The Washington Post – Researchers David Crowder and John Reganold from Washington State University conducted a meta-analysis of 44 studies on organic agriculture, which included 55 crops grown in 14 countries across five continents. They found that when farmers did not charge a premium for organic food, it was significantly less profitable than conventional agriculture. But when they did charge a premium, organic agriculture was 22 to 35 percent more profitable. Crowder, lead author and assistant professor of entomology at Washington State University, says he and Reganold became interested in the topic after reading a study several years ago that indicated that organic farming produces a lower crop yield than conventional agriculture.
The New York Times – But wine grapes also do best in dry summer conditions, which pushes the plants to send sugar into the grapes and not into the canopy of leaves. State agricultural officials have projected financial losses this year of $1.2 billion, with much of that pain concentrated here in the Yakima basin. But those losses will be tied largely to other plants: Wine grapes, because of their drought hardiness and dry summer cycles, are expected to skate through just fine. “Of all the crops, I’m worried less about the wine grapes than any other,” said Markus Keller, a professor of viticulture at Washington State University. “Wine’s expansion will continue. If anything, it will accelerate.”
Popular Science – Though the Aka don’t consider marijuana to be medicinal, study author Ed Hagen of the Washington State University suggests that they might be using marijuana to unconsciously keep the worms at bay, as the percent of the population smoking it is higher than the global average and marijuana has been shown to kill toxins in petri dishes. Hagen warns that these conclusions are indirect–though the findings are statistically significant, there is no directly proof that the pot is keeping the parasites at bay and not another factor. But if the study authors are right, their work could start casting doubt on the prevailing theory that recreational drug use is just for pleasure. “In the same way we have a taste for salt, we might have a taste for psychoactive plant toxins, because these things kill parasites,” he said in a statement.