[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]USDA to launch non-GMO crop price forecasts[/title][fusion_text]Friday, September 4th 2015
Keeping up with the growing demand for non-GMO and organic products is proving to be a challenge. The Agriculture Department is betting that providing farmers with information on market prices will help. USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service this week launched its first weekly report on prices for non-GMO corn and soybeans. According to the report, non-GMO feed corn is selling for significantly more than the conventional, genetically engineered versions. The report had no prices for soybeans or for food-grade corn. The reports, which are based on information gathered from an undisclosed number of elevators, could increase the market for non-GMO grain and in turn encourage farmers to transition to organic. Many farmers have been reluctant to seek organic certification because they can’t market their products during the three-year transition period when they have to follow USDA’s organic standards, which among other things bar the use of biotech seed. In May, food maker SunOpta Inc. became the first food manufacturing facility in the United States to be approved for a process verified program for non-GMO products. Meanwhile, Congress is debating legislation that would preempt state labeling laws for biotech crops and set up a USDA-run program for regulating non-GMO labeling. The non-GMO reports are the latest in a growing list of specialty market reports that USDA is compiling, with more to come. Reports on grass-finished beef started in 2013, and in the next six months the agency will be rolling out reports on pasture-raised pork, free-range chicken, farm-raised catfish and commodities grown by American Indian tribes. USDA also is posting reports on prices at many farmers markets. The latest report from Iowa, for example, puts the average price of rhubarb at $2 a bunch, while heirloom tomatoes are going for $3 a pound and ears of sweet corn are fetching $5 to $7 a dozen. The challenge for the department is getting enough entities to participate to make the data in the reports meaningful.
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