companies, has licensed the Roundup Ready technology in its own seeds. It has committed to pay $725 million in licensing fees to Monsanto from 2007 to 2015 for Roundup Ready, which goes off patent in 2014.

But last year, Monsanto sued Pioneer over Pioneer's stated plans to combine Roundup Ready with its own traits in Pioneer's planned Optimum soybean series to be introduced sometime after 2012.

"Monsanto's license agreements prevent seed companies from combining different characteristics in a single seed (often referred to as 'stacking'), including both Monsanto and non-Monsanto technology," Pioneer's comments assert.

"These restrictions deny farmers the choice of the best seeds to suit their needs and force Monsanto customers to rely solely on Monsanto technology," Pioneer said.

Monsanto's filings paint itself as the early adapter to biotech while unnamed competitors stood still.

"Between 1980 and 1996, Monsanto invested approximately $1.5 billion in biotech research and development to improve weed and insect control. During the same period, our competitors invested $15 billion in the development of pesticide chemistry - they largely ignored biotech," Monsanto said.

While Monsanto is alleged to have overwhelming shares of the seed biotech markets, its share of the actual seed sales market is narrower. Widely used figures for 2009 show that it was the top seller of corn seeds, with a 36 percent margin to Pioneer's 32 percent.

In soybeans, Monsanto has acknowledged that Pioneer has a larger market share, with each company having less than 30 percent of the North American market.

Said Monsanto: "No single company has a dominant share of seed sales in corn, soybean or cotton. Independent seed companies, numbering in the hundreds, have held their own and have significant share in corn, soybeans and cotton."

Pioneer says "consumers pay more when a single company controls access to innovation," and quotes a recent study by the American Antitrust Association that it said "demonstrated that price increases (for seeds) in this decade for Monsanto's traits have exceeded the additional benefits they convey."

Pioneer has filed its own antitrust lawsuit against Monsanto and its attorneys, led by the same man, David Boies, who led the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust prosecution of Microsoft a decade ago.

Pioneer claims that Monsanto is using Roundup Ready biotech traits in a manner similar to the way Microsoft was alleged to have used its Windows operating system to squelch competition on computer desktops.

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Utah Farm Bureau counters ‘eco-propaganda’

(The Salt Lake Tribune) – The state's largest farming organization is placing books on agriculture in Utah schools to correct what its chief executive says are "lies and distortions" that vilify America's conventional farming practices.

Utah Farm Bureau CEO Randy Parker said his organization of about 27,000 members is purchasing books to correct "eco-propaganda" messages aimed at children that assert agriculture is ravaging the environment.

"Our children are flooded with a variety of 'go-green' messages," Parker wrote in the Farm Bureau's Winter newsletter. "Children are being traumatized for not recycling an empty yogurt container or forgetting to turn off the lights."

Parker singled out the children's book That's Why We Don't Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians and All Living Things , as an example of "political-activist messages" his group hopes to counteract.

Author Ruby Roth said she wrote the book "to support children who are already vegan and vegetarian, and to explain to nonvegan children why people across the world choose not to eat animals or animal byproducts."

Roth's book, endorsed by anthropologist Jane Goodall, describes the importance of saving endangered species, and it details her view of the suffering of animals locked away in factory farms.

Parker said that in the three decades he has been in agriculture, he has never seen livestock mistreated in Utah -- whether on small or large farming operations.

"We've all see clips about animal mistreatment that are appalling to all of us," he said. "But the absolute majority of farmers and ranchers take care of their animals. Among many other reasons is, it's in their best economic interest to do so."

Parker said books that accurately portray agriculture include Milk Comes From a COW? and Farmers and Ranchers Care about their Animals! , written by Kansas Farm Bureau CEO Dan Yunk.

But Andree' Bravo, interim director of the Utah Society for Environmental Education, said both Roth's and Yunk's books have merit.

"Our goal is to present a fair and balanced view and teach people how to think, not what to think about an issue," she said. "In that case, books about why we don't eat animals should be presented alongside books such as Milk Comes From a COW? so children -- and adults -- can see both views and then make their own decisions."

The Farm Bureau is purchasing Yunk's books to be distributed through the Utah Agriculture in the Classroom program, sponsored by Utah State University. Officials at USU and the Utah Association of Conservation Districts connected with the program declined to comment.

Parker said another example of "eco-propanganda" is the video spoof, "Grocery Store Wars," paid for by the Massachusetts-based Organic Trade Association.

The video has Star Wars veggie puppets such as "Cuke" Skywalker and "Chewbroccoli" fighting The Dark Side of conventional farming and urging an organic revolution. The five-minute clip, which can be seen on YouTube, has been viewed by more than 2 million people.

"YouTube's comic anti-agriculture portrayals warn us that 'scary green monsters' of eco-propaganda are seeping into children's lives. Lies, distortions and social agendas are being presented as fact by our biased media," Parker wrote in a newsletter, named by the American Farm Bureau Federation as a top magazine.

Barbara Haumann, senior editor with the Organic Trade Association, said her group released "Grocery Store Wars" in 2005 "as a satirical pro-sustainable farming video. It is not anti-agriculture, but rather promotes sustainable farming practices. It was not aimed at children but rather at consumers who care about how their food is produced."

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Gates Foundation picks new ag program chief

SEATTLE (AP) - A day after its previous agriculture leader was sworn in to take over the United States Agency for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a new director for agriculture development.

Sam Dryden, a managing director of New York-based Wolfensohn & Company, will take over the program on Feb. 1.

Dryden has 25 years of experience as an investor and entrepreneur in the life sciences. He has served on a number of international boards and commissions focused on agriculture development, economic development and food security.

Dryden previously was chair and CEO of Emergent Genetics, which developed and marketed technologically-enhanced seeds.

Dryden replaces Dr. Rajiv Shah, who was sworn in on Thursday as the administrator for USAID.

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World Ag Expo launches digital show grounds

Tulare, Calif. – (AgPR) –Exhibitors and attendees can now make the most of their time at World Ag Expo using the Digital Show Grounds feature at WorldAgExpo.com.

The Digital Show Grounds feature allows those planning to attend World Ag Expo to view a high-resolution map of the show grounds and map out their experience minute-by-minute with seminars, tours and stops at exhibits that apply directly to their industry.

“It’s easy to lose track of time when you are taking in the sights of World Ag Expo’s 1,600 exhibitors on 2.6 million square feet of show grounds,” said Bernie Cargle, 2010 Chairman of World Ag Expo. “The Digital Show Grounds gives you a chance to plan your trip so you get the most out of World Ag Expo.”

The 43rd annual World Ag Expo 2010, powering global agriculture, will run February 9–11 at the International Agri-Center show grounds in Tulare, Calif. An estimated 100,000 visitors from 67 countries are expected to attend World Ag Expo this year. The expo is the largest annual agricultural show of its kind with 1,600 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge agricultural technology and equipment on 2.6 million square feet of show grounds.

Online attendee registration is now available at WorldAgExpo.com. Those who register online through February 1 will save time at the gate, $2 off daily admission, and automatically be entered to win a Yamaha Rhino and other registration prizes. World Ag Expo tickets are $10 online if purchased before February 1, or $12 at the gate. Attendees who pick up their badges at the onsite registration center also will receive a complimentary admission to West Coast Nationals on the same day. For more information about West Coast Nationals, go to westcoastnationals.com.

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