HEALTH & SAFETY

Monsanto Sues Dairy for Boycotting Genetic Drug: In what appears to be the first return-fire in the battle over a genetically engineered drug for cows, the St. Louis-based company filed suit last week against Swiss Valley Farms, an Iowa cooperative that refuses to buy milk from farmers who treat their cows with Monsanto’s Posilac. The drug is designed to increase milk production. Monsanto’s suit claims the dairy’s advertised pledge not to accept milk from cows treated with the controversial drug “impugns the safety and wholesomeness” of milk. Even though the Food and Drug Administration has declared the drug safe, opponents are waging a campaign to discourage farmers from using it.