Roundup settlement hits a snag

A judge has questioned part of a settlement Bayer AG, owner of Monsanto and its Roundup weed killer, had reached with lawsuit lawyers.

Last month Bayer agreed to pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle about 100,000 U.S. lawsuits related to Roundup.

But a judge threatened to throw out the part that ear-marks $1.25 billion to support a separate class agreement to address potential future litigation. That part of the settlement requires court approval.

“The Court is skeptical of the propriety and fairness of the proposed settlement, and is tentatively inclined to deny the motion,” Judge Vince Chhabria said in a filing with the United States District Court, Northern District of California.

Bayer had planned on creating an independent panel of scientific experts to help assess whether glyphosate caused cancer.

Regulators including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Chemicals Agency, have determined glyphosate to be non-carcinogenic, supporting Bayer’s claim that the active ingredient in its Roundup product is safe for agricultural use.

But Chhabria said: “Even with the consent of both sides, it’s questionable whether it would be constitutional (or otherwise lawful) to delegate the function of deciding the general causation question (that is, whether and at what dose Roundup is capable of causing cancer) from judges and juries to a panel of scientists.”

Chhabria also questioned whether potential claimants want to remain bound by a ruling reached by the proposed scientific panel if research is still ongoing.

“In an area where the science may be evolving, how could it be appropriate to lock in a decision from a panel of scientists for all future cases?,” Chhabria wrote in a document released Monday.

I guess it ain't over until it's over.

                           

China suspends Cargill, High River, Alta.

China has temporarily suspended imports of beef from Canada's largest beef-packing plant – Cargill at High River, Alta.

Cargill confirmed the suspension, but would not comment further to Reuters news agency.

The Cargill suspension is on a list that China revealed on Sunday, involving beef, pork and poultry plants from Brazil, Argentina, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy, as well as an unspecified Tyson poultry plant in the United States.

The common factor among the suspended plants is COVID-19 cases among workers.

The Cargill plant is approved to export to Hong Kong, the United States, Japan and eight other countries, and China’s decision is not expected to affect production.

Temporary employment agencies target of COVID-19 probe

After evidence that COVID-19 among farm workers has been coming from people hired via temporary employment agencies, the province’s labour ministry has launched an investigation of 17 of them.

Health officials warned that agencies that move workers from farm to farm could be contributing to COVID-19 outbreaks. 

“Worker safety laws on farms apply to all workers in Ontario. This includes migrant workers and undocumented workers,” the labour ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “We stand firm against exploitation in our province.”

As of June 29, 21 outbreaks at farms and greenhouse operations had infected 954 people across Canada, according to federal data. Three workers have died, all in Ontario.

An “overwhelming majority” of farms with outbreaks were employing short-term workers through temp agencies, labour ministry staff said on a conference call about the outbreaks last week.

Contract workers have been a critical part of the agriculture, construction and hospitality sectors in Ontario for decades, but they now seem to be contributing to outbreaks, said Ken Forth, president of FARMS, a non-profit organization that co-ordinates the federal temporary work program.

Some farmers in Essex County, where there have been large COVID-19 outbreaks, are desperate for help so turn to the agencies even though they have known that some are undocumented foreigners.

It means they are illegally in Canada and there are reports that some of them have been exploited with threats that failure to knuckle under will lead to discovery by authorities and deportation.

Pork outlook remains tight

Global pork supplies will remain tight for a long time, according to a new report from Rabobank.

African Swine Fever is the main reason, but COVID-19’s impact on packing-plant staff is another.

Rabobank expects China to import record amounts of pork and other meats this year.

China’s pork production is expected to decline by another 15 to 20 per cent this year. It has lost about half of its pigs to the disease.

Import demand will rise in Vietnam and the Philippines because their pork production will decline by about 10 per cent.

The outlook is hard to predict because African Swine Fever could get into commercial hog farms in Europe; it’s circulating in wild boar populations in many European countries.

Rabobank also expects the COVID-19 pandemic to impact pork consumption, particularly because of the loss of restaurant and hotel business.

Reduced consumption will not make up for reduced production, resulting in relatively tight pork markets, Rabobank said.

Sask. Investing $4 billion in irrigation

Saskatchewan plans to invest $4 billion to expand irrigation around Lake Diefenbaker.

It would enable farmland to be converted from cereals and oilseeds to produce such as carrots, potatoes and lettuce.

The government estimates it will boost the province’s economy by $40 to $80 billion over the next 50 years.

The timing could be excellent because California farmers continue to be squeezed out of water by demands from cities that continue to grow.

The Diefenbaker Lake plan will begin with $22.5 million for engineering and construction, then $500 million for the first phase which involves refurbishing and expanding the irrigation canal on the west side of the lake.

“We’re committed to seeing this through because of what it can do for enhancing our economic fortunes in this province and really changing the face of agriculture,” said Premier Scott Moe while announcing the plan.

The next two phases will take 10 years to complete. It’s the province’s biggest infrastructure project ever. They will add 380,000 acres of land that can be irrigated.

                  

Nestle selling its water-bottling business

Nestle is selling its water- bottling plant in Puslinch Township to family-owned Ice River Springs.

The business has been the target of local residents who don’t want water taken from the aquifer at Aberfoyle, just north of the Highway 401 intersection with Highway 6 to Guelph.

The deal includes a plant in British Columbia and a controversial well in Erin Township, north of Guelph.

Nestle president Jeff Hamilton said it began to explore the sale of its water business in late 2019 after deciding to focus on its international brands of San Pellegrino, Perrier and Acqua Panna.

Ice River said the acquisition fulfils its ambition to expand beyond its private label business for retailers.

Ice River Springs runs a plastics recycling operation, BMP Recycling, that takes bottles and plastic food packaging collected by municipalities and produces food grade recycled PET plastic.

The deal comes in the midst of an announcement by the province that it will reform regulations for taking water.

Global food prices rising

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)  reports that food prices increased by 2.4 per cent in June over May.

The FAO says it has re-evaluated all of its indices, shifting the base period to 2014-2016 instead of using 2002-2004. 

Prices for vegetable oils, sugar and dairy products rebounded to multi-month highs after sharp declines in May, while cereals and meat indices, most prices remained under downward pressure.

The vegetable oil price index rose 11.3 percent in June, reversing four consecutive months of declines.

The sugar index rose 10.6 percent month-on-month, pushed up by reports of backlogs in Brazilian ports due to coronavirus containment efforts.

The dairy index climbed four percent but all its components remained below where they had been before the pandemic swept the world.

The cereal price index slipped 0.6 percent from May, with downward pressure on wheat prices intensifying last month, due partly to improved production prospects in a number of major exporting countries, especially in the Black Sea region. 

By contrast maize prices were firmer in June, supported by some recovery in demand and adverse growing conditions in the United States, FAO said.

The meat price index also slipped 0.6 percent on the month, with quotations for poultry and bovine meats easing because of increased export availabilities in major producing regions.