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August 2, 2011
· Nufarm may face thousands of litigants
· Pioneer Hi-Bred seed sales up 9 percent
· Beetles important to reducing weeds
· Plant gene may boost disease resistance
· Caution urged in storing methyl bromide produce
Nufarm may face thousands of litigants
(BusinessDay.com) – HUNDREDS of disgruntled investors have registered for a class action against embattled crop-protection group Nufarm, and lawyers say the number of claimants could balloon into thousands.
Legal firms Maurice Blackburn and Slater & Gordon have launched two separate actions, which are seeking to recover losses from alleged material non-disclosures.
Nufarm managing director Doug Rathbone is accused of repeatedly misleading investors with optimistic forecasts, they say.
The company has denied any and all allegations of wrongdoing, and said it will ''defend the proceedings vigorously.''
Its shares have taken a battering, falling 24.3 per cent since February's high of $5.73 to $4.34. Last week, 6.5 per cent, or 29¢, was wiped off the stock price.
A Maurice Blackburn spokesman said the firm has been instructed by a range of institutional and retail investors, with hundreds of claimants registered.
''Maurice Blackburn is continuing to see more investors join as we approach the hearing date this month,'' the spokesman.
''We could see thousands of investors come forward.'' The Maurice Blackburn claim centres on sales of glyphosate, a main ingredient in Nufarm's weedkillers, which contributes a third of the company's revenue.
Maurice Blackburn alleges that Nufarm failed to adequately inform the market of the adverse effect on the profitability of its business of a falling international glyphosate market between September 28, 2009, and August 31, 2010.
Nufarm told the market in September 2009 that 2009 glyphosate write-downs would lead to a profit in 2010. But a loss of $28.4 million in glyphosate stocks between August and December 2009 was not announced until March the following year, the Maurice Blackburn claim alleged.
Slater & Gordon alleges Nufarm ''did not have reasonable grounds'' for a forecast of an operating profit of $110 million to $130 million for 2009-10, made by Mr Rathbone at a March 2010 extraordinary general meeting and repeated at Nufarm's half-year results presentation on March 30, and on April 20, when it raised $250 million in new shares.
The Maurice Blackburn spokesman said a hearing was set for
this week at the Federal Court in
Pioneer Hi-Bred seed sales up 9 percent
(desmoinesregister.com)
– DuPont said its agriculture and chemicals unit, which includes Pioneer
Hi-Bred of
DuPont said seed sales totaled $2.2 billion for the quarter, up 9 percent, from the previous year. First half annual seed sales were $4.9 billion, up 14 precent.
DuPont said its new reduced-refuge Acremax corn seeds were
planted on about 4 million of the 88 million acres of corn planted by farmers
in the
The entire DuPont corporate operation, which includes its paints, safety products, industrial and other chemicals, reported a 17 percent increase in net earnings for the quarter to $1.3 billion.
DuPont doesn’t break out specific numbers for Pioneer Hi Bred, but said its agriculture unit saw sales gains from $2.7 billion in the same quarter last year to $3 billion this year.
DuPont chief executive officer Ellen Kullman noted Pioneer’s “strong performance, ” and said the seed company expects to announce markete share gains later this year. Pioneer is the market share leader in soybean sales and a close second to Monsanto in corn seed sales.
Operating profit for the agriculture unit rose from $746 million last year to $826 million this year, the largest chunk of DuPont’s $1.9 billion in operating profits.
Kullman noted the “strong performance” of the agriculture unit and said that the addition of Danish-based Danisco, which makes enzymes at a Cedar Rapids plant and plans to collaborate with Pioneer on a biofuels plant at Nevada, will make a “significant impact” on future DuPont performance.
Beetles important to reducing weeds
(ScienceDaily) — Researchers funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) have found that ground beetles reduce the amount of weed seeds in the soil. Weeds reduce crop yields and these findings support the need to conserve farmland biodiversity as it plays an important supporting role to herbicides in controlling weeds and improving food security.
This research confirms a long-held belief by scientists that ground beetles play a role in weed control. Dr David Bohan, Rothamsted Research, who led the research, said "seed predation by naturally occurring beetles in farmland does have a beneficial effect, reducing weed numbers in fields and potentially improving agricultural productivity."
The study, to be published in the August edition of Journal of Applied Ecology, used data from 257 conventionally managed fields throughout the UK to determine the effect that ground beetles have on the number of weed seeds in the soil of sugar beet, maize, and spring and winter oilseed rape fields.
The researchers found that grass weeds were reduced more
than other weeds, which is important because many
Ground beetles appear to eat a significant proportion of the weed seeds that would otherwise go into the soil. With the right management, ground beetles could be used to replace some herbicide applications and significantly reduce weed populations. 'Beetle banks', which involve leaving an area of a field as a wildlife habitat, are already supported under the Environmental Stewardship schemes available to farmers.
Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive, BBSRC said "We have a challenge to feed 9 billion people by 2050 and to do so we must engage in research now that will underpin improvements in yield and sustainability of farming in the future. By studying whole biological systems such as farm ecosystems we can spot the various contributions made by different aspects of a system, including these beetles. This project shows that the balance of farm ecosystems can be vital to ensuring sustainability in farming in the future. It also makes the link between biodiversity and food security very clear."
Plant gene may boost disease resistance
(ScienceDaily) — Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have opened up the black box of plant immune system genetics, boosting our ability to produce disease- and pest-resistant crops in the future. The research is published this in the journal Science.
An international consortium of researchers, including Professor Jim Beynon at the University of Warwick, has used a systems biology approach to uncover a huge network of genes that all play a part in defending plants against attacks from pests and diseases -- a discovery that will make it possible to explore new avenues for crop improvement and in doing so ensure future food security.
Professor Beynon said "Plants have a basic defence system to keep out potentially dangerous organisms. Unfortunately some of these organisms have, over time, evolved the ability to overcome plant defences and so plant breeders are always looking for new ways to catch them out. Understanding exactly how plant immunity works is key to making developments in this area."
Professor Beynon's team looked at downy mildew as an example of a plant disease. This is caused by mould-like organism called Hyaloperonospora parasitica, which, like many organisms that infect plants, produces proteins that it introduces into the plant to undermine its natural defences.
The team studied almost 100 different so-called effector proteins from Hyaloperonospora parasitica that are known to be involved in overcoming a plant's immune system. They were looking to see how each of these proteins has an effect through interaction with other proteins that are already present in a plant. They found a total of 122 plant proteins from the commonly-studied plant Arabidopsis thaliana that are directly targeted by the proteins from Hyaloperonospora parasitica.
Professor Beynon continued "This shows that there are many more plant proteins involved in immunity than we first thought. By studying the genes that give rise to these proteins we can start to identify key genetic targets for crop improvement."
The study has also identified many complex connections between the plant proteins suggesting that the network of activity is crucial in plant defences.
Professor Beynon concluded "Our discovery suggests that looking for single genes that confer resistance to pests and diseases is not going to be sufficient. Instead, researchers and breeders will have to work together to produce plants with robust networks of genes that can withstand attack."
Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive, BBSRC said "Understanding the fundamental bioscience of plants is critical if we are to develop new ways of producing sustainable, safe, and nutritious food for a growing population. This discovery opens up a whole realm of possibilities in research about plant-pathogen interactions. It also points the way to new ways of working in this area; with a complex network operating behind the scenes in plant immunity, there is a clear need to take a systems approach to future research."
The work was a collaboration between Pascal Braun and Marc
Vidal of the Dana Faber Institute,
Caution urged in storing methyl bromide produce
(University of California via Physorg.com) – Operators of facilities that store or process crops treated with methyl bromide should take extra precautions to protect their workers from postharvest exposure to the fumigant, advise experts at UC Davis, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers investigated the first reported illnesses in
the
“We urge doctors and other health professionals to consider possible occupational and environmental exposures when they are diagnosing workers who may have been exposed to fumigants,” said report co-author Michael O’Malley, a physician and researcher at UC Davis’ Center for Health and the Environment. “Likewise, it is important that workers who might be exposed to fumigants be informed of the health hazards that are related to these pesticides.”
Methyl bromide is a colorless, odorless, toxic gas. In agriculture, it is used primarily for soil fumigation and to kill pests in harvested fresh produce. It is being phased out of use because studies have shown that it contributes to the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer.
The research team’s recommendations resulted from the
investigation of a 2010 case, in which two men became ill after they were
exposed intermittently over several months to methyl bromide as they inspected
the quality of fresh grapes inside a refrigerated storage unit operated by a
Both men developed disabling neurologic symptoms, including difficulty walking, dizziness and difficulties with concentration. Blood tests revealed they had elevated serum bromide levels. Subsequent air sampling in the cold-storage facility where they worked detected elevated levels of methyl bromide that exceeded the eight-hour exposure limits.
The men reported their symptoms in February and March of 2010, and by September of that year both had fully recovered.
To prevent such post-fumigation exposures in the future, the researchers suggests that produce handlers increase the time that the fumigated produce is aired out, reduce packaging that might absorb the fumigant or limit aeration, change the way pallets are stacked to improve air flow and reduce required methyl bromide application rates. They also advised that facilities that store methyl bromide-fumigated produce should monitor the methyl bromide levels in the air.
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