Intensive hog farming in Manitoba: transnational treadmills and local conflicts *.
THE TRAGEDY IN WALKERTON, ONTARIO, and growing fears of water contamination in other parts of rural Canada, have added to the debate about intensive livestock operations (ILOs) designed for the large-scale factory farming of animals (Edwards and Ladd, 2000; Thu, 1996; Thu and Durrenberger, 1994; Durning and Brough, 1991)....

British mercantilism and crop controls in the tobacco colonies: a study of rent-seeking costs.
Tobacco played a prominent role in the development of the American colonies. The "stinking weed" dominated the economy of the Chesapeake Bay colonies and became the first colonial-produced commodity subjected to mercantilist restrictions. Although today tobacco is condemned and its consumption discouraged for its negative health consequences, it is...

From market to multifunctionality? Land stewardship in Australia.
Introduction There are few places, in the western world at least, where concerns for the sustainability of farming resonate as strongly as they do in Australia. The most recent national state-of-the-environment account observed: 'In many instances, such as changing our land use practices or reversing the over-allocation...

A fumigant's fate; scientists develop a system to make methyl bromide less hazardous to ozone.
On January 1, 2001, the fumigant methyl bromide will be withdrawn from use and production in the United States. Commonly used in agriculture, methyl bromide rids soil and harvested commodities of pests such as nematodes, insects and pathogens. It is often used to disinfest commodities destined for...

Competing narratives for the future of European agriculture: the agri-environmental consequences of neoliberalization in the context of the Doha Round.
Introduction Neoliberalism seems to be ever more firmly established as the dominant policy discourse of our times. As an idea it has complex origins in an ideological reaction against the Keynesian demand management policies of the 1970s and an associated breakdown in the postwar consensus surrounding state...

African American farmers and civil rights.
FORTY ACRES AND A MULE." JUDGE PAUL L. FRIEDMAN BEGAN HIS 1999 decision in Pigford v. Glickman, the successful class-action suit brought by African American farmers, with that familiar broken promise from the Civil War/Reconstruction era. The case concerned the sorry civil rights record of the U.S. Department of...

Attributions of responsibility: rural neoliberalism and farmers' explanations of the Australian rural crisis.
Abstract Many farmers struggle to maintain farm viability amidst the ongoing commitment to a trade liberal paradigm in Australian agricultural policy. Significantly, governmental neoliberal discourses insist on Australian farmers taking personal responsibility and control for any socio-economic hardship or farm viability problems they face and down play...

Empathizing with France and Pakistan on agricultural subsidy issues in the Doha Round.
ABSTRACT Among the most contentious issues (if not the most contentious issue) in the Doha Round negotiations are agricultural subsidies. Developed countries stand accused of selfish adherence to domestic support and export subsidies that impoverish farmers in developing countries. Developing countries are blamed for self-inflicted...

Need-to-know info on animal ID: the USDA has targeted farms and livestock facilities, and their livestock, for intrusive, unnecessary, and eventually mandatory identification and tracking regulations.
The United States Department of Agriculture would have you believe Americans are at high risk from being infected with one or more animal-borne diseases--such as mad cow disease and Asian bird flu. The USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) promises animal tracking from birth through death to...

CAP regimes and the European countryside. (Reviews).
CAP Regimes and the European Countryside Edited by F. BROUWER and P. LOWE Wallingford: CABI, 2000, 339 pp. [sterling pound]49.95. ISBN 0 85199 354 0 My first reaction on reading this book was one of relief that it was not a collection of...