(Syngenta.com)

Monsanto no longer pursuing Syngenta

Reuters — U.S. agribusiness leader Monsanto on Wednesday abandoned pursuit of Swiss rival Syngenta, which had rejected a recently sweetened US$47 billion offer. Syngenta shares fell more than 18 per cent on the news, while Monsanto shares jumped more than seven per cent. The Swiss agrichemicals group said its board unanimously rejected the offer, which it […] Read more

(USDA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. regulator sued for withholding information on GMOs

Reuters — A food safety advocacy group sued an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, saying it illegally withheld public information on genetically engineered crops. The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) against USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), claims the regulator has routinely failed to respond […] Read more



(Lisa Guenther photo)

YOUTH AG-SUMMIT: Food challenges in focus

Feeding the nine billion-plus people expected to be living on our planet by 2050, from a land base that’s not expected to get any bigger, is the question posed to young “thought leaders” at this year’s Youth Ag-Summit. Grainews and Country Guide field editor Lisa Guenther is in Canberra this week for the event, hosted […] Read more


Paul Stothard wants to develop a simple tool to allow producers to breed for more feed-efficient dairy cattle that produce less methane.

Researchers using big data to find feed-efficient dairy cattle

The goal is to develop a prediction tool for breeding cows that will eat less with no loss in productivity

Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers at the University of Alberta are looking to give producers a bit of a boost by isolating feed-efficient traits in dairy cattle. “We have an estimate that breeding for increased feed efficiency and reduced methane emission can reduce feed costs by about $100 per cow per year,” said Paul Stothard, an assistant professor of […] Read more