GM Crops Help Ensure Global Food Security Through Higher Crop Yields

Farmers who use seeds improved with biotechnology continue to benefit economically while improving the environmental sustainability of their farming operations, according to an updated global impacts study.

The economic benefits for farmers who use genetically modified seeds amounted to an average of more than $100/hectare ($40/acre) in 2014, according to the report "GM Crops: Global Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts 1996-2014" released by PG Economics.

"Where farmers have been given the choice of growing GM crops, the economic benefits realized are clear," said Graham Brookes, director of PG Economics, co-author of the report. "Two-thirds of these benefits derive from higher yields and extra production, with farmers in developing countries seeing the highest gains. The environment is also benefiting as farmers increasingly adopt conservation tillage practices, build their weed management practices around more benign herbicides and replace insecticide use with insect resistant GM crops."

The PG Economics annual global impacts report quantifies the impact of agricultural biotechnology on the environment and on farmer incomes since biotech's commercialization in 1996.

Among the key findings:

- Between 1996 and 2014, crop biotechnology was responsible for additional global production of 158.4 mmt of soybeans (5.8 billion bushels) and 321.8 mmt (12.7 billion bushels) of corn. The technology has also contributed an extra 24.7 mmt (27.2 million tons) cotton lint and 9.2 mmt (3.37 billion bushels) of canola;

- GM technology has had a significant positive impact on farm income derived from a combination of enhanced productivity and efficiency gains. In 2014, the direct global farm income benefit from GM crops was $17.7 billion. This is equivalent to having added 7.2% to the value of global production of the four main crops of soybeans, corn, canola and cotton. Since 1996, farm incomes have increased by $150.3 billion.

— The insect resistant (IR) technology used in cotton and corn has consistently delivered yield gains from reduced pest damage. The average yield gains over the 1996-2014 period across all users of this technology has been +13.1% for insect resistant corn and +17.3% for insect resistant cotton relative to conventional production systems. 2014 was also the second year IR soybeans were grown commercially in South America, where farmers have seen an average of +9.4% yield improvements;

— The herbicide tolerant technology used has also contributed to increased production; improving weed control and providing higher yields in some countries; and helping farmers in Argentina grow 'second crop' soybeans after wheat in the same growing season;

— The total farm income benefit of $150.3 billion was divided almost equally between farmers in developing (51%) and developed countries (49%);

— The highest yield gains were obtained by farmers in developing countries, many of which are resource-poor and farm small plots of land;

— Crop biotechnology continues to be a good investment for farmers around the world. The cost farmers paid for accessing crop biotechnology in 2014 ($6.9 billion) was equal to 28% of the total gains (a total of $24.6 billion). Globally, farmers received an average of $3.59 for each dollar invested in GM crop seeds;

— GM crops are allowing farmers to grow more without using additional land. If crop biotechnology had not been available to the (18 million) farmers using the technology in 2014, maintaining global production levels at the 2014 levels would have required additional plantings of 7.5 million ha (18.5 million acres) of soybeans, 8.9 million ha (21.9 million acres) of corn, 3.7 million ha (9.1 million acres) of cotton and 0.6 million ha (1.4 million acres) of canola. This total area requirement is equivalent to 12% of the arable land in the US, or 33% of the arable land in Brazil or 14% of the cropping area in China;

— Crop biotechnology has contributed to significantly reducing the release of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural practices. This results from less fuel use and additional soil carbon storage from reduced tillage with GM crops. In 2014, this was equivalent to removing 22.4 billion kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or equal to removing 10 million cars from the road for one year;

— Crop biotechnology has reduced pesticide spraying (1996-2014) by 581 million kg (1.2 billion pounds). This is equal to the total amount of pesticide active ingredient applied to crops in China for more than a year. As a result, this has decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on the area planted to biotech crops by 18.5%.

DOJ: WOTUS Can't Be Argued in Two US Courts Simultaneously

A coalition of states can't challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's waters of the US (WOTUS) rule in two federal courts at the same time, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in a brief filed May 31 with the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Since the Sixth Circuit court found it has jurisdiction to review the multiple lawsuits challenging the legality of WOTUS, DOJ said the Eleventh Circuit should dismiss its own proceedings as the cases before it were consolidated with 21 others and will be heard before the Sixth Circuit.

The government also agreed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia which ruled it lacks jurisdiction to block WOTUS. Eleven states, led by Georgia, appealed the ruling in the Eleventh Circuit.

States have no basis for asking the Eleventh Circuit to address which court should review WOTUS when the own challenges are being consolidated with 21 other petitions before the Sixth Circuit, DOJ asserted. The Sixth Circuit reaffirmed its jurisdiction to hear challenges to WOTUS, after denying an enbanc rehearing request in April.

The states challenging WOTUS are urging the Eleventh Circuit to proceed with its own review, saying the appeals it isn't bound by the Sixth Circuit's jurisdiction. The states also are requesting a preliminary injunction on implementation of the rule, which DOJ opposes.

"Neither this court nor any other court can stay the rule any more than it is already," the DOJ brief said of the state's injunction request, noting that the rule is already stayed nationwide.

U.S. Cheeses Among the World’s Best

Earlier this spring, the United States won a large majority of the medals given out at the World Cheese Championships. Feedstuffs magazine reports expert judges from 16 countries critiqued nearly 3,000 different cheeses from 23 countries. Only 11 percent of the different types won medals, and the U.S. entries took three of every four medals. For the first time since 1988, the top award in the contest went to an American cheese from a cheesemaker in South-central Wisconsin. The World Cheese Championships are held every other year and the U.S. has improved its medal count in recent years. The U.S. took home 65 percent of the medals in 2012, 69 percent in 2014, and 75 percent this year.

GMO Labeling Deadline Rapidly Approaching

Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law is set to take effect on July 1, and that leaves the U.S. Congress only 15 working days to get a bill through the House and Senate. That reminder came this week from the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, which represents hundreds of farming groups as well as food and biotech companies, and supports a voluntary labeling standard. The Senate does have 19 working days left in the month, but it still has to get any bill from the upper chamber, through the House, and to the President’s desk for a signature. The key to a solution will be addressing concerns between Senate Ag Chair Pat Roberts and ranking member Debbie Stabenow. Their concerns range from overriding states’ rights to a coalition demanding mandatory GMO labeling, and a compromise between them remains to be seen.

Japan Suspends Some Australian Cattle Imports

The Australian Agriculture Department confirms that Japan has stopped some imports of cattle from Australia due to Johne’s Disease, a bacterial infection that causes muscle wasting. A spokesman with USDA said Japan temporarily stopped accepting feeder and breeder cattle because several tested positive for Johne’s Disease in post-arrival quarantine. Japan is Australia’s second-largest market for beef exports, but among its smallest export markets for live cattle.   

American Wheat Farms Face Double Trouble

Some American wheat farmers are not only going to lose money on every bushel they harvest this month, many won’t have a proper place to store it.

U.S. grain bins still hold surpluses from last year. Combined stockpiles for major crops -- corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum -- are the biggest for this time of year since 1988. With demand slowing and output rising, space will get tighter, especially for wheat, which is the first one harvested. Some growers may dump grain in parking lots or vacant buildings.

“It will be the worst storage crunch in the 30 years I have been trading wheat,” said Michael O’Dea, a risk management consultant at INTL FCStone Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri. “A lot of grain will end up in ground piles.”

While farmers expanded storage in recent years, that’s been undermined by global crop surpluses and a strong dollar. Once the world’s biggest wheat exporter, the U.S. saw its shipments in the year through Tuesday drop to the lowest since 1972. With inventories up 30 percent and expected to swell further, the price outlook is getting more bearish. Chicago futures tumbled for three straight years, and in February touched the lowest level since 2010.

The glut may only get bigger. Global supply, including production and inventories, will exceed consumption by the most ever in the year that ends in June 2017, with the harvest expected to be the second-highest on record, the International Grains Council said May 26.

For many growers, the slump means they are spending more to grow wheat than they can collect when the grain is sold, according to analysts at Societe Generale SA, which forecast Chicago wheat futures will average $4.52 a bushel in the third quarter, compared with $4.855 now. Kansas State University estimates each bushel costs $3.90 to $5.18 to produce. Money managers have been betting prices will fall for almost 10 straight months.

Winter wheat harvested in June and July across the Great Plains is among the first crops to arrive each year at grain elevators, with corn and soybeans collected in September and October. While there isn’t any co-mingling, most bins can be used to store different crops, depending on need. Piling grain on the farm isn’t all that unusual, but without an impervious floor, walls and some kind of covering, there is an increased risk of pest and moisture damage.

But with so much left over from last year, growers from Texas to Nebraska probably will exceed local storage capacity by at least 15 percent, said Troy Presley, a grain merchandiser for Comark Grain Marketing LLC in Cheney, Kansas. The company markets crops for 13 cooperatives with more than 77 locations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

‘Storage Crunch’

“Storage space is going to be very tough to find this year,” Presley said. “Farmers have sold the smallest amount of wheat for harvest delivery in at least 10 years, compounding the storage crunch.”

Domestic storage capacity for more than a dozen different kinds of grain and oilseed crops has increased 22 percent in the past decade to 24.21 billion bushels, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. But as of March 1, well before this year’s harvests, stockpiles of wheat, corn, sorghum and soybeans totaled 10.9 billion bushels, up 5.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the USDA.

In Kansas, the biggest producer of winter wheat, inventories were 29 percent bigger than a year earlier, government data show. Even before the harvest, leftover grain is using up 52 percent of the state’s storage capacity, compared with 41 percent a year earlier, according to the USDA.

‘Extra Bushels’

Production of hard red winter wheat, the variety used to make bread, will rise 4.3 percent this year to 863 million bushels, the USDA said May 10. The crop may be even bigger, topping 900 million bushels, because timely rains in April boosted yields and farmers sprayed fungicides to prevent disease, INTL FCStone’s O’Dea said.

“An extra 40 or 50 million bushels is not going to find a home,” he said.

There may be more storage space available outside the Plains, the main growing region, but transporting wheat there adds to the cost. The discount of cash-market grain to futures probably will fall to $1 a bushel, the most since 2010, O’Dea said.

The cost of U.S. wheat at export terminals in New Orleans costs at least 50 cents a bushel more for buyers than grain purchased from Russia, Ukraine and Europe, USDA data show. Wheat is so cheap, domestic livestock producers are considering using it in feed rations along with corn and sorghum.

“Cash prices could become weaker at local elevators as they are reaching their storage capacity limits,” said Dan O’Brien, a Kansas State University agricultural economist in Colby. “It will be a sizable crop."

McDonald's Canda Wraps Sustainable Beef Pilot

McDonald's Canada has wrapped up its industry-first Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot, marking a milestone of its collaborative partnership with the Canadian beef industry over the past 30 months to advance more sustainable beef practices.

McDonald's Canada tracked the journey of nearly 9,000 head of Canadian cattle, or the equivalent of 2.4 million patties. The cattle spent their entire lives, from “birth to burger,” raised on or handled by verified sustainable operations, according to the announcement.

The pilot has demonstrated that not only can sustainable practices and outcomes be verified through the entire Canadian beef supply chain (from farm to processing), but also that cattle from verified sustainable beef operations may be tracked through the operations. The Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot Project in Canada is the first program to make the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) principles and criteria actionable across the entire beef value chain.

More than 180 operations — 121 ranches, 34 backgrounding operations, 24 feedlots, two beef processors and one patty plant — completed the third-party process to verify their beef operations as sustainable under the pilot project.

The five indicator categories, which pilot participants were measured on, encompass:

• Natural resources, such as ensuring soil health, water supply and wildlife and plant biodiversity.
• People and community, include ensuring a safe work environment and commitment to supporting the local community.
• Animal health and welfare, such as adequate feed to drinking water and minimizing animal stress and pain.
• Food, such as ensuring food safety and beef quality, including training and registration in the Verified Beef Production (VBP) program.
• Efficiency and innovation, such as recycling and energy efficiency programs.

To recognize the conclusion of the pilot, executives from McDonald's, World Wildlife Fund U.S. and members of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) met Wednesday with pilot participants, industry stakeholders and elected officials to share the progress that has been made toward verifying a sustainable beef supply. The pilot's findings were handed over to the CRSB, which is responsible for mapping the path forward for verified sustainable beef in Canada.

"The McDonald's pilot has provided us with new insights that will support our thinking and direction as we advance existing and new sustainability efforts within the Canadian beef industry,” said Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, rancher and chair of the CRSB, which was formed in 2014 to create a multi-stakeholder organization of experts representing various aspects of beef production, including McDonald's Canada, Cargill, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canada Beef, Loblaw Inc., government and producer groups.