Regulatory Oversight Inadequate

Fourteen years after commercialization of the world’s first biotech crop, the U. S. regulatory agencies charged with overseeing biotech crops – USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U. S. Food and Drug Administration – are under attack on several fronts. The USDA is most directly in the line of fire after a string of

Ontario Weed Resistant To Glyphosate

The University of Guelph has confirmed that a population of giant ragweed in a field near Windsor, Ont., are Canada’s first glyphosate-resistant weeds. The discovery is of no immediate threat to Manitoba farmers because giant ragweed is not common here, nor is the Ontario corn belt’s corn-soybean rotation, said Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives’


USDA Seeks Comment On Genetically Modified Alfalfa

Alfalfa is not the only crop that has come under fire. The U. S. Agriculture Department on Dec. 14 said it determined there would be no significant environmental harm to deregulating genetically modified alfalfa, but said it will open its preliminary finding to public comment before issuing a final decision. USDA first deregulated two types

U. S. Court Rules Against GM Sugar Beets

Afederal U. S. court has ruled in favour of critics of Monsanto Co.’s genetically engineered sugar beets, saying the U. S. government failed to adequately evaluate their environmental and economic risks. The U. S. District Court for the northern district of California ruled that the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection


In Brief… – for Feb. 5, 2009

Smaller Alta. beet crop costs Rogers: Shrinking sugar beet acreage helped bite deep into Rogers Sugar’s bottom line for the company’s first quarter. The Montreal income trust posted profit of $73,000 on $138.4 million in revenues for Q1 ending Dec. 31, down from $18.5 million on $173 million in the year-earlier period. Its gross margin