Sarah Gonzalez

The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved an agricultural spending bill for fiscal year 2014, which provides $20.9 billion to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The House Judiciary Committee today approved the Agricultural Guestworker “AG” Act in a vote of 20-16. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., sponsored the bill, which replaces the existing H-2A agricultural visa program with a new H-2C program.

British author and environmentalist Mark Lynas described his transformation from an anti-GMO activist to pro-GMO speaker during the Danforth Plant Science Center’s Seeds of Change event Thursday morning

In a briefing for House legislative staff today, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and American Enterprise Institute (AEI) criticized the crop insurance and shallow loss programs in the 2013 farm bills of both the Senate and House.

National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) President Chuck Conner told the NCFC Washington Conference that the Senate passing the farm bill Monday night is “the easy part.”

Several dozen agricultural organizations met with House lawmakers today to discuss the whip count for the upcoming farm bill, HR 1847, which is expected to reach the House floor this month.

Monsanto’s chief technology officer, Robb Fraley, told reporters today that the company’s investigation indicates the presence of glysophate-tolerant wheat in Oregon is very likely the result of “accidental or purposeful mixing” of seeds.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today it is conducting an “active investigation” into a genetically engineered variety of glyphosate-resistant wheat that was found growing in an Oregon wheat field.

Touting North Carolina as one of the top states in the country for biotechnology, Senator Kay Hagan, D-N.C., emphasized the industry’s contribution to the state’s economy during Syngenta Biotechnology’s Advanced Crop Lab opening last week.

- After the passage of a five-year farm bill out of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, Washington agricultural groups expressed their support for the progress while hinting at the battles to come on the House and Senate floors and during conference.