Monthly Archives: March 2010

Half-Baked Statistics on GE Crops

Elton Robinson
Farm Press Editorial Staff
Posted, March 16, 2010

When surveys don’t give you the overwhelming result you’re looking for, there’s only one thing left to do — cook your numbers. This was the tactic employed by the Consumers Union (CU), the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, after it conducted a poll recently on genetically engineered crops. Continue reading Half-Baked Statistics on GE Crops

Farms and Cows go Bankrupt as Land-O-Lakes Reports Record Profits

Chad Dechow
Associate Professor, Dairy Cattle Genetics
Department of Dairy and Animal Science
The Pennsylvania State University

Land O’Lakes reported record breaking profits in 2009 Deans Foods also had a great year. If you are a farmer or a consumer of dairy products, I’ll bet you are just thrilled. The price paid to dairy farmers in 2009 was abysmal. Nearly all dairy farmers lost money in 2009 and many have been put out of business. The situation was so bad that the federal government bailed out the dairy industry to the tune of $350 million in emergency funding part way through 2009. Continue reading Farms and Cows go Bankrupt as Land-O-Lakes Reports Record Profits

Global Status of GM Crops – 2009

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) released their annual report on global adoption of genetically modified (GM) on February 23, 2010. An executive summary of Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2009 – The first fourteen  years, 1996 to 2009 presents highlights of the amazing growth in the global adoption of GM crops.  Impressively, GM crops are being readily adopted by developing and developed countries. Continue reading Global Status of GM Crops – 2009