Leadership of the Senate Agriculture Committee Thursday announced a bipartisan compromise on GMO labeling legislation in advance of the pending implementation of a state law in Vermont. “Our marketplace – both consumers and producers – needs a national biotechnology standard to avoid chaos in interstate commerce,” said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) about the compromise reached with Ranking … Read More
NAGC Officially Opens Its Doors
The National Agricultural Genotyping Center (NAGC) will open its doors this week, and government and industry representatives will be on hand for the facility’s grand opening. North Dakota Ag Commissioner Goehring, Fargo Mayor Mahoney, and several representatives of both legislative staff and agricultural association leadership were present to discuss the center’s possibilities during a tour of the state-of-the-art laboratories. “This … Read More
Coalition Says Labeling Law Needed Now
The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food (CFSAF) and leaders of America’s agricultural and food industries are sounding the alarm that Congress needs to act immediately to pass a bipartisan solution before Vermont’s mandatory on-package labeling law goes into effect July 1. As of today, there are only seven days left on the legislative calendar before the state law is implemented … Read More
Stem Cells May Be Key To Increased Yields
Biologists at New York’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a regulatory pathway in corn that could help explain how plants regulate the proliferation of stem cells, and could potentially be used to increase yields of corn and other staple crops by as much as 50 percent. The pathway works by channeling signals from emerging young leaves in corn to … Read More
Nebraska a Biobased Industry Leader
Nebraska is ramping up its bio-based partnerships. According to a recent Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED), bioscience companies employ more than 16,000 people in the state with the industry growing at a faster pace than the national average. For instance, several global and national companies are already located in Nebraska, including: NatureWorks (corn-based plastics), Novozymes (enzyme technology), Purac (lactic … Read More
Biotech Crops Celebrate 20 Years
In just 20 years the use of biotechnology has increased 100 percent, making it the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) celebrated the 20th anniversary with a report, The Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops (1996-2015) and Biotech Crop Highlights in 2015. The report shows the increate from 1.7 million … Read More
US and Nigerian #Corn Growers Talk #Biotech
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) staffers welcomed the director of the Nigerian Corn Growers Association for a series of meetings this week on how farmers in the two nations can work together to increase corn demand and promote acceptance of biotechnology. Edwin Uche, director of the Nigerian Corn Growers Association, reached out for a meeting during the recent Maize … Read More
#GMO Labeling Bill Fails to Advance in Senate
Despite the best efforts of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Biotechnology Labeling Solutions Bill in a 48-49 vote Wednesday, blocking advancement of the legislation that would create a voluntary federal standard for labeling foods with genetically modified ingredients. Roberts expressed his disappointment at the inability to come to agreement on … Read More
Senate Debates GMO Labeling on #AgDay
After hearing debate on National Ag Day, the Senate is set to vote today on legislation proposed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) to provide a voluntary national standard for foods containing genetically modified ingredients as well as an incentive to provide more information on biotechnology to consumers. During his floor speech on the Biotechnology Labeling Solutions bill, … Read More
GMO Answers Stands Up For Science
The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the controversial legislation surrounding GMO labeling were hot discussion topics at the 2016 Commodity Classic, with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressing the issue during the event, as well as several commodity groups. In the trade show, the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) had a booth dedicated to GMO Answers, an … Read More