Not intimidated by anti-GMO activists throwing $2000 in “Monsanto Money” on the floor, the U.S. Senate Wednesday voted 65-31 to limit debate on a bipartisan National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard that would preempt individual state laws to require labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. With cloture invoked, the Senate is expected vote on final passage as early as today. …
Nobel Laureates Say Stop Blocking Golden Rice
This morning three Nobel Laureates presented at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to call on Greenpeace, the United Nations and governments around the world to support GMOs. They are the public face of more than 100 Nobel Laureates who signed a letter asking that campaigns agains products like Golden Rice be abandoned. The letter condemns practices that are …
New Partnerships for @MonsantoCo
Monsanto Company has formed two new partnership agreements. One targets weed control solutions while the other focuses on genome-editing. Under an agreement with TargetGene Biotechnologies LTD, Monsanto receives an exclusive license for TargetGene’s Genome Editing Engine (T GEE). “TargetGene is pleased to be working with Monsanto to enable the next generation of agricultural innovation through the application of our genome-editing …
#FoodPrize16 Awards Announced
Drs. Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga, Jan Low and Howarth Bouis have been honored with the 2016 World Food Prize. Their names were announced today at a ceremony at the U.S. State Department where USAID administrator Gayle Smith gave the keynote address. “These four extraordinary World Food Prize Laureates have proven that science matters, and that when matched with dedication, it can …
Industry Pleased with #GMO Labeling Compromise
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 …
Safe Food Coalition Urges Senate to Act
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 …
Get Corny with #CUTC16
Corn technology might conjure up many different ideas in your mind. Think ethanol, feed for animals, boiled corn for the table and much more. Follow along this week as I attend the Corn Utilization Technology Conference and we’re going to learn about a lot more than that. Session topics at the CUTC will cover wet and drying milling technology, traits/breeding/biotechnology, …
Top Issues for @Better_Seed Annual Meeting
Registration is now open for the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) 133rd annual convention, to be held June 18-22 in Portland, Oregon. At the recent Commodity Classic, we got a preview of some issues that will be top of mind for seed trade executives at the meeting from ASTA CEO Andy LaVigne. For one, ASTA is currently working with the …
Disappointment Over Senate GMO Labeling Vote
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 today, 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 …
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 …