Philip Brasher

The Agriculture Department is planning a landmark overhaul of the way it regulates biotechnology that could allow companies and university scientists to develop and test many crops without the USDA oversight that critics say has slowed innovation.

Lawmakers who want to stop the Obama administration from implementing its rule re-defining the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act are optimistic they�ll get a provision to do so included in the fiscal 2016 spending bill that Congress needs to pass by Dec. 11.

Some producers with farms in more than one county could be getting more money from USDA under the Agriculture Risk Coverage program. The Farm Service Agency has agreed to change the way ARC payments were calculated for 2014 and 2015.

China has committed to accelerating its review of U.S. GMOs, a move that would smooth trade in biotech crops, Obama administration officials said after an annual bilateral meeting on trade issues.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a fast-growing, genetically engineered salmon for commercial sale, making it the first biotech animal cleared for human consumption. �After an exhaustive and rigorous scientific review, FDA has arrived at

The sugar industry and makers of high fructose corn syrup have settled a bitter court battle that had been raging for four and a half years. The terms of the settlement in a California federal court were not disclosed.

Former agriculture secretaries who have served presidents going back nearly 35 years endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying trade agreement should boost U.S. farm exports significantly. In a letter released by the Agriculture Department, the seven former secretaries

The Food and Drug Administration has refused to consider requiring the labeling of biotech foods, affirming its longstanding policy that therePs no legal basis for mandating such disclosure on products that are essentially the same as their conventional versions. The FDA deci

House appropriators are open to using the fiscal 2016 sending bill to block states from requiring the labeling of foods with biotech ingredients. The top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow, has been leading discussions in the Senate legislation that would pre

Supermarkets, pizza chains and convenience store have banded together to try to take the bite out of new menu labeling regulations before they take effect. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved, 36-12, a bipartisan bill that would make it easier for those businesses