Bayer’s Rejection Of Quick COVID-19 Testing Resulted In Delayed Isolation For Migrant Workers, Officials Say

RANTOUL – At least eight migrant workers who were infected with COVID-19 waited several days before isolating because the company they worked for, Bayer, declined to pay for expedited tests, Champaign County health officials said. The company’s rejection came after its occupational health team had agreed to pay about $5,000 in quick testing for about […]
News Around Illinois — Aug. 31, 2020

ISU To Set Up Coronavirus Testing Lab NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State University is adopting the University of Illinois’ Shield Program model, the saliva-based COVID-19 test, in response to the surge of cases in the area. Cases have been on the rise in McLean County since college students returned to campus at ISU and Illinois […]
News Around Illinois – June 5, 2020

Fire Chief Apologizes For Sharing Post On Shooting Looters LINCOLN — The fire chief of the central Illinois city of Lincoln is apologizing for sharing a social media post asserting supporters of President Donald Trump would blow the heads off looters. Chief Bob Dunovsky said Thursday the decision to share the Facebook post was made […]
Closing Arguments In Dicamba Trial Set For Friday

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Closing arguments are set for 9 a.m. Friday in the federal trial of a lawsuit alleging Monsanto and BASF intentionally caused widespread damage to farms in order to bolster sales of a new pesticide and seed system.
Monsanto’s Defense: Fungal Disease, Not Dicamba, To Blame For Peach Farmer’s Problems

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – For the past two weeks of a federal trial brought by Missouri’s largest peach farm against German agribusiness giants Bayer and BASF, the focus has been on the weed killer dicamba.
Dicamba On Trial: Peach Farm One Witness Away From Resting Its Case

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – In July 2016, Bill Bader, frustrated by the second straight year of alleged dicamba damage to his peach trees, got out his invoice book and hand wrote bills to his neighbors he suspected of illegally spraying the herbicide: $720,000 to one, $660,000 to another and $1.2 million to a third, according […]
Dicamba On Trial: ‘No Way’ To Know Where Drift Came From

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The air in parts of the Midwest and South has become so contaminated with the weed killer dicamba that it has caused widespread damage to soybeans and other crops in recent summers, testified Dr. Ford Baldwin, a professor emeritus of weed science at the University of Arkansas in federal court on […]
In Trial Against Bayer And BASF, Missouri Peach Farmer Testifies About Alleged Dicamba Damage

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – In June 2018, Bill Bader’s grandson wanted a ripe peach to eat, so the two got in an all-terrain vehicle and drove to the area of Bader’s farm where the fruit would be about the size of baseballs, ready to eat fresh off the tree.
Dicamba On Trial: Peach Farmer Testifies In Lawsuit Against Bayer, BASF

Since 1970, Bill Bader has worked on peach farms in Dunklin County, Missouri, just north of the Arkansas border. Bader started picking peaches at age 13, and in 1988, he established Bader Farms.
Dicamba On Trial: Despite Assurances To Farmers, BASF Told Applicators Dicamba May Cause Damage

While BASF was telling farmers there would be no yield impacts from dicamba drift in 2017, the company was privately telling pesticide applicators that any drift they caused could cause yield loss, according to Monday video testimony from Gary Schmitz, tech service regional manager for the Midwest.