**Three big names are asking the Interior and Commerce departments to stop analyzing the effects of three widely used insecticides on endangered species, arguing that EPA evaluations have overstated the risks to wildlife and the process used is deeply flawed.

Dow AgroSciences, ADAMA and FMC Corp. asked Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to direct the Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries to "set aside" their work on biological opinions on chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon.

The companies say the approach used to evaluate the effects of pesticides on endangered species is "fundamentally flawed" and also should be "set aside."

**Agriculture in the United States uses less land, and far less labor, today than it did in the 1940s. Yet agricultural production grew by 169 percent between 1948 and 2013, with nearly all of it due to improvements in productivity.

That’s according to new USDA numbers that show biological, mechanical, chemical, and organizational innovations from both public and private sector investments in research and development have largely driven this productivity growth.

**According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturer's monthly "Flash Report," the sale of all tractors in the U.S. in March 2017, were up 6% compared to the same month last year.

For the three months in 2017, a total of 42,033 tractors were sold which compares to 39,878 sold thru March 2016 representing a 5% increase for the year.

Combine sales were up 11% for the month.

More From 92.9 The Bull