FEED - October 2009
Contents
1. Global warming could severely harm U.S. crops
2. Danes to Congress: Antibiotics restriction has been a success
3. Court finds approval of engineered sugar beets was unlawful
4. Resistant E. coli infections in humans come from food animals
5. Europe rejects soybeans contaminated with GE corn
1. Global warming could severely harm U.S. crops
Rising temperatures could hurt productivity (or yields) of important crops according to a series of studies. A recent paper by two economists stated that although yields of corn, soybeans, and cotton increase with temperatures up to an average of 84 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the growing season, after that point yields plummet. Assuming that we continue to grow these crops in the same regions and that we reduce global warming emissions to half of 1991 levels by 2050, yields could fall by 30 to 46 percent by the end of the century. If emissions continue unabated—the worst-case scenario considered—yields could drop by 63 to 82 percent. The effects of climate change are expected to hit even harder in developing countries. Read the study abstract in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or read a blog post about it by one of the authors.
| "To cope with climate change, we need crops that are hardy and resilient to environmental change. We should be investing now in public breeding programs to maintain diverse seedstocks so we’ll have these crop varieties available to us in future." ~ Doug Gurian-Sherman, Senior Scientist |
2. Danes to Congress: Antibiotics restriction has been a success
Denmark's policy of restricting antibiotic use in animal feed has been a success, according to the Danish government. In the United States, livestock and poultry producers routinely add medically valuable antibiotics to animal feed to promote growth and compensate for unsanitary conditions. But Denmark has banned the use of antibiotics for growth promotion. Danish government officials recently wrote to Congress (pdf) that the policy hasn't hurt their pork and poultry industries: Denmark remains the world's top pork exporter, consumer prices have not increased, and the country has reduced overall use of antibiotics in food production by 50 percent with no harm to animal health and welfare. Danish officials directed their letter to a Senate committee that is considering legislation to restrict antibiotics in animal feed in the United States.
| "Denmark has proved that it can generate safe, plentiful food while using antibiotics wisely and sparingly—and, contrary to the fears of the U.S. livestock industry, producers' bottom lines don't have to suffer." ~ Margaret Mellon, Food & Environment Program Director |
3. Court finds approval of engineered sugar beets was unlawful
A federal court has ruled that it was unlawful for the Bush U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow widespread commercial planting of a genetically engineered variety of sugar beet. The Federal District Court in San Francisco stated that the USDA should have conducted a full environmental impact statement to consider the consequences from the likely spread of the beets' herbicide tolerance genes to conventional and organic beets and related crops such as Swiss chard. The judge said that the approval of the beets constituted a "potential elimination of [a] farmer's choice to grow non-genetically engineered crops, or a consumer's choice to eat non-genetically engineered food." Now cultivation of the biotech beets, which make up 90 to 95 percent of the U.S. sugar beet crop, may be banned. Read more from The New York Times.
4. Resistant E. coli infections in humans come from food animals
E. coli bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics originate in food animals rather than in humans, according to a new study. The study compared samples of resistant E. coli from four kinds of retail meat and found that the samples from different food animals were different from one another, while resistant and susceptible strains from the same animal source were very similar. The findings, which confirm earlier studies, strongly suggest that resistance traits originate within a particular animal sector rather than originating within humans and spreading back to meat. The study also noted that E. coli strains on meat most likely develop resistance as a direct consequence of antibiotic use in food animals. Read the study (pdf) and commentary (pdf) in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
| "The agricultural industry often pretends that the science supporting the link between antibiotic use in livestock and resistant bacterial infections in humans is incomplete. This is yet another study proving the connection." ~ Margaret Mellon, Food & Environment Program Director |
5. Europe rejects soybeans contaminated with GE corn
In September, Spain blocked another shipment of U.S. soybeans that were contaminated with genetically engineered (GE) corn. The corn, which can be grown and sold legally in the United States but not in Europe, contains genes for herbicide tolerance and rootworm resistance. Spain and Germany blocked other soybean shipments for the same reason last summer. Now, the USDA is weighing whether to approve another GE corn variety, this one engineered for ethanol production. The blocked shipments are a reminder that even if the ethanol corn is approved here, it threatens to disrupt trade by contaminating corn destined for countries that have not approved it. Read more from Reuters.
