The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

Farmers and food groups innovate to keep operations viable as coronavirus spreads

With the spread of the coronavirus and the requirement for social distancing, farmers who sell directly to customers at farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture programs (CSAs) have to come up with novel solutions to keep their businesses going. For example, Jody Osmund, owner of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm in Ottawa, Illinois uses a foam […]

About half of U.S. adults are wary of health effects of genetically modified foods

Americans have mixed views about genetically modified foods (GMOs) and their implications for society, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. About half of U.S. adults (51%) think GMOs are worse for people’s health than foods with no genetically modified ingredients, while 41% say GM foods have a neutral effect on health. Just […]

Long-term analysis shows GM cotton no match for insects in India

Supporters of genetically modified Bt cotton in India have long touted increased yields and reduced pesticides to justify its production. But that argument does not hold up under the first long-term study of Bt cotton impacts in India by Glenn Davis Stone, a Washington University in St. Louis anthropologist, in the journal Nature Plants. Bt cotton, […]

First map shows global hotspots of glyphosate contamination

Agricultural scientists and engineers have produced the world’s first map detailing global “hot spots” of soil contaminated with glyphosate, a herbicide widely known as Roundup. The map is published as the world’s eyes fall on glyphosate and concerns about its potential impact on environmental and human health. Last year in the U.S. the owner of […]

Non-GMO corn acres remain steady in 2019, non-GMO soybean acres down 1%

U.S. farmers planted seven million acres of non-GMO corn in 2019 and 4.3 million acres of non-GMO soybeans, according to Mercaris’s 2019 Organic & Non-GMO Acreage Report. Non-GMO corn acres planted in 2019 were essentially the same as in 2018, while non-GMO soybean acres were down 1% from 2018. Non-GMO corn acres were slightly lower […]