Archived News

November 2006

Egypt Wants To Explore Biotech Wheat
30 November 2006 Dow Jones via Cattle Network
Egypt is "very interested" in developing a regulatory system that would allow for the introduction of genetically engineered crops, the head of the Kansas Wheat Commission said Thursday in a press release.

New Crops Needed to Meet Climate Crisis
30 November 2006 Reuters
With large parts of the world facing dramatic crop losses from rising temperatures and changed rainfall patterns, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) says action is needed immediately and at all levels.

Monsanto Sees Unprecedented Early Order Activity for Triple-Stack Traits by U.S. Corn Growers
30 November 2006 Monsanto
Early order patterns in the United States for Monsanto's corn seeds and traits are reinforcing the company's goals of growing market share and increasing trait penetration, particularly in a triple-stack combination.

Gene for Red Apple Colour Discovered
30 November 2006 Nutra Ingredients
Scientists in Australia have located the gene that controls the red colour of apples, opening up opportunities for breeding new, redder apple varieties.

Peanut Gene Breakthrough May Lead to Allergen Free Nuts
29 November 2006 Food Navigator
Scientists have identified a new gene in peanuts that codes for a protein with no apparent allergic effects, research that opens up the possibility of allergen-free GM nuts.

A Vital Step Towards Controlling ‘Crown Rot’
29 November 2006 CSIRO
By mapping the family tree of the fungus that causes ‘Crown Rot’ in wheat, CSIRO Plant Industry has taken a major step towards controlling the devastating disease.

S.Africa Seeks Farm Revival from Biofuels
29 November 2006 Reuters
South Africa is looking to develop biofuels to give new life to farming and see the sector through recent hard times, according to an official involved in drawing up a policy proposal due to be released soon.

Natural Romanticism Only Yields Need and Misery
28 November 2006 AgBioWorld
Nostalgia cannot feed humanity. Whereas, modern biology can help produce sufficiently of food, without endangering the biodiversity hotspots and rare wildlife still remaining in the world.

Food Biotechnology: A study of U.S. consumer attitudinal trends, 2006
28 November 2006 International Food Information Council
Overall, a majority of Americans are confident in the safety of the U.S. food supply and express little to no concern about food and agricultural biotechnology.

Enzyme Breakthrough Could Help Protect Crops
28 November 2006 Food Navigator
An antibiotic-producing enzyme in oats could be used to protect major cereal crops from fungal diseases.

New Flood-Tolerant Rice Could Help Farmers and Environment
28 November 2006 AP via San Jose Mercury News
A new variety of flood-tolerant rice soon could make its way from the lab to the field, offering California rice farmers and environmental advocates a potential weapon against both crop-ravaging weeds and water pollution.

Let Them Eat Cake
28 November 2006 Investor's Business Daily
No environmentalist can point to a single person who's been killed or even injured by a genetically modified food. Yet the entire world knows Africans die in large numbers due to starvation from famine, despotic governments and other preventable complications.

Oleic Acid-Rich Soybeans Offer Trans-Fat Free Alternatives
28 November 2006 Food Navigator
Test results of oleic acid-rich soybean varieties are in, and the results are very positive, say the researchers behind the new varieties, giving industry access to new soybean oils with improved health profiles.

China, Chile to Exchange Breed Resources in Agricultural Cooperation
28 November 2006 People's Daily Online
China and Chile will jointly conduct research on livestock breeding and genetically modified crops, according to a memorandum signed by agricultural officials from the two countries on Tuesday.

Monsanto Breaks Ground on New Soybean Breeding Facility
27 November 2006 Monsanto
Today, Monsanto Company broke ground on a new soybean breeding facility in Harrisburg, South Dakota. The site will develop and test new soybean varieties developed by Monsanto's breeders, as well as varieties containing traits in various stages of pre-commercial advancement in the company's product pipeline.

Germany Permits First Trial GMO Wheat Plantings
27 November 2006 Reuters via Checkbiotech.org
The German government has permitted the first plantings of genetically-modified wheat for research, it said on Friday.

Govts Need to Push Green Fuels to Match Demand
27 November 2006 Financial Express
Biofuel production needs more investments and policy support from governments to help meet the growing demand for energy, a study done by the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has recommended.

Choose Food or Fuel? No, We Can Produce Both
25 November 2006 The Des Moines Register
During the next several decades of this century, the partnership between agriculture and biotechnology will expand and improve ethanol production at every step, from the field, to the refinery, to delivery at the pump.

French Farmers Embrace GM Maize, Says the USDA
23 November 2006 Farming Online
While 500 to 1,000 ha were planted to MON-810 corn in 2005, revealed last September by the French press, French corn growers claim that their total 2006 Bt corn acreage covers 5,000 ha, exclusively in MON-810...MON-810 is a genetically modified maize variety developed by Monsanto.

Famine in a Time of Solutions
23 November 2006 Scripps Howard News Service
As some of us in this blessed land of ours wonder in the aftermath of Thanksgiving whether we overdid the calories, we might consider that millions in the Third World go to bed hungry every night and that there's an exciting means of assisting them that being opposed by anti-modernist environmental alarmists with arguments as shameful as their stance.

Wheat Gene May Boost Foods' Nutrient Content
23 November 2006 University of California - Davis
Researchers at the University of California, Davis; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the University of Haifa in Israel have cloned a gene from wild wheat that increases the protein, zinc and iron content in the grain, potentially offering a solution to nutritional deficiencies affecting hundreds of millions of children around the world.

‘You’ve Got to Embrace GM Technology’
23 November 2006 European Voice
But his time spent growing biotech crops has left Hill with a new passion: the need to explain GM benefits to a European audience. He hopes that there will be less opposition now.

Future State Growth of Biotech Crops Expected
23 November 2006 Grand Island Independent
The use of genetically modified, or GM, crops in Nebraska could continue to increase if the predictions of a new independent report are realized.

Monsanto, Potash Shares Set Records as U.S. Farmers Favor Corn
23 November 2006 Bloomberg
Shares of St. Louis-based Monsanto, the world's largest developer of genetically modified seeds, climbed 33 percent in the past year.

Bureaucratic Bungling Bedevils Biotech
22 November 2006 The Legal Television Network
The ridiculous state of affairs has pushed regulatory costs to levels that "exclude the public sector, the academic community, from using their skills to improve crops," according to Dr. Roger Beachy, the director of the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

Breeding Soybeans for Ethanol and Fiberboard
22 November 2006 Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Having successfully turned pieces of giant soybean stalks into charcoal briquettes, Agricultural Research Service chemical engineer Justin Barone now believes they would make good fiberboard and other wood-substitute products as well.

Experts Vow to Push Biotech In Agriculture
22 November 2006 Business Mirror via Truth About Trade & Technology
Experts in the field of biotechnology late last week ended a week long workshop on biotechnology with the resolve to adopt biotechnological advances in agriculture and expand the propagation of transgenic plants and trees and solve problems related to food security, treatment of incurable diseases and global reforestation.

EU Authority Says MON810 is Safe for Greece
22 November 2006 Seed Today
In an opinion paper from 17 November, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that the GM maize event MON810 "is unlikely to have adverse effects on human and animal health or on the environment".

Canada Applauds WTO Ruling on Genetically Modified Organism Imports
22 November 2006 Government of Canada
This victory is timely, as the demand for oilseeds in Europe is growing as a result of European Union policy to promote the use of bio-diesel.

Biomass for Fuel Ready to Take Off, Report Says
21 November 2006 AP via The Houston Chronicle
The United States could soon use a billion tons of cellulosic biomass to ease the country's dependence on corn to make renewable fuel, but it must first address costly issues tied to harvest, storage and transportation, a report said Tuesday.

Africa Seen as Potential Leader in Biofuel Production
21 November 2006 World Politics Watch
For a number of reasons, including an agricultural sector that enjoys relatively low land and labor costs, many see sub-Saharan Africa as well suited to pioneer the development of biofuel as an alternative energy source for the continent and the world.

'Green Revolution' Hero
21 November 2006 The Washington Times
...We should not be shy about sending the best genetically engineered crops as food aid. Mr. Borlaug's always used the best technology -- hybrid seeds during the 1960s and genetic engineering today. Many of the crops he developed succeeded because they were heartier or more disease resistance and thus didn't require expensive chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Sustainable Food for the World: Rethinking Policy, Technology and the Environment
21 November 2006 Harvard International Review
GM crops, particularly corn, soybeans, and cotton, continue to gain acceptance in the market because they increase farmer income. The way they are grown is usually more environmentally friendly than the practices they replace. Second and third generation GM crops will increase the set of improved characteristics, adding drought tolerance for example.

Bacteria Blamed for a Bad Citrus Crop Outlook
21 November 2006 St. Petersburg Times
Some scientists and officials say the ultimate solution to greening will come through development of a genetically modified citrus tree which is immune to the bacteria.

Bt Cotton, Made in India, Soon
21 November 2006 DNA India
The Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, will release Bt cottonseed in straight-line desi (Arboreum) and American (Hirsutum) varieties in two years. The apex research institution says its homegrown variety will be a boon for cotton farmers.

Genetically Modified Crops May Get Biofuels Injection
20 November 2006 The Age
The growing emphasis on biofuels in Europe could pave the way for genetically modified grains to gain acceptance, according to Australia's leading farming body.

UK Farmer Wants Access to Benefits of Biotechnology in Europe
20 November 2006 Monsanto
Fiddaman discusses the benefits of biotechnology in an exclusive video and podcast available at the Conversations about Plant Biotechnology. In addition to Fiddaman’s video, visitors can view conversations with two of his fellow European farmers — Pedro Lerín and Ismael Purroy of Spain – who discuss the benefits of biotechnology in Europe.

Biotechnology Has Unlocked Vista to Tackle Food Security: Raja
20 November 2006 New Kerala
Biotechnology has created enormous potential in health, medicine and agriculture while unlocking a new vista for tackling various complex problems of world food security, Minister for Environment and Forests A Raja said here today.

Increase in Acreage Indicates Its Popularity
20 November 2006 Financial Express
There is adequate empirical evidence which shows that the use of GM technology is resulting in a reduction in the use of pesticides with consequential benefits for the environment and the farmer.

GM Cottonseeds Could Feed World’s Starving Millions
19 November 2006 The Sunday Times
Scientists have genetically modified the cotton plant’s naturally toxic seeds to turn them into a potential food source for millions of people.

UAS B'lore Successful in Isolating Genes for GM Crop
17 November 2006 The Economic Times
It is not just the Yankees who are building their capabilities in the transgenic (genetically-modified GM) space but even the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore has been able to identify and isolate genes from micro-organisms found in the Western Ghats for use as material in transgenic seeds.

UAS Studies GM Seeds for Anti-Diabetic Drug
17 November 2006 The Economic Times
University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore is working on transgenic or genetically-modified groundnut and Colius Forscoli as an effective cure for diabetes.

Brazil Glyphosate Producers Benefiting From GMO Soy
17 November 2006 Dow Jones via Smart Money
Farmers use the herbicide to control invasive weeds. Without the GMO, invasive weeds can eventually overtake a soy field, robbing the plant of soil nutrients and sunlight.

Defra Report Highlights Progress on Non-Food Crops
16 November 2006 Stackyard News UK
Significant progress in the way the UK produces and uses bioenergy and renewable materials is highlighted in a report, published today by Defra and DTI.

Ethanol-Blended Fuel Push at APEC
16 November 2006 The Age
Australia will promote ethanol-blended fuel as a key part of the global response to climate change as Asia Pacific nations continue their talks in Vietnam, deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile said.

Genetically Modified Foods Are Safe, Weizmann Head Says
16 November 2006 The Canadian Jewish News
Genetically modified foods pose no health hazard, says a leading Israeli scientist, who dismissed fear of these products as “ignorance.”

Biotech Corn Crops Provide Bountiful Harvest For Food and Fuel
16 November 2006 Manufacturing.net
Biotechnology can play an important role in ethanol demand, according to a study released Thursday by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, by ensuring that enough corn crops are available for food and energy use.

New Study Finds Biotech Plays Role in Meeting Food and Fuel Demand
16 November 2006 National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy
With ethanol demand at record highs and existing strong food use of corn, some experts are wondering where the extra corn will come from. A new study released today by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (National Center) suggests that biotechnology plays an important role in meeting this increased demand for corn production.

Report Says 25X'25 Goals Attainable, Cost-effective
16 November 2006 Farm Futures
Farmers, ranchers and foresters can supply at least 25% of the nation's energy needs with renewable resources by 2025, thus meeting the objectives set forth by the 25X'25 group, according to a research report released by the University of Tennessee.

Microorganisms One Part of the Solution to Energy Problem, Says Report
16 November 2006 American Society for Microbiology
The answer to one of the world's largest problems – the need for clean, renewable sources of energy – might just come from some of the world's smallest inhabitants – bacteria – according to a new report, Microbial Energy Conversion, released by the American Academy of Microbiology.

Monsanto: Giant of the $6.15bn GM Market
15 November 2006 Financial Times via MSN
The global market for such seeds and traits – the GM portion of the technology added to seed – is growing at 10 per cent a year as farmers increasingly look to protect crops from insect damage and disease.

EU Drags Heels on Biotech Food, U.S. Lawmakers Say
15 November 2006 Reuters
"The EU has avoided for too long its WTO obligations ... The illegal discrimination against biotech products on nonscientific grounds must cease," a group of lawmakers said in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

Harnessing the Potential of Public/Private Partnerships
15 November 2006 The Meridian Institute
The report discusses how Monsanto has provided a royalty-free, non-exclusive license to AATF to use Monsanto's cry1Ab Bt gene for the development of insect resistant cowpea varieties.

Transgenic Pastures Promoted at Grasslands Conference
15 November 2006 Radio New Zealand
AgResearch head Andy West says New Zealand must turn to genetic engineering to preserve global biodiversity and the country's trade in primary products.

Tomatoes Against Drought
14 November 2006 Checkbiotech.org
Due to a more robust root system, the transgenic tomatoes were able to increase their water uptake during drought periods.

Meeting Future Environmental Challenges Will Tax Agriculture
14 November 2006 The Scotsman
These are not alternatives. In the face of change, we will require them all, often in new guises, including GM crops within organic systems. But, above all, we need to revivify the countryside by helping farmers to farm it for food and for fuel.

Double, Triple, Quad
14 November 2006 Farm Journal via Truth About Trade & Technology
The final chart in Fraley’s investor presentation showed how selling a triple-stacked hybrid instead of single-trait hybrids improves Monsanto’s gross profit per acre by almost 50%. But, Fraley says farmers stand to benefit at least as much.

Agricultural Biotechnology: Overregulated and Underappreciated
13 November 2006 Issues in Science and Technology via AgBios
The stunted growth of agricultural biotechnology worldwide stands as one of the great societal tragedies of the past quarter century. The nation and the world must find more rational and efficient ways to guarantee the public’s safety while encouraging new discoveries.

Why Climate Change Cannot Be Ignored
13 November 2006 Food Navigator
Agriculture policies and practices will have to meet changing climate regimes. A significant transition toward biofuels over the next 50 years is needed, with agriculture and forestry among the leading sources for both liquid and solid fuels.

Renewable Fuels May Provide 25% of U.S. Energy by 2025
13 November 2006 The Wall Street Journal
A new Rand Corp. study showing the falling costs of ethanol, wind power and other forms of renewable energy predicts such sources could furnish as much as 25% of the U.S.'s conventional energy by 2025 at little or no additional expense.

Critics of Biofuel Have It All Wrong
11 November 2006 The Denver Post
With the help of biotechnology, producers can grow enough corn and other agricultural crops to both provide raw material for our biorefineries and feed our people.

Study Shows GM OK to Environment
10 November 2006 Crop Biotech Net
Data available so far provides no scientific evidence that the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops has caused environmental harm.

Growth and Leadership Are Top Priorities For The End Of The Decade, Monsanto Executives Tell European Investors
10 November 2006 Monsanto
Monsanto has a unique window of opportunity to build on its industry leading position and capitalize on emerging growth opportunities between now and the end of the decade, company executives told investors today.

Assessing the Benefits of Golden Rice 2
10 November 2006 Crop Biotech Net
In addition, Golden Rice 2 was shown to be a cheap and effective alternative to Vitamin A supplements in reducing the mortality rate attributed to VAD.

Call to Develop Resource Book on African Biotech Experts
10 November 2006 Crop Biotech Net
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter is in the process of developing a Resource Book that would profile...resource materials on biotechnology issues in Africa to meet the information and networking gaps that exist currently.

Healthy Oil
09 November 2006 AgWeb
Up to now, biotech soybeans have flourished because they make economic sense for cost and environmentally conscious farmers—now they will have an additional key role to play in the healthy food market as well.

Transportation Companies Gear Up to Move Ethanol Nationwide
09 November 2006 Ap via The International Herald Tribune
The fuel additive industry is growing from regional to national distribution, driven by a federal renewable fuels standard beginning in 2006 that is expected to double the use of ethanol and biodiesel by 2012.

Watching Bacteria Evolve in the Lab
09 November 2006 MIT Technology Review
Tracking rapid genetic changes will help researchers engineer ethanol- and antibiotic-producing microbes.

An Old Discovery Could Boost Ethanol Production From Plant Fiber
09 November 2006 Iowa State University
A discovery some 40 years ago is showing promise as a chemical pre-treatment that breaks down plant fiber. That could release the simple sugars in corn stalks or switchgrass so they can be fermented into ethanol. And that could add value to Iowa's crops or the fibrous co-products of ethanol production.

Biofuels May Account for 7% of Global Transport by 2030
08 November 2006 Bloomberg via Financial Express
The biofuels may account for 7% of the global transportation energy by 2030, from 1% today, provided governments implement International Energy Agency’s (IEA) policies to promote alternatives to oil, IEA said.

Research Continues on Soybeans for Nonfood Uses
08 November 2006 Iowa Farmer Today via Checkbiotech.org
The Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council and the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute have spent money, time and resources promoting the use of soybeans for everything from soy ink, to combine panels, to dishes.

Monsanto Reiterates Fiscal 2007 Earnings View
08 November 2006 Reuters
Monsanto reiterated its earnings forecast for fiscal 2007, projecting 15 to 20 percent growth in ongoing earnings per share, the agricultural products company said on Friday.

Chancellor Urged to Give Incentives to Emerging Biofuel Industry
08 November 2006 Farming UK
In a letter presented to the Treasury, the NFU, Saab Great Britain Limited, Morrisons Supermarkets and the Ford Motor Company urged the Chancellor to introduce financial incentives to develop the UK biofuel industry in his 2007 budget.

Biofuels Research Tops Farmers' HGCA Research Wish-List
07 November 2006 Farmers Weekly
Developing industrial uses for combinable crops, such as biofuels, tops the list of research topics growers would like to see the Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) fund between 2007-10.

Climate Change Will Affect Future Food Availability
07 November 2006 FAO
Adapting agriculture, forestry and fisheries policies and practices to climate variability.

Preliminary Results Indicate Monsanto’s Yieldgard® Rootworm-Protected Hybrids Outyielding Competitive Trait Systems
07 November 2006 Monsanto
Preliminary results from the 2006 corn harvest indicate that Monsanto's YieldGard® Rootworm insect-protected corn hybrid systems, including YieldGard Rootworm and YieldGard Plus, are delivering outstanding yield and insect protection to farmers and outyielding competitive trait and soil insecticide systems.

How to Make Our Food Safer
06 November 2006 TCS Daily
Perhaps in the wake of at least three deaths and 400 illnesses from the recent E. coli and S. typhimurium outbreaks, the organic lobby will rethink its opposition to biotechnology. Perhaps they will undertake a meaningful examination of the ways in which this technology can save lives and advance their industry.

Food Biotechnology: A Study of U.S. Consumer Attitudinal Trends, 2006 REPORT
06 November 2006 International Food Information Council
In general, likelihood to purchase biotech foods increases as awareness increases.

'Nutrigenomics' Among Next-Generation Applications in Ag Biotechnology
06 November 2006 Information Systems for Biotechnology
Personalized nutrition based on individual genetics, pharmaceuticals from alfalfa, drought-tolerant plants, and improved bioenergy sources are among the next generation of applications that can be expected from agricultural biotechnology.

China Forecasts 18 Million Tonnes Biofuel Use by 2010
06 November 2006 Wisconsin Ag Connection
China aims to use 6.7 million tonnes of ethanol and 11 million tonnes of biodiesel by 2010, meeting 10 percent of its forecast transport fuel demand, a government economist said on Thursday.

Investors Are Filling up With Biofuels
05 November 2006 The Sunday Times
European governments have other reasons for liking biofuels. They may provide a lifeline to politically important farming communities, and have the potential to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.

Genetic 'Jamboree' Draws Innovators
05 November 2006 The Boston Globe
One genetically modified bacterium infuses the aroma of mint and bananas into formerly foul-smelling biology labs. Another warns of arsenic in well water. And a third could someday be used to print color photos.

Dutch to Transform Big Methanol Plant to Biofuels
03 November 2006 Reuters
A consortium of Dutch and Belgian investors said on Friday it had bought a methanol plant in the Netherlands to transform it into the world's first biomethanol plant, producing 1 billion liters of green petrol per year.

Scientists Leverage New Tool to Diagnose Plant Diseases
03 November 2006 Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist William Schneider has used, or is familiar with, just about every kind of method of identifying organisms that cause plant diseases, from light microscopes to so-called genetic fingerprinting.

Monsanto UK Responds to Vistive Soybean Omega 3/Omega 6 Misunderstandings
03 November 2006 Monsanto UK
This brochure explains how Vistive, while helping to achieve the important nutrition goal of reducing the intake of trans fatty acids, does not compromise the body’s intake of essential nutrients.

Green Plants Share Bacterial Toxin
03 November 2006 The University of California, Davis
A toxin that can make bacterial infections turn deadly is also found in higher plants, researchers at UC Davis, the Marine Biology Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass. and the University of Nebraska have found.

Plant Studies Reveal How, Where Seeds Store Iron
02 November 2006 National Science Foundation
Biologists have learned where and how some plant seeds store iron, a valuable discovery for scientists working to improve the iron content of plants. Their research helps address the worldwide problem of iron deficiency and malnutrition in humans.

Growing Greener Greens
02 November 2006 The Guardian
Africa has the capacity to diversify its agriculture by bringing many of its "lost crops" (grains, vegetables and fruits) into wider commercial use. This may involve the use of agricultural biotechnology to adapt crops to new ecological conditions.

Plant Studies Reveal How, Where Seeds Store Iron
02 November 2006 National Science Foundation
Biologists have learned where and how some plant seeds store iron, a valuable discovery for scientists working to improve the iron content of plants. Their research helps address the worldwide problem of iron deficiency and malnutrition in humans.

Tony Blair Interview - In Full
01 November 2006 New Scientist
In the GM debate, I used to say to people that a lot of the life-saving drugs now being produced are the product of the same type of science as GM crops. This is why you need scientists to be engaged fully in proper public debate.

Ontarians Appear to Be Swallowing Organic Misconceptions: Poll
01 November 2006 Crop Life Canada
Ontarians mistakenly view organic fruits and vegetables as superior to conventionally-grown produce with respect to safety and nutritional value, according to a survey conducted by public opinion research firm POLLARA, Inc.

Scientist Claims EU Red Tape Is Putting Off Venture Capitalists
01 November 2006 Yorkshire Post
The relationship between science, engineering and society is a difficult one, and the public are often suspicious. This was the case with GM, but our mismanagement meant we lost the debate to activists only interested in single issue politics and now we're paying the price. So many advances that could have brought great benefit to society have been stopped in their tracks.

Wildlife Habitat Council Recognizes Monsanto Manufacturing Plants
01 November 2006 Monsanto
Three Monsanto plants have received re-certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC). Monsanto’s Luling, Louisiana; Muscatine, Iowa; and Soda Springs, Idaho, plants have been recognized for their wildlife habitat enhancement efforts.

Midwestern Weed May Inspire Newfound Respect
01 November 2006 Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Soybean farmers in the Midwest have little use for field pennycress. But that may change. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Peoria, Ill., are eyeing the annual winter weed's seed as both a biodiesel resource and biobased fumigant.

Brazil Now Embraces GMOS
01 November 2006 The Corn and Soybean Digest
The Brazilian Seed Producers Association, Abrasem, estimates that about 72% of Brazil's new soybean crop will be genetically modified varieties, far more than the 30-40% that most market analysts had previously estimated.