Reading Time: 2 minutes A few years ago, Kansas farmer and seed dealer Bob Bunck would nearly fill his warehouse with bags of wheat seed ready for fall planting. Today, only a few bags are stacked against one wall. In this top U.S. wheat-growing state, wheat remains king of the crops. But its dominance has been sliding as many […] Read more
Higher wheat prices don’t guarantee more U.S. acres – for Aug. 30, 2010
Monsanto Acknowledges Role Spreading “Superweeds”
Reading Time: 2 minutes Monsanto Co. said on May 27 it will restructure its herbicide products in an effort to help combat the spreading environmental woes of herbicide-resistant weeds, also known as “super weeds,” which many critics have blamed on the chemical giant. “We need to get in front of this,” Monsanto chairman Hugh Grant said in a conference […] Read more
Are U.S. Regulators Dropping The Ball On Biocrops?
Reading Time: 5 minutes “The U.S. response (to questions about biotech crop safety) has been an extremely patronizing one. They say, ‘We know best, trust us.’” DOUG GURIAN-SHERMAN UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS Robert Kremer, a U.S. government microbiologist who studies Midwestern farm soil, has spent two decades analyzing the rich dirt that yields billions of bushels of food each […] Read more
Regulatory Oversight Inadequate
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fourteen years after commercialization of the world’s first biotech crop, the U.S. regulatory agencies charged with overseeing biotech crops – USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – are under attack on several fronts. The USDA is most directly in the line of fire after a string of Federal Court […] Read more
DuPont/ Pioneer Sees Bigger Soy Market Share
Reading Time: < 1 minute A new genetically modified soybean seed engineered by DuPont is making fast inroads with farmers and comes as the company is increasing spending on new seed development, a top DuPont official said Mar. 17. The Y Series soybean will likely account for two-thirds of the company’s North American soybean sales this year, up from one-third […] Read more
Small Iowa Farm Town Hears Seed-Industry Complaints
Reading Time: 2 minutes Scrutiny of the U. S. seed industry took centre stage in the top corn-growing state of Iowa last week as the Justice Department probed complaints about alleged illegal restraint on development and sales of corn, soybeans and other crops. The March 12 gathering in Ankeny, Iowa, is part of a government probe into allegations that […] Read more
GMOs In Nature Refuge Contested
Reading Time: < 1 minute Environmentalists filed a federal lawsuit against the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Mar. 1 accusing the service of illegally allowing farmers to grow genetically modified crops in a national wildlife refuge. The groups said up to 80 other national wildlife refuges across the United States are now growing genetically engineered crops and could […] Read more
Glyphosateresistant Kochia Found In Kansas
Reading Time: < 1 minute Scientists have confirmed that more weeds have developed resistance to glyphosate, a troubling development for farmers and fresh fodder for critics of Monsanto, which developed the chemical under the original brand name of Roundup. Kansas State University said on Friday that scientists had found five kochia weed populations in western Kansas that have been confirmed […] Read more
U. S. Winter Wheat Emerging In Good Shape
Reading Time: 2 minutes Warming temperatures last week through the U. S. Plains were driving emergence of what looks to be a hardy new U. S. winter wheat crop, although agronomists were worried that wet weather could delay fertilizer applications and lower yields. Overly wet fields were limiting farmer efforts to fertilize their wheat, and experts said the window […] Read more
GMO Crop Growth Expands Around Globe
Reading Time: 2 minutes Led by U. S. producers, 14 million farmers around the world planted genetically modified crops last year, increasing planted biotech cropland by seven per cent, even as biotech crop use declined in Europe, according to an industry report issued Feb. 25. Expansions were noted for biotech soybeans, corn and cotton, and the appeal to farmers […] Read more