Category: SunRidge News

A competitive seed product for soybean and corn is poised to enter US Agriculture.  Designed by Dow, these new GMO crops are intended to compete against Monsanto’s GMO portfolio of engineered crops and seeds.  Here’s the full story – http://news.yahoo.com/dow-seeks-growth-enlist-crop-chemicals-seen-key-121133785.html

The Chinese Governments push to research GMO’s has slowed due to reduced funding.  There is enough confusion as to the safety, claimed yields, and regulation that the Chinese have been very slow in allowing GMO seeds to be used.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years.  Here’s the story from Reuters – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/10/china-parliament-gmo-idUSL3N0M41FR20140310

The drought in California is impacting almond growers to the point of having to remove the trees themselves because if they die in the orchard insects and disease spread to the remaining and neighboring orchards.  The impact on crop production this year is unknown but farmers fear the worst.  For more, http://news.yahoo.com/california-almond-farmers-face-tough-154734857.html?vp=1

People want Non GMO.  That message is being heard by major food companies now and they are finding that the supply chain is so filled with GM crops that it’s a real challenge to convert.  That’s how pervasive and insidious the GM problem has become.  From Reuters this article details some of these issues in great detail – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/18/us-usa-food-gmo-analysis-idUSBREA1H1G420140218

An Australian farmer is suing his neighbor over the significant economic loss that occurred when the organic farmer lost most of his organic certifications due to cross contamination of his crop by his neighbors planting of GMO canola and rapeseed.   Monsanto is not party to the suit as that company forces farmers to sign a third party waiver which leaves liability to the farmer.  If the lawsuit is successful, farmers will likely be less inclined to plant GMO crops if they can be held liable for their potential contamination of neighboring farmers crops.   Here’s more on this story – http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/13/monsantos-gmo-seeds-may-no-longer-be-invincible.aspx

Reacting to the state by state effort by groups that want Genetically

Modified Organisms (GMO) labeled on foods that contain them, the food

industry is proposing voluntary guidelines for this labeling.  With over

30 States expected to see some type of legislation regarding GMO’s this

year, the industry is trying to come to grips on what labeling should

be done so that each State doesn’t end up with their own set of rules. 

It’s clear that people just want to know what’s in their foods. 

Perhaps, labeling will happen sooner than we think.  For more on the

story, http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_25076622/food-companies-propose-voluntary-gmo-labels?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com

Idaho Fish and Game (IFG), rather than defend their actions in court, decided to end an controversial decision to trap and kill two packs of wolves in an area of Idaho that has had a decline in the elk herds.  Defenders of Wildlife and it’s partners were instrumental in pressuring Idaho Fish and Game to cancel the program before facing a judge in Federal Court.  The IFG program went against US Fish and Game policy and that likely played into the decision to pull the program instead of addressing their policy in court.  Unfortunately, while this issue made its way through the justice system, 9 wolves were killed. 

Defenders

of Wildlife President Jamie Rappaport Clark provides the

following statement:

“While

it is great news that this extermination program has ended,

tragically it still resulted in the loss of nine wolves in a

wilderness area that should have been a safe haven for them,

if the U.S. Forest Service had complied with its own

policies and procedures,”  said Jamie Rappaport Clark,

president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. “Ending this

unfounded assault on wolves which was designed to benefit a

few outfitters grants a reprieve to the remaining members of

the Golden and Monumental wolf packs, and is hopefully a

first step in permanently stopping such wolf pack

eradication efforts in the future.”

SunRidge Farms is a strong supporter of Defenders of Wildlife and we make significant donations to Defenders each year in support of their mission.  We hope that you’ll take the time to find out more at http://www.defenders.org/

For additional information on this story, see this from the Idaho Statesman – http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/01/27/2994796/fg-halts-wolf-hunt-in-wilderness.html

SunRidge Farms is pleased to announce our Organic Coconut Mango Pomegranate Power Chews.  Click on the link to a PDF with all the information.

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Water, our most precious resource is becoming real scarce in California and out west in general.  The following story, http://news.yahoo.com/driest-california-500-years-104500243–politics.html,  outlines the latest.

Let’s work together to conserve now!

SunRidge Farms wanted to thank Every Little Thing Blog for their kind review of a few of our items.  With increased distribution in the mid part of the country, look for more SunRidge Farms items at your favorite grocer.  If they don’t carry our items, ask them to.

http://www.everylittlethingblog.com/2014/01/january-things/