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.
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 a
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.
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 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.
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.
St. Louis-based seed company Monsanto has spearheaded a push for seed biotechnology, a Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting analysis of the USDA data found for this report.
