Neonics and Sugar Beet: a thread.

Yesterday our government announced it was granting an “emergency authorization” for sugar beet growers to use a banned neonicotinoid pesticide on their crops. Here are my thoughts: Neonics are highly potent neurotoxins, lethal to bees and all other insects at miniscule doses. They are often used as seed dressing, but only about 5% of the chemical is absorbed by the crop. The rest pollutes the soil and soil water. Neonics are highly persistent...

Covert earthworm poisoning?
We all know how important earthworms are for soil health and as food for wildlife. I’ve recently become aware of what seems like a scandal. @PAN_UK @earthwormsoc [A thread 1/8] A quick Google reveals dozens of products being sold to gardeners and groundskeepers (especially golf courses) to combat worm casts. Many contains saponins, found in one scientific study to be “highly toxic” to earthworms. [2/8]

There is no mandate for the radical path being taken by Liz Truss’s government. She is ripping up manifesto promises (no fracking, green Brexit etc.), stripping away protection for our few remaining wildlife-rich places, ... 1/5 ... reneging on promises to reform our broken farming system & proposing uncontrolled development across most of England. If that weren’t enough, add in a tax giveaway for the richest, bigger bonuses for bankers, and huge profits for energy companies... 2/5

On cows and carbon sequestration.
There is a lot of confusion on Twitter about the role of ruminants in producing greenhouse gases (bad) versus helping to sequester (store) carbon in soil (good). I thought a short summary of the state of knowledge might help: Ruminants produce a lot of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas (although there is some evidence that they may produce less on an herb-rich diet). Even so, this is bad, especially given that there are 1.5 billion cows on the planet.