After two decades fighting to force U.S. food companies to tell consumers when their products are made with genetically modified organisms, activists in California have mounted what is potentially their most promising offensive to date. In November, voters in the nation’s most populous state will decide whether to require labels on food and drinks containing […] Read more
‘Big Food’ girds for California GMO fight
Weed resistance found growing to 2,4-D
As U.S. farmers struggle to control the rise of "superweeds" choking key cropland, a leading herbicide that’s shown good weed control for decades appears to be losing its effectiveness, a report from a science journal said Wednesday. Chemical makers have been racing to find an answer to resistance that has built up against the broadly-used […] Read more
Monsanto wins $1 bln award against DuPont
Shares of Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, rose on Thursday and DuPont shares fell after Monsanto won a $1 billion victory over its archrival in a lawsuit concerning patents in the agricultural seed market. The victory, which dealt with genetically modified seeds that allow crops to tolerate herbicides, should have little immediate impact in […] Read more
Standoff looms over U.S. plans to cut GMO oversight
Efforts to write benefits for biotech seed companies into U.S. legislation, including the 2013 Farm Bill, are sparking a backlash from groups that say the multiple measures would severely limit U.S. oversight of genetically modified crops. From online petitions to face-to-face lobbying on Capitol Hill, an array of consumer and environmental organizations and individuals are […] Read more
Facing parched pastures, U.S. ranchers cull cattle
U.S. ranchers are rushing to sell off some of their cattle as the worst drought in nearly 25 years dries up pastures, thins hay supplies and sends feed costs skyrocketing. The more desperate in the U.S. Midwest are hauling water into areas where creeks have run dry and are scrambling to secure scarce and high-priced […] Read more
Developing countries take the lead in biotech acreage
Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers in developing nations will sow more biotech crops than those in the industrialized world for the first time this year. Globally, the area planted with biotech crops rose eight per cent last year to a record 160 million hectares, or 395 million acres, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. […] Read more
DuPont to increase investment in food, nutrition
Chemical and bioscience giant DuPont will spend $10 billion and release thousands of new products over the next nine years aimed at improving food production and nutrition, company officials said Thursday. DuPont said it was setting three primary goals for "stimulating and guiding" internal efforts around its commitments to helping address global concerns about food […] Read more
How about $6,700 per acre for corn land?
Corn country is getting more expensive — fast, according to the results of a new study released Dec. 14. With farmers and investors alike bidding up the cost of key acreage used for growing corn, soybeans and other crops, the average value for Iowa farmland has risen 32.5 per cent over the last year to […] Read more
Investors wary as U.S. farmland prices hit record highs
U.S. farmland prices in the third quarter surged to the highest levels in more than three decades amid an accelerating agricultural boom that has so far defied fears of a bubble about to burst. Prices hit record highs in the U.S. Plains, where wheat and cattle dominate production, and jumped 25 per cent in the […] Read more
Corn Fungus Adds To Hard Year For U.S. Farmers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Corn farmers in some parts of the U.S. Plains are finding their newly harvested crop has to be heavily discounted or cannot be sold at all due to the presence of a vicious fungus that makes the corn dangerous to eat. The culprit is aflatoxin toxins produced by a fungus that can harm and possibly […] Read more
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