The provincial legislature of China’s Heilongjiang province in northeast China announced Friday, Dec. 16, a ban on growing any genetically modified crops.  It also bans processing, sale and imports of edible farm products containing GMO ingredients. Food for human consumption currently in inventory must be sold in a special area of retail outlets, clearly marked. […]

As I have stated before, on corn following soybeans, I would sooner seek high yields and better profitability by choosing a lower or non-traited hybrid and use half of the savings on in-season fertilizer, micronutrients, foliar fertilizer or products to keep the plants as green as long as possible. Dec. 17  By Bob Streit —

Sue Martin, founder and owner of Ag and Investment Services Inc., presented a mildly hopeful outlook for ag commodities at the Dec. 13 Spraytec “knowledge exchange” seminar in Ames. Rather than detailing her points, we’ll simply share notes on her analysis, with a little context around them. The tone of her talk could be summed up

 “It will be in cultural things we do. Multiple things we do for weed control.”  That comment came today from Dr. Jason Norsworthy, chair of Weed Science at the University of Arkansas.  He was lead speaker at the first “Knowledge Exchange” seminar hosted by Spraytec, a Brazilian firm introducing a new line of crop nutrient

Hearings by the Environmental Protection Agency this week will focus on the scientific question of Roundup’s links, or lack of links, to cancer in humans. Investigative writer Carey Gillam has written a detailed analysis of the forces which converge in those hearings. Dec. 12, 2016   — The EPA has received  more than 250,000 comments filed by

Argentina’s socialist policies for the past decade are fading out with new national leadership — and optimism is again spreading in one of the world’s naturally richest agricultural regions.  The Wall Street Journal has the report at this link, so we won’t be redundant about the facts.  The point is: Getting rid of stifling export

Last week was important for anyone who wanted to gather as much ag knowledge as possible. There was an ag consultants’ late-fall tech seminar in Ames, the big ISU Extension-sponsored ICM Conference was held on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 on the campus, and the national ACRES U.S.A. EcoAg Conference was held in Omaha.  Dec. 9,