The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

Court throws out legal challenge to Mexico’s GMO corn ban as U.S. suppliers say they can supply non-GMO corn

A Mexican federal judge recently ruled against a request by the country’s National Farm Council (CNA) to stop a government ban on genetically modified corn and glyphosate herbicide by 2024. Judge Martin Adolfo Santos Perez’s ruling allows the decree issued by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador late last year that outlines the planned bans to […]

Pesticide contamination in soil significantly lower on organic farms in EU

When pesticide residues in soil from organic and conventional farms across the EU were compared in a recent study published in Environmental Pollution, organic farms had up to 90% less residue concentration. Existence of any residues in organic soil is due to either highly persistent chemicals that last beyond organic transition or contamination via pesticide […]

Up to 144,000 genetically engineered mosquitoes released in the Florida Keys

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec, a British biotech company, began the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered (GE) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the end of April. Despite scientific concerns and public outcry over the human health and environment risks, the field trial’s first phase will release up to 144,000 GE mosquitoes […]

Large South Dakota organic farm faces criticism over soil erosion, poor management

A 34,000-acre organic farm in South Dakota that supplies organic grains to General Mills has been criticized for soil erosion due to tillage and failure to follow recommendations for soil conservation. In 2018, General Mills engaged in a strategic sourcing arrangement with an investment firm to transition Gunsmoke Farms near Pierre, South Dakota to organic. […]

USDA invests $2 million in value-added organic grains

Cornell University is leading a project to spread consumption of diverse and ancient grains in the Northeast and Midwest, funded by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The three-year project will develop infrastructure for organic cultivation and marketing of grains including bread wheat, naked barley, hulless oats, rye, emmer, spelt, […]