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.