Critics say the structure of the deal provides a rich payout of $675 million in fees to the lawyers helping promote the deal, but paltry payments for the cancer sufferers who make up the class.
Paraquat has been linked to Parkinson’s disease and just a sip is fatal, but tens of thousands of pounds of it are being released in the Mississippi Basin.
The Illinois legislature is debating whether to become one of a handful of states to legally require worker protections from extreme temperatures. The legislation would apply to labor on the frontlines of the climate crisis, such as farm work.
Key trade agreements, the legality of the global trade war, Agri Stats’ antitrust case, more USDA moves, and rulings on dicamba and glyphosate predicted to grab industry headlines.
In late 2022, Archer Daniels Midland’s Fremont, Nebraska, facility experienced a dust explosion. Days later, federal safety inspectors found some areas inside with about an inch of combustible dust — about eight times the acceptable limit.
While the amount of acres of soybeans and corn has remained stable for the past 25 years, the use of pesticides in Illinois has doubled. The state’s oldest trees are getting sick from the drift.
