This week we were pleased to see that researchers at Stanford University were finally able to put to rest the argument that conventional farming is bad for the planet. In fact, they found that modern farming REDUCED the amount of greenhouse gases entering the earth’s atmosphere by the end of the 20^th century. Other ag biotech news we liked this week:

Study finds that modern farming helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions

According to researchers at Stanford University, modern high-yield farming significantly reduced the amount of greenhouse gas emissions entering the Earth’s atmosphere by the end of the 20^th century. The study found that novel farming techniques prevented as much as the equivalent of 590 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Any policy intended to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere, the researchers concluded, should entail the improvement of crop yields. READ MORE »

Dr. Terry Etherton, the Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition and Head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University posted a blog highlighting several research summaries by PG Economics that demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of agricultural biotechnology.

Dr. Etherton writes that biotech crops require “less-frequent herbicide or insecticide applications and reduced energy usage in soil cultivation from the use of no-till and reduced-till farming systems.” The research summaries show that in 2007 the GHG emission reductions from biotech crops were equivalent to removing nearly 6.3 million cars from the road for one year.

Read more about the results of the 2009 PG Economics study in Dr. Etherton’s blog here.

Watch Graham Brooks, Director of PG Economics, discuss the company’s findings about the benefits of agricultural biotechnology here.