A recent study concluded that US farmers are planting too much GM Bt maize, leading to increased resistance in corn rootworm, the pest that the maize was engineered to kill. The study is titled, "Too much of a good thing: Lessons from compromised rootworm Bt maize in the US Corn Belt". The authors say they are attempting "to protect sustainable use of Bt and other crop biotechnology resources" and to this end they propose "moving toward a more diversified and transparent seed supply". These are damning conclusions about the failure of this key GM technology and are enough to support the verdict that, contrary to the study's title, Bt maize was never a "good thing". But US agricultural consultant Dr Chuck Benbrook says the real picture is even worse than that portrayed in the study. GMWatch

 

 

Wildtype’s fake salmon [GMW: grown from fish cells in a bioreactor] has become the first cultivated seafood product to be greenlighted for sale in the US. It joins two other cultivated meat products, from UPSIDE Foods and Eat Just’s GOOD Meat, respectively, to mark the third cultivated protein to enter the US market. “Instead of creating a genetically modified yeast organism to create leghemoglobin – which is this iron-tasting substance that they add to plant-based ingredients – we’re actually growing the animal cells themselves,” the company’s co-founder, Justin Kolbeck, said last year. The US FDA said it had no questions on the company's marketing notification. The company has announced an agreement to provide its cultivated salmon to the Haitian restaurant Kann in Portland, Oregon. Technology Networks

 

 

GMO fish firm AquaBounty's annual shareholder meeting was convened as scheduled at the end of May, but was immediately adjourned because not enough people showed up. It has already sold off its Canadian assets and has ended its GMO fish operations in the US. Toledo Blade

 

 

Thailand's animal feed industry faces mounting criticism after mills across the country announced an immediate halt to corn purchases, in what farmer representatives denounce as a calculated attempt to depress prices and facilitate cheaper GM corn imports from the US. The coordinated purchasing freeze has sparked fierce opposition from agricultural groups who fear it will pave the way for tariff-free GMO corn imports that could devastate domestic producers. The president of the Nakhon Ratchasima Farmers Council and member of the Maize Policy and Management Committee described the move as a strategic manoeuvre designed to "clear the path for US GMO corn imports" The National Farmers Council has voiced vehement opposition to GMO corn imports, citing concerns over increased herbicide use, pesticide resistance in insects, and potential virus transmission affecting local crops and insect populations. The Nation Thailand

 

 

A farmer has posted on X that his organic farm has been destroyed by chemical spray drift from GMO crop fields. More at the link in the header and here. Kriss @krcrash33 on X

 

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