A friend called today and offered a fine greeting we would like to pass along. He said, "May the best day of the last year be your worst day of the new year." 

While our thinking tends to swim optimistically during the New Years, probably from surviving the automatic gunfire in our neighborhoods, we are not off to a grand start. Already the news is glum. In Japan, a shipment reveals Starlink genetically modified corn, assuring lost US exports, frightened consumers and more "life-science" rhetoric. Record warm temperatures continue across the country suggesting that global warming is indeed more than a media invention. Biodiversity and wildlife rapidly disappear while developments and invasive species pop up like salesmen at a car dealership. The Santa Fe "New Mexican" reports that "drinking water is now a dangerous drug."

Family farmers file bankruptcy daily while Forbes reports that Cargill, as the largest privately held corporation in America is larger than publicly traded Procter & Gamble, AOL Time Warner, and Merrill Lynch. The list goes on and on. Still, in the immortal words of FDR we have nothing to fear but fear itself. While life may grow increasingly interesting, we at Defenders hope you grow increasingly aware and engaged. The world may seem daunting, but nothing remains more powerful than the fully engaged human spirit working for the betterment of something greater than itself. 

Happy New Year to you, and may the best day of the last year be the worst of the new. Aimee and Scotty

A Missouri U.S. District Appeals Court last month upheld a patent infringement judgment that would require Mississippi soybean farmer Homan McFarling to pay agribusiness giant Monsanto $780,000 for violating the technology agreement that he signed in order to plant Roundup Ready soybeans. The appeal itself was held in Missouri because the technology agreement that Mr. McFarling signed contains a provision stating that Monsanto has the right to have all lawsuits fought on its home turf. One judge dissented on the ruling, however, stating that the provision, because it is part of a "take-it-or-leave-it" contract (called a "contract of adhesion"), deprived the defendant of his due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. Mr. McFarling's only recourse now lies with the Supreme Court. Learn more.

3. COWBOYS AND TREE HUGGERS UNITE IN THE ROCKIES

In the wilds of the western Rockies a new phenomenon is developing. Environmentalists and ranchers, seldom the best of friends, are coming together in opposition to the Bush administrations aggressive new energy policy. "Ranchers have never truly thought much of tree-hugging environmentalists," said John Dewey, 76, who owns a small cattle ranch outside Sheridan, Wyo. "But with these methane boys on our land, we are starting to see these environmentalists as conservationists who want to help us preserve land for our kids." 

Throughout the Rockies the Bush administration is ramping up energy production, much of it involving what is called coal-bed methane extraction. The effects of this can lay waste to private property, sour water sources and turn sprawling ranches and prairie into industrial wastelands. In its aggressive push to increase domestic energy production, the administration is on the brink of approving the largest-ever gas drilling project on federal land. At the heart of this battle is the Wyoming Powder River Basin, where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says it will give final approval early next year to the drilling of 39,000 wells on 8 million acres. Read more.

4 NATIONAL ACADEMIES RECOMMEND REFOCUS OF AG RESEARCH

According to a new report by the National Academies' Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, "Globalization, trade liberalization, consumer preferences, public concern about food safety and the environment, and changes in the relationship between agriculture and rural communities have altered the context in which agricultural research is conducted." 

The Board, in a new report titled "Frontiers in Agricultural Research: Food, Health, Environment, and Communities," recommends a new mission for the USDA's Research, Education and Economics division. While recognizing the tremendous productivity increases that have accrued from the research agencies' focus on genetics, animal health and plant sciences, the academies recommend that future research should: examine the economic and environmental impacts of globalization; reduce the risk of bacterial contamination, bioterrorism and allergies associated with foods; examine the links between nutrition and human health; promote better environmental stewardship; and improve the lives of rural residents. Read a four-page summary of the report, which will be available for purchase from the National Academies.

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