The number of grain farmers sowing their crops dry instead of waiting for rain continues to build in parts of NSW, Australia.
In the state's south-west, a hot dry summer has left paddocks with little moisture and croppers anxious about the autumn break.
Cameron Swan, from Berrigan in the Riverina, says it's a stark reminder of how the season can change so quickly.
"As a young farmer, it's a bit worrying, because I've been getting
used to the wet summers and you don't mind going to the growing season
with a profile of moisture. At the moment it's very dry."
The Center for Food Safety, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the Center for Biological Diversity and six other U.S. food
safety, agriculture, public health and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit to compel the Food and Drug Administration to get arsenic out
of animal feed.
Specifically the suit seeks a response to the groups’
2009 petition calling for immediate withdrawal of FDA’s approval of
arsenic-containing compounds as feed additives for food animals.
Arsenic is commonly added to poultry feed for the
FDA-approved purposes of inducing faster weight gain on less feed, and
creating the perceived appearance of a healthy color in meat from
chickens, turkeys and hogs. The lawsuit seeks to force FDA to fulfill
its mandate to better protect the public from arsenic. The 2009
petition presented abundant science to FDA that organic arsenic
compounds — like those added to animal feed — are directly toxic to
animals and humans, but also that they convert to cancer-causing,
inorganic arsenic inside of chickens, in manure-treated soil and in
humans. Additional testing since submission of the 2009 petition
demonstrates even greater cause for public concern and therefore
greater urgency meriting FDA’s prompt attention.
“FDA could easily and immediately fix the problem,” said
Paige Tomaselli, senior staff attorney with Center for Food Safety,
“but instead puts its head in the sand. We can only conclude the FDA is
catering to the companies that continue to sell products containing
arsenic that ends up in our food supply.”
First approved as animal feed additives in the 1940s,
arsenic-containing compounds remain legal for use in U.S. chicken,
turkey and swine production. They were never approved as safe for
animal feed in the European Union, Japan and many other countries.
“FDA continues to drag its heels, as it has since we
first blew the whistle seven years ago on arsenic being needlessly fed
to chickens and turkeys, leading to detectable levels in supermarket
meat and fast foods,” said Dr. David Wallinga, a physician with the
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
“In banning arsenic from
animal feed once and for all, perhaps the FDA will finally bring the
U.S. on par with major trading partners who never deemed it safe in the
first place.”
Because arsenic in animal waste reaches waterways,
arsenic in animal feed poses a danger to wildlife species that interact
with the contaminated water. Concentrations of arsenic in water as low
as 1 part per billion have been reported to disrupt aquatic ecosystems
by inhibiting the growth of certain aquatic plants. Fish are
particularly susceptible to arsenic poisoning and the feeding practices
of animal feeding operations will contribute to negative water quality
harming numerous freshwater species.
“It’s unacceptable to allow the poultry industry to
continue poison the food chain with deadly arsenic,” said Jonathan
Evans, toxics and endangered species campaign director at the Center
for Biological Diversity. “Arsenic in our food and waterways threatens
public health and ecosystems.”
The Indian competition watchdog, CCI, has approved the proposed acquisition of a rice mill owned by Olam Agro India by Spanish firm Herba Foods.
Herba Foods, a subsidiary of Ebro Foods, would acquire 100 per cent stake in Taraori Rice Mills.
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| Map of New South Wales/Australia, LGA of Berrigan Shire highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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