Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Agribusiness giant Monsanto announced Thursday that it will comply with a civil investigation by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller's office.
Monsanto says the attorney general has requested information regarding the company's seed, trait and chemistry licensing and marketing programs. Monsanto said it will provide the information to Miller's office and "any other interested state Attorneys General."
Monsanto is one of the world's largest producers of crop seed and biotechnology. The company produces the wildly popular herbicide Roundup, as well as the successful genetically modified crop varieties known as "Roundup Ready," which are designed to work in tandem with the herbicide.
"Farmers buy seed each year based on the yield and value brought to their farms at harvest which has resulted in rapid and broad adoption of biotech seed products," said Monsanto's General Counsel David Snively. "Given the pace and scale of ag biotechnology adoption, it is understandable why regulators want to know more about competition in modern agriculture and how products are developed and used."
The company was also in the news last week, when a patent dispute between Monsanto and Iowa State University was settled out of court.
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