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Article: Missouri farmers cultivate allergy sufferers' nightmare.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 23, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Alan Bavley
SEDALIA, Mo. _ Jim Sneed looks out on his lush, green field; 10 acres covered with hundreds of waist-high plants.
Ragweed plants.
It's a vision of living hell for hay fever sufferers, but for Sneed, it's just a living.
Sneed, 50, is one of a small number of farmers across the country who collect pollen from the grasses, trees and weeds that give fits to people with allergies.
They sell their harvests to a handful of pharmaceutical companies that turn the pollen into extracts. Allergists use the extracts to test for allergic reactions and to give the shots that immunize patients against a host of hostile ...