Maine farmers come together to feed the world

maineIn early January, we wrote about the co-existence event at the Maine Agricultural Trades Show, which brought together both organic and conventional farmers to discuss how the two practices can work together to feed the world.

The Maine Biotechnology Information Bureau was on hand for the standing-room only event that addressedmaineproduce issues including pesticide use, food production and the environment. “We have to increase production with lower environmental costs,” said keynote speaker Jonathan Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.  Click here to read MBIB’s recap of the event and to hear from farmers on both sides of the issue.

Jon Olson, Executive Secretary of the Maine Farm Bureau, also provided an interesting perspective in an op-ed published in the Kennebec Journal last week. He writes, “Farmers in kennebecMaine are fed up with the controversy and are quietly talking among themselves, looking for ways to move beyond the divide. Collaboration is replacing confrontation, for the benefit of all Maine farmers.”

Maine Coexistence Workshop Promotes a Future with Biotech and Organic Crops

CBI recently blogged about a coexistence workshop at the Maine Agricultural Trade Show in our Ag Biotech Across the Nation series. The Kennebec Journal also reported on this event that aimed to bring ideas from organic and biotech advocates, and create constructive solutions that will lead to more sustainable crop production.

corn-field

CBI expert Dr. Pamela Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at University of California - Davis, and her husband Raoul Adamchak, Market Garden Coordinator at the UC – Davis Student Farm, were involved in the event and advocated for a sustainable agriculture definition that includes genetically engineered crops and organic production methods. Dr. Ronald pointed out that in China the use of insecticides fell by 156 million pounds with the use of genetically modified cotton. She also said agricultural biotechnology is needed because “genetic technology is key to helping feed the growing population.”

You can read more about the coexistence event here.

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