Syngenta recently celebrated the remarkable career of Mary-Dell Chilton during a recognition event on her retirement at age 79 after a 35-year career with the company. Chilton is widely recognized as a founder of modern plant biotechnology, after she and her research teams demonstrated that Agrobacterium is an effective vehicle for DNA transfer and produced the first transgenic plant. Her …
Crops & Chemicals USA 18 to Feature Regulatory Updates
Federal regulators from EPA, FDA and USDA are among the presenters at this year’s Crops & Chemicals USA meeting, July 23-25, 2018 at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The agenda for this year’s meeting provides attendees with the critical science, technologies and contacts needed to accelerate the development and regulatory approval of biostimulant, biopesticide and agrochemical products. …
SMART Farmer and Food Evolution
In this episode of the SMART Farmer podcast, we hear from an Academy Award nominated director who produced a documentary film that explores the debate about genetically modified organisms – better known as GMOs. The film is called Food Evolution and Scott Hamilton Kennedy attended the recent Commodity Classic in California to talk about how he came to tell this …
USFRA Promotes Food Evolution in Times Square
As New Year’s Eve revelers fill Times Square this weekend, towering over them will be a jumbotron advertisement for the movie Food Evolution being promoted by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). “We do have one of those huge 60 by 30 foot screens in Times Square that several times an hour a 15 second ad will come on …
NAFB17 Kicks Off With Kevin Folta
Dr. Kevin Folta has been on a crusade to educate the public about biotechnology for many years, in addition to his regular job as professor and chairman of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida. Dr. Folta kicked off the 2017 NAFB Convention Wednesday morning with a session on “Communicating Concepts in Biotechnology to a Concerned Public” to …
SMART Farmer Jeremy Brown
In this edition, we hear from a Texas farmer who grows both organic and traditional cotton and peanuts, as well as other crops. Jeremy Brown is one of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) faces of farming, which has given him the opportunity to engage with the non-farm public on the highly emotional topic of biotechnology and GMO crops …
USFRA Supporting Food Evolution Movie
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is supporting a new film that offers an independent investigation into biotechnology that concludes GMOs may well be a force for good to feed the world. Food Evolution, which is now streaming on Hulu, was commissioned by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy. “The …
House Ag Hearing on Specialty Crop Innovations
The House Agriculture Committee heard testimony Wednesday on technology and innovation in specialty crops as input toward the making of the 2018 farm bill. “As we look at the farm bill through the lens of the current farm economy, innovation and technology will remain essential for farmers and ranchers to continue producing more food and fiber with fewer resources,” said …
Syngenta Will Appeal Verdict
Syngenta intends to appeal a verdict reached by a Kansas jury last week to award $218 million in compensatory damages to more than 7,000 Kansas corn growers who claim the company caused them economic harm by introducing Agrisure corn before China approved it for import. Syngenta released a statement after the verdict saying they are disappointed “because it will only …
Why #Farmers Grow #GMOs
Maryland farmer Chip Bowling agrees with a new survey that finds the main reason farmers have increased their use of genetically modified (GM) crops is sustainability. “We’re better at what we do because of technology, whether it’s seeds and traits or through the equipment that we use,” says Bowling, who farms on the Chesapeake Bay. He is also chairman of …