BREAKING NEWS! MULTIPLE STUNNING COURT LOSSES COMPEL MONSANTO/BAYER TO MAKE MASSIVE LEGAL SETTLEMENTS. Jaw-dropping assertions of outrageous greed-driven misbehavior came out during court proceedings of multiple lawsuits against malicious Monsanto over deadly herbicides Glyphosate (Roundup) and Dicamba. As a result, citizen-juries made staggering awards to injured plaintiffs. Now, Monsanto – acquired by Bayer two years ago – has moved to resolve the 125,000 existing lawsuits over fatally-flawed products.
'Center for Food Safety' offers their keen perspective. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"Today, agribusiness and pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced several massive legal settlements totaling over $10 billion to compensate those harmed by products of its recently acquired subsidiary, the Monsanto Company. The settlements involved two hazardous herbicides (weedkillers), Roundup and dicamba.

"Bayer has agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to roughly 125,000 people claiming that the company's Roundup herbicide was responsible for their cancer. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, was designated a probable human carcinogen by an expert working group of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2015. IARC, the world's premier cancer authority, found that glyphosate caused cancer in animals and is linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in humans.

"The Roundup litigation settlement was preceded by three bellwether cases, in which juries sided with NHL-suffering plaintiffs in finding that their exposure to glyphosate contributed to their cancers. Plaintiffs Edwin Hardeman, DeWayne Johnson, and Alberta and Alva Pilliod were each awarded between $25 to $87 million.

"'No financial settlement can make good the pain, suffering and lives lost to Monsanto's cancer-causing Roundup, but this settlement at least provides some small restitution, and more importantly will help dissuade others from putting themselves at similar risk by using this hazardous product,' said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at Center for Food Safety (CFS)…

"In a separate agreement, Bayer announced it would pay up to $400 million to thousands of farmers whose crops had been damaged due to rampant drift of the company's highly volatile dicamba herbicide. This agreement was preceded by two lawsuits that likely provided impetus for Bayer to settle…Missouri peach farmer Bill Bader won a settlement of $265 million in a lawsuit against Bayer-Monsanto for the devastation wrought by years of dicamba drift onto his southeast Missouri peach orchard, the region's largest."

Legal Settlements Awarded to Cancer Patients and Farmers Harmed by Monsanto Herbicides

Today, agribusiness and pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced several massive legal settlements totaling over $10 billion to compensate those harmed…


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ORGANIC FARMING GROUPS URGE USDA TO PLAY FAIR ON CRITICAL ORGANIC 'ORIGIN OF LIVESTOCK' RULE. Corporate factory farms have been playing the system and conducting bogus practices when it comes to sourcing and managing replacement heifers destined for organic dairy herds.
As partner-in-crime, USDA has been looking the other way on this weighty issue, and been miserably failing to enforce the clear-eyed honest procedures practiced universally' by America's family organic dairy farmers.
'Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA)' is a signatory to this letter to Congress, organized by 'OFA (Organic Farmers Assn)', an relatively new organization we are members of.
Read the letter to Congress and see the list of 70 signatories here. Caleb, Megan & Jim https://www.perishablenews.com/…/organic-farmers-associati…/

Organic dairy farmers urge USDA to finalize ‘origin of livestock’ rule

Organic dairy farmers are once again urging the USDA to clarify its rule for transitioning livestock under the National Organic Program, eliminating a loophole they say puts smaller producers at


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BIG POTATO FARMING EQUIPMENT ON FULL DISPLAY. Blackfoot, Idaho based Spudnik Equipment – established in 1958 and with a branch in nearby Presque Isle, Maine – choreographed this burly display of green and red iron earlier this month in Aroostook County.
Boasting red Spudnik ‘Single Pass Hillers’ on…

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"THE 5 BEST PLACES TO LIVE IN 2100." This interesting article from two years ago furthers comprehension about the details of a new hotter world in which climate has been radically altered by 1000 ppm Carbon Dioxide. Despite occasional glibness, this article does provide benefit by reducing the airy theoretical to the understandable.
Citing five appealing locales likely to weather changes ahead much better than most, the piece offers a graspable framework for big changes coming.
Overall,.Maine ranks well ("The state with by far the highest overall score is Maine") and Bangor – the former logging mecca inland on the Penobscot River is named one of the five most livable places in 2020. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"… it might not be a bad idea to start planning for where our children’s children might live. It’s no surprise that the collective advice of climate scientists today is Go North, Young Man. 'If, as many climate models suggest, our planet becomes one of killer heat waves, fickle rain, and baked croplands, might new human societies emerge in places currently unappealing for settlement?…Could the 21st century see the decline of the southwestern United States and European Mediterranean, but the ascent of the northern United States, Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia?' According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international body that evaluates the science of climate change, the answer, for the year 2100, is 'Yes'…

"…Greenland’s annual melt can provide water needs for, get ready for it: more than 2 billion Americans. Put another way, a year of Greenland melt means sufficient water for one in three people on the planet.

"So, Greenland will have water…

"…Oymyakon, in eastern Siberia, is considered the coldest populated place on earth. The 500-person town is sandwiched between two mountain ranges. The average high temperature in January is -45F…

"…by the 2080s, summer temperatures would rise by nine degrees, winter temperatures would rise by 25 degrees, and precipitation would increase…50 to 85 percent of central Siberia is predicted to be climatically suitable for agriculture by the end of the century….

"…How to put this nicely? On a hot planet, with a paucity of fresh water and food, there will be war. Systems will be down. 'Major transportation, command and control, intelligence, and deployment hubs may face unrelenting erratic outages or curtailment of operations,'

"…The EPA looked at environmental, economic, and societal aspects of climate resilience, and also assessed governance and social services. The state with by far the highest overall score is Maine.

"With rocky coasts that would be difficult to attack and easy to defend, close enough to the ocean for trade and transport, but high and rocky enough to not lose all of their coastline to storms and sea level rise, Maine could be the place for peace."

The 5 Best Places to Live in 2100

No floods, famine, or war. And the people are nice.


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TIME FOR A QUIET DIVERSION: CONTEMPLATING EPIC TRAIN RIDES THROUGH OUR BIG, BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. We're fans of trains. 'Matador' has now published a fine daydreamer's article highlighting our options for traveling by-the-rails while taking in the best sights in America. Inviting and beautiful photographs are peppered throughout the piece.
A few Summers ago we had a 'Direct Gardening Association' Conference in Philadelphia and I had the opportunity to take the train from South Station in Boston down to Philly.
Compared to flying, trains offer a notably civilized way to travel. Legroom, headroom, sans security check and giant inviting windows were highlights of a trip different-paced.
Coming back to Boston on a Friday afternoon, seats crowded up completely in New York with Connecticuters and a few Rhode Islanders who appeared to have spent the work week in NYC. They were now coming home to be met by wives and families awaiting them on the train platforms of coastal towns, circa 1950s. After the first stop or two in Rhode Island, it transformed to more of a ghost train back into Boston. Jim

The best US train routes for bucket-list destinations

From the Colorado Rocky Mountains to the Kenai Fjords in Alaska.


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WELCOME BRAND NEW PYGMY HIPPO BORN AT SAN DIEGO ZOO! First-timer Mother Mabel recently gave birth to a baby that zookeepers have named 'Akobi.'
Pygmy Hippos are an Engangered species and Akobi is the first calf to be born at the San Diego Zoo in 30 years.
You may watch this short You Tube video (1:00) to get a view of the now two-month-old water-loving junior. Caleb, Megan & Jim

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A SNAPSHOT UPDATE ON DEVASTATING FIRES ON SOUTH AUSTRALIA'S 'KANGAROO ISLAND.' Five months ago we reported on the extensive and calamitous lightning-caused fires which wreaked havoc on Kangaroo Island, South Australia's premier and secluded early-generation seed potato production area.
The land area of Kangaroo island is 1700 square miles and it's located 8 miles off the SW coast of SA. Fully one-third of the island burned in the fires of six months ago.
Family farmer Peter Lock was unimaginably impacted by the fires. His story stands as a remarkable tale of the resiliency of the human spirit. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"Kangaroo Island's six seed potato producers were all hit to some degree by the summer's bushfires.

"But none more so than Peter Lock, whose home, shed and equipment on Turkey Lane west of Parndana were all totally destroyed by fire, while he lost his nearby potato crops too…

"And he was smiling when The Islander caught up with him earlier this month when a bulldozer was knocking down the plantation bluegums on 12-hectares of the land…

"The potato farmer wanted to remove the trees around what will be his new shed and home for safety reasons.

"When the fire ripped through Turkey Lane on January 3, the potato farmer and his 15 or so workers had to flee for their lives.

"The fire not only took the shed, boxes and boxes of potatoes, his packing and cool rooms, forklift, trucks and farm machinery, it also destroyed his own house and the backpacker accommodation.

"'The list goes on and on, it took everything,' he said…

"Many of Mr Lock's workers helped fight the fires and also stayed on for the initial clean-up and subsequent recovery.

"The whole Island seed potato industry was set back by the fires and is running about 10 weeks behind schedule…

"Mr Lock and his workers last week finished their first harvest since the fire, having dug up and packaged about 1200 tonnes of seed potatoes from his north coast paddocks…

"He was then planting 36 hectares of new seed potatoes, which should yield a harvest of around 600 tonnes in spring.

"The break of the season had been good and mild enough to allow the harvest to go ahead smoothly…

"South Australia is Australia's largest producer of certified seed.

"Mainland SA growers produced about 27 per cent of the nation's seed potato requirements, and the Island produces 16 per cent independently of that."

Seed potato growers on Kangaroo Island hit hard by bushfires

Peter Lock's home, shed and equipment on Turkey Lane all totally destroyed by fire.


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SEED POTATO FARM IN ALBERTA DONATES A TRUCKLOAD OF POTATOES TO GARDENERS IN CANADIAN 'NORTHWEST TERRITORY' COMMUNITIES. The Certified Seed Potatoes from 'Sunnycrest Farms' in the Lacombe, Alberta seed region were delivered to the NWT earlier this month in one-ton tote sacks.
If all the gardens supplied were combined together, this donated truckload of seed would be enough to plant over 25 acres of potatoes. Caleb, Megan & Jim

"A Hay River agricultural organization has received an impressive donation – enough to fill a transport truck – from a farm in Alberta.

"The 50,000 pounds (about 22,500 kg) of seed potatoes arrived at Northern Farm Training Institute (NFTI) on June 4…

"NFTI plans to distribute the seed potatoes to communities all over the NWT.

“'So this could be the initiation to really help us restore and reactivate the culture of personal gardening,' said Milne…

"'We’ve been blessed to have the farm we have,' he said. 'A lot of this is about helping out other people if we can, and we found a spot to help out other people. I’m happy to see an initiative like that because, from the research I’ve done, food is not as easy and as cheap to come by as it is for us around here'…

"Now that it has so many potatoes, NFTI has to get them distributed to gardeners all over the NWT…

"She noted people will be coming from such places as Fort Providence, Fort Simpson and Yellowknife to pick up some of the potatoes.

As for getting them to more isolated communities, Milne is hoping to arrange for assistance from airlines…"

NFTI gets massive donation of seed potatoes from Alberta farm

June 11, 2020 – A Hay River agricultural organization has received an impressive donation – enough to fill a transport truck – from a farm in Alberta. The 50,000 pounds…


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THE TALE OF A SPLIT EMPIRE: RETAIL POTATO SALES UP AMID SEVERE FOOD-SERVICE POTATO FALL. Recent alarming news headlines have focused on the calamitous fall in demand for potatoes used in food service – especially potatoes processed into French Fries – and sold via now sidelined restaurants, schools and stadiums. A giant 60% of the USA potato crop typically makes its way into food service channels.
However, RETAIL SALES, led by fresh potatoes have been strong, with a sizeable uptick since the pandemic began.
Industry rag 'Spudman' reports. Caleb, Megan, Jim

"Retail potato sales in the U.S. were up more than 30%, year-over-year, during the period of April 1 to May 17.

"That followed a first quarter that saw a 15.5% jump in retail sales…

"Five-pound bags accounted for the largest market share, 47% of all sales, or $1.164 billion. Next was 10-pound bags (21% market share), bulk (13%) and then bags of 4 pounds or less (10%).

"Bags of larger than 10 pounds saw the greatest increase in dollar sales (+26.5%)…

"Bagged and bulk potatoes account for 98% of fresh sales…

"Organic potatoes, which have slowly been accounting for more of fresh retail market in recent years, did see a rise of 6.6% in dollar sales to $106.782 million."

Potato sales robust in the retail sector during spring – Spudman

Retail potato sales in the U.S. were up more than 30%, year-over-year, from April 1 to May 17. That followed a first quarter that saw a 15.5% jump.


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'THE ATLANTIC': "THE LOOMING BANK COLLAPSE." Economically speaking, we're far from being out-of-the-woods.
Article author Frank Partnoy worked at Morgan Stanley in the 1990s assembling and selling collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). He's distressed that Big Banks have slipped back into their reckless ways that brought us the Great Recession in 2008.
His analysis is a warning shot that there may be big trouble ahead. "Forewarned is forearmed." Jim

"We are not in the midst of a conventional downturn…

"Even before the pandemic struck, the credit-rating agencies may have been underestimating how vulnerable unrelated industries could be to the same economic forces…

"For the moment, the financial system seems relatively stable. Banks can still pay their debts and pass their regulatory capital tests. But recall that the previous crash took more than a year to unfold. The present is analogous not to the fall of 2008, when the U.S. was in full-blown crisis, but to the summer of 2007, when some securities were going underwater but no one yet knew what the upshot would be.

"What I’m about to describe is necessarily speculative, but it is rooted in the experience of the previous crash and in what we know about current bank holdings. The purpose of laying out this worst-case scenario isn’t to say that it will necessarily come to pass. The purpose is to show that it could. That alone should scare us all—and inform the way we think about the next year and beyond…

"You can perhaps guess much of the rest: At some point, rumors will circulate that one major bank is near collapse. Overnight lending, which keeps the American economy running, will seize up. The Federal Reserve will try to arrange a bank bailout. All of that happened last time, too.

"But this time, the bailout proposal will likely face stiffer opposition, from both parties. Since 2008, populists on the left and the right in American politics have grown suspicious of handouts to the big banks. Already irate that banks were inadequately punished for their malfeasance leading up to the last crash, critics will be outraged to learn that they so egregiously flouted the spirit of the post-2008 reforms…

"And then, sometime in the next year, we will all stare into the financial abyss. At that point, we will be well beyond the scope of the previous recession, and we will have either exhausted the remedies that spared the system last time or found that they won’t work this time around. What then?"

The Looming Bank Collapse

The U.S. financial system could be on the cusp of calamity. This time, we might not be able to save it.


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