Graphic of the Week
GRAPHIC: Nearly all cash crops are genetically engineered now
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More than 90 percent of all corn, cotton and soybeans planted in the U.S. are genetically engineered, according to data from the Department of Agriculture.
Food for thought
Opinion: For GMOs, European Union is the last great frontier
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American agribusiness giants such as Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland would likely love to sell GMO corn and soybean seeds to European producers, but for decades European nations – led primarily by France and Germany – have stonewalled prospective efforts by persuading their citizens that GMO's are unsafe, unhealthy and generally un-European.
Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trade agreement creates corporate dispute system, GMO working group
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One of the biggest challenges that today's farmers face is the patchwork of different GMO regulations from country to country. Part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is focused on making biotechnology more transparent between the deal's members.
Agribusiness
GMO regulatory system primed for makeover
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Biotechnology in the United States has been regulated by a system of three federal agencies since 1986. Critics, which include the White House, are now calling for that system to be modernized.
Monsanto
Monsanto’s first-of-its kind GMO could shake up the corn market
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Monsanto claims it has come up with a way to physically make ears of corn an inch or two larger. If that turns out to be true – and if the new variety successfully makes it through the coordinated framework for biotechnology – it would be a big deal for the U.S. corn industry.
Biotechnology
Senators sign letter asking White House to prioritize China’s biotech regulation
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On Wednesday, 42 senators signed their names to a letter addressed to President Barack Obama. The letter pressed the president to prioritize biotech approvals with China’s leader, President Xi Jinping.