/NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Enough is
enough, say bakery workers at Hostess Brands Inc.

After several years of costly concessions, the Bakery,
Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM)
authorized a walk-out earlier this month after Hostess received
bankruptcy court approval to implement a wage cut that was not
included in its contract.

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) – Organic growers and food safety advocates on Tuesday condemned an advisory report to the Agriculture Department claiming its recommendations would be costly for farmers who want to protect their conventional crops from being contaminated by genetically modified (GMO), also known as genetically engineered (GE), varieties.

The groups were responding to a report submitted Monday afternoon to the U.S. Department of Agriculture by a committee assigned by USDA with studying how best biotech agriculture could “co-exist” with organic and conventional agriculture.

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) – Hostess Brands Inc, the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said it had sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers.

Hostess, which has about $2.5 billion in sales from a long list of iconic consumer brands of snack cakes and breads, said it had suspended operations at all of its 33 plants around the United States as it moves to start liquidating assets.

LENEXA, Kan Nov 15 (Reuters) – A standoff between Hostess
Brands Inc. and thousands of its bakery workers was heading for
a showdown after the expiry of a return-to-work deadline, with
both sides saying they will accept the demise of the historic
maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread.

The bankrupt company is on its last legs, according to
management. The company had set a deadline of 5 p.m. EST (2200
GMT) on Thursday and said that unless enough employees returned
to work by that time, the company would ask a bankruptcy court
on Friday for permission to liquidate.

LENEXA, Kan (Reuters) – A standoff between Hostess Brands Inc. and thousands of its bakery workers was heading for a showdown Thursday as both sides declared they would not bend and were set to accept the demise of the historic maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread.

The bankrupt company is on its last legs, according to management, and will ask a bankruptcy court on Friday for permission to liquidate unless workers at Hostess plants across the country return to work by 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Thursday.

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) – A storm system that brought cold, wet weather to much of the United States last week helped ease drought in many states, but some areas that were most in need of moisture were missed, according to a climatology report issued on Thursday.

The U.S. High Plains, which includes key farm states of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas, saw slight improvement last week due to good precipitation. But three quarters of both Kansas and Nebraska continued to suffer from extreme or exceptional drought.

Nov 15 (Reuters) – A storm system that brought cold, wet
weather to much of the United States last week helped ease
drought in many states, but some areas that were most in need
of moisture were missed, according to a climatology report
issued on Thursday.

The U.S. High Plains, which includes key farm states of
Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas, saw slight improvement last
week due to good precipitation. But three quarters of both
Kansas and Nebraska continued to suffer from extreme or
exceptional drought.

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) – Hot and dry conditions in parts of middle America deepened an ongoing drought in many states over the last week, according to a climatology report issued Thursday.

October is typically the third-wettest month for Texas, but instead last month was the ninth-driest October statewide since 1895, according to the Drought Monitor report issued weekly by a consortium of state and federal climatology experts.

Nov 7 (Reuters) – The failure on Tuesday of a California
ballot initiative that would have mandated labeling of
genetically modified foods is not a death knell for those
seeking nationwide labeling, U.S. labeling proponents said.

President Barack Obama’s re-election could be a boost, as he
is seen, in general terms, as being supportive of labeling.
Still, efforts to force change at a federal level could face an
uphill climb.

LOS ANGELES/KANSAS CITY, Nov 7 (Reuters) – California voters
rejected a ballot measure that would have made the state the
first in the nation to require special labeling of foods with
genetically modified ingredients.

The measure was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent, according
to final results from Tuesday’s election.