AVMA has now partnered with Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. to provide a 24/7 hotline to assist our member veterinarians and clinics who face attacks and cyberbullying. Members calling the hotline will receive up to 30 minutes of actionable consultation with an experienced crisis management team at no charge to you. [node:read-more:link]
There are more than 120,000 people in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant and not enough donors. The dire shortage has led some researchers to consider an unusual solution: They are breeding genetically modified pigs whose organs could be compatible for human transplant. Researchers have been trying for decades to make animal-to-human transplants work, a process known as xenotransplantation. Pigs are a particularly promising source of organs. They produce big litters. Organs such as the kidney and liver are similar in size to those of humans. [node:read-more:link]
Despite the political rancor of the election season just past, 2016 has turned out to be one of the most peaceful and positive years ever when it comes to the discussion and science around GMOs. Consider this: The debate over labeling foods produced through biotechnology has raged for some 15 years. But this year, with the implementation of a new, nationwide standard, we now turn the page to educating consumers about the implications. No longer will consumers and food producers face the nightmare of a patchwork of labeling laws at the state level. [node:read-more:link]
New North American nitrogen production is beginning to hit the world market in 2016 during a time of oversupply, and it could take the global market a few years to balance out this new production. New capacity, lower energy prices and currency devaluations have all combined to put significant pressure on nitrogen fertilizer prices, according to a fertilizer industry consultant. Hoadley said world nitrogen production for 2015/2016 is expected to be just over 165 million tons, which is up from closer to 143 million tons in 2009/2010. [node:read-more:link]
For 23 years, Curtis Abbott and his family have been growing and selling Christmas trees on their farm in the town of Charlton, Massachusetts. Photos from previous harvests show picture-perfect trees — towering evergreens with sturdy branches dusted with white snow. But this year, Abbott Tree Farm has shared no photographs.Instead, a couple of days before Thanksgiving, the farm posted an unexpected message on Facebook: “Sorry we are closed.” Drought, said Abbott, had forced the farm to shutter its doors this year — only the second time it’s done so in over two decades. [node:read-more:link]
President Barack Obama shook Raul's hand last March and for two years has used executive orders to begin ending a nearly 60-year-old embargo. President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, has said he wants more concessions from the Cubans before relations can move forward. USA Today quoted Trump's vice president Mike Pence telling a Miami audience just before the election: "Let me make you a promise. [node:read-more:link]
A sister species of the Varroa destructor mite is developing the ability to parasitize European honeybees, threatening pollinators already hard pressed by pesticides, nutritional deficiencies, and disease. Researchers found that some populations of Varroa jacobsoni mites are shifting from feeding and reproducing on Asian honeybees, their preferred host, to European honeybees, the primary species used for crop pollination and honey production worldwide. To bee researchers, it’s a grimly familiar story: V. [node:read-more:link]
First came a shocking bit of insight into how EWG racks up some of its revenue. For example, EWG annually evaluates sunscreens, rating them on a 1 to 10, best to worst. I clicked on one of the top-rated sunscreens, which I’m sure is a fine product. It must be, as it not only provides UVA/UVB protection, it’s “gluten-free.” (No, I’m not making that last bit up.) I scrolled down the page and clicked on an Amazon link that would have allowed me to buy the product. What people may not know, said Hayes, is EWG gets a chunk of change when you buy through Amazon. It’s not insignificant either. [node:read-more:link]
A study, published in the October issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, said crop and non-crop uses of imidacloprid in the U.S. are of minimal risk to aquatic invertebrates. The neonicotinoid imidacloprid is one of the most widely-used insecticides. Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which acts as an insect neurotoxin which act on the central nervous system of insects. This ecotoxicological review and risk assessment details the body of research, the careful selection and use of the best available data, and the probabilistic risk assessment. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer huddled with Canadian officials on Thursday to discuss policies that are said to be harmful to New York milk producers, Schumer’s office said in a release. Schumer met with new Canadian Consul General Phyllis Yaffe and Canadian Ambassador David McNaughton to urge them to reverse “the protectionist and restrictive trade policies that are currently threatening the upstate New York milk industry.” Ontario has implemented a new provincial pricing policy said to discourage imports of ultra-filtered milk from the United States. [node:read-more:link]
