This report by Friends of the Earth finds that most no-till systems — a farming practice that reduces tillage and ploughing —  are responsible for one-third of total annual pesticide use in the U.S. can be attributed to no-till corn and soy production alone. The report argues that this practice is being promoted as a climate solution but says there is no clear link between no-till and carbon sequestration. 

Leaked internal documents from Syngenta reveal how the company has repeatedly buried evidence that links its best selling herbicide Paraquat with Parkinson’s disease. The documents reveal a history of tactics to confound scientific research including; funding scientists and researchers to publish papers on Paraquat without disclosing conflicts of interest, enlisting lawyers to push scientists away from using “problematic language” and preventing a prominent scientist studying Parkinson’s from sitting on the US Environmental Protection Agency advisory panel, which regulates US pesticide usage.

A free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the UK and India could weaken pesticide standards in the UK and could also place UK farmers under pressure from cheaper imports, according to this report from Pesticide Action Network UK, Sustain Alliance and trade expert Dr Emily Lydgate.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law explores a little-known source of plastic pollution: the deliberate addition to soils of pesticides and fertilisers encapsulated in microplastics. This form of agrochemical is often marketed as “controlled release”, with producers arguing that they support sustainable agriculture. The report argues that the intentional use of microplastics in agriculture should be banned on account of the potential for plastics - and the agrochemicals they carry - to accumulate in ecosystems and food supply chains.

In this podcast by the Sustainable Food Trust, molecular geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou explains how regulation of gene editing is changing in the UK, as well as the potential health risks of gene editing.

This report by the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Pesticide Action Network UK and RSPB finds that the UK’s “Red Tractor” food standards label fails to support farmers in reducing pesticide use. It also reports a gap in perceptions of the Red Tractor label between retailers and consumers: retailers see the label as only a guarantee that farmers adhere to national pesticide regulations, while consumers are under the impression that the label indicates more sustainable production practices. The report includes excerpts of a response from Red Tractor.

This report from UK NGO Sustain examines how a proposed trade deal between the UK and Brazil - on which discussions are still only in the early stages - might increase harm caused by pesticides. Pesticide regulations have weakened since Bolsonaro took power in 2019, with harm to environmental or human health no longer informing whether a pesticide should be approved for use.

This book gives an overview of how soils and terrestrial systems function and can best be managed. TABLE readers may be particularly interested in the book’s coverage of agricultural soils, pesticides, agriculture on soils affected by salt, organic farming, grazing systems, soil erosion, organic pest management, manure management, and agricultural runoff.

This paper attempts to quantify for the first time the planetary boundary for “novel entities” (NE-PB), including chemicals, new types of materials and modified forms of life. It focuses on chemical pollution, in particular plastics, and concludes that we fall outside a “safe operating space” for this planetary boundary.