This week, Secretary Vilsack spoke with Forbes about educating the public on food security and GMOs, and a Science study quantifies the economic impact of GM crops in the Midwest.

A global perspective on green biotech

Scientific American published a number of interesting charts depicting the global distribution of agricultural biotechnology activities. There have been 3,184 field trials conducted in the US, nearly 10 times as many as any other country.

Economic value of GM crops more than $7 billion

A recent study published by Science found that farmers in “Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin received cumulative economic benefits of nearly $7 billion between 1996 and 2009 through the planting of Bt corn hybrids.”

Sec. Vilsack on the role of GMOs

In this video from Forbes, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack discusses the role of GMOs in food security. He points out that a lack of education about the benefits of biotech has contributed to the controversy over the practice.

Guest Blog Post by Darin Grimm, Board Member, AgChat Foundation and Kansas Farmer

I had the recent privilege of attending the Global Farmer-to-Farmer Roundtable, an event that coincided with the 2010 World Food Prize Symposium. It was organized by Truth About Trade & Technology (TATT) and sponsored, in part, by the Council for Biotechnology Information.

I have the space to focus on just a few of the farmers I met the Roundtable.  Here are the farmer stories that most stood out to me as an American farmer:

Rajesh Kumar and V. Ravichandran, India

I was surprised by how similar their issues were to mine, despite living in a far away country, with a very different culture, economic base, and agriculture system.  The importance these two individuals placed on communicating their livelihoods as farmers to an increasingly urban public surprised me.

Giorgio Fidenato, Italy

Most of the challenges Giorgio faced were shared by the other European farmers in attendance. But Giorgio’s story had a unique twist.  He is facing an upcoming trial for planting a GM seed on his farm that is not approved under Italian law.  He described the dialogues that were now happening in Italy about these important issues because of his case.

To be perfectly honest, I doubt I would be willing to go to that level of civil disobedience, but I have to respect and admire his commitment.  I think it reflects the desperation many European farmers feel as they are asked to compete in a world market, without access to many of the tools much of the world has accepted.

Mike Jandreau, South Dakota

One of the accounts that stood out was Mike Jandreau. He is a Native American living in South Dakota, probably only a few hours from me.  The Native American story is a sad and even ugly mark on the history of a country I love.  We can’t correct the past, but the abundant resources that still belong to the tribes in many areas give me hope that Native Americans can be active, contributing partners in helping us meet global agricultural needs.

Sarah Munalula, Zambia
Finally, the farmer story that touched me the most was Sarah, from Zambia.  Sarah acknowledged that she was unique among the farmers there.  She is a “poor” farmer. To be honest, if you’re reading this blog post, I doubt you really understand the poverty Sarah lives in. I sure don’t.  She farms one hectare, and she does it all by hand, which is hard back-breaking labor.  There’s no fertilizer for her plants, everything is hand-weeded.  To those that idolize that style of agriculture as “progress” I wish you could have visited with Sarah.

And yet, Sarah’s goals aren’t that much different than my own. I may farm using completely different methods, but at the end of the day, I hope to feed my family and pass along to my kids the education and values that I received. What Sarah wants is no different.

There seem to be massive debates at the global level about “how” we should farm and how we are going to meet the needs of a growing global population.  I think there’s been a very important voice missing from those debates.  The voice of those doing the actual work, the farmer. This is a big part of why I became involved in the AgChat Foundation, and after sitting through the Global Farmer Roundtable, it’s apparent to me that better communication and recognition for farmers is a global need as well.

To read more from Darin, visit his blog: http://daringrimm.wordpress.com/

To learn more about the Roundtable, check out TATT’s website: http://www.truthabouttrade.org/

In addition to farmers from around the world, CBI had a special guest in attendance at the Global Farmer-to-Farmer Roundtable- American farmer and social media “agvocate”, Darin Grimm.

Darin is on the board of the AgChat Foundation, an organization whose mission is to empower farmers and ranchers to connect communities through social media platforms. Each Tuesday night from 8-10 pm on Twitter, they host a chat about agriculture for those “involved in the business of growing food, fuel, feed and fiber.”

Darin operates a family farm in the northeast corner of Kansas.  He has been involved for a number of years in precision agriculture and using data to help understand and improve agronomic decisions on the farm.  “With such a small amount of the population directly connected to growing their food today, social media seems to be a vital component in helping people understand today’s farm business. My personal passion is applying the data skills I have learned from working with technology such as sensors and GPS systems to the world of social media.”

We asked Darin to share his thoughts on the future of agriculture.

Where do you see agriculture moving in the next ten years? Which agricultural technology innovations will most impact farmers and agriculture?

Darin Grimm: Increased product specialization, but moving slower than some wish.  In our case, it might be less acres of commodity corn/soybeans and more specialty/niche products. But this was forecast to be a big deal years ago as well and only materializes slowly.  Increased automation/robotics on the equipment side, increased use of biotechnology on the input side - IF and it’s a BIG IF, the regulatory environment allows it.

As farmers consider the future of agriculture around the globe, we were interested to hear their thoughts on how their governments can enact policy to support farmers and the agriculture industry.

What is the most important policy change your government could enact to support agriculture in your country?

Tariq  Zaman  Khan (Pakistan):  As Pakistan is an agriculture-based country and a major part of the economy of Pakistan depends on agriculture,  government support is not adequate regarding provision of fertilizers and pesticides as a majority are imported and are expensive.  And then there is the energy crisis.  A subsidy should be given for electricity, as a majority of the agricultural land is irrigated with help of tube wells.  Apart from that, education regarding crop management practices like plant population, weed control , adequate plant protection measures and using right genetics at the right time can be helpful.

Olga Alcaraz Andrade (Mexico): Access to crop insurance and price hedging in the contract farming scheme, before planting (not when it suits the industry). Also, [it would be helpful] to analyze the actual costs of production, and subsidize production in the areas that are needed.

We’re here in Iowa where Sec. Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, just gave the welcoming address this morning at the “Global Virtual Town Hall: A Global Story of Crop Biodiversity Success” at Iowa State University.

He emphasized the need to utilize all tools for helping to meet the world’s demand to feed a growing population. However, these technologies must be developed and customized to meet the needs of the local community.

We must use all systems of food production to meet the need to grow more food. Science is essential in this process. Farmers around the world are also critical contributors to the global food system. We need sustainable land management practices and science-based systems that support not only feeding the world but also protecting the environment and maximizing opportunities for supporting biodiversity.

Divide and conquer approach won’t help feed the world. Agricultural biotechnology vs. local, organic will only result in losses on both sides; we need to bring the two together.