DuPont Urges Curbs On Monsanto

DuPont has asked U. S. regulators to rein in practices by seed industry leader Monsanto Co., claiming its rival is hindering competition and limiting innovation needed to feed a growing world population. DuPont, which owns Pioneer Hi-Bred International, said Jan. 8 Monsanto is unfairly using monopoly powers to drive up prices and stymie competition. “Monsanto

Speculators Not Blamed In Cotton Futures Spike

“There is no smoking gun. If there was, obviously somebody would have been prosecuted.” – SHARON JOHNSON, FIRST CAPITOL GROUP Market manipulation did not cause cotton futures prices to artificially spike in 2008, the U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Jan. 5, after a lengthy investigation spanning nearly 20 months. Evidence found a host


U. S. Reviews Farm Program

The Obama administration will talk to stakeholders about cotton subsidies now that Brazil can apply sanctions to U. S. products in a long-running trade dispute, the U. S. Trade Representative’s office said Aug. 31. A new World Trade Organization decision against U. S. subsidies for cotton – the farm program the rest of the world

GMO Acres Seen Rising Worldwide With Political Will

Global plantings of genetically modified corn, soybeans and other crops grew 9.4 per cent last year as economic challenges spurred growing political will to adopt biotech crops that help farmers fight weeds, pests and crop diseases, an industry-backed study said Feb. 11. More than 13 million farmers in 25 countries planted 125 million hectares of


GM urgency eases

The push to promote genetically modified (GM) wheat to combat global food shortages could slow as global commodity prices ease, a top industry executive said Nov. 16. “Now that prices have fallen off their peak, I don’t think it will be a priority,” said Vijay Iyengar, managing director of the Singapore-based grains trader Agrocorp International