Farm News, Tuesday March 8, 2016

Vilsack Calls on Congress to Pass Mandatory GMO labeling

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is asking Congress to pass mandatory GMO labeling. Vilsack, who spoke last week at Commodity Classic, told the National Farmers Union this week Congress should pass mandatory labeling through smart labels, or QR codes, allowing consumers to look up the labeling information. Vilsack said that if Congress finds it impossible to reach agreement on a labeling system, it should authorize the Agriculture Department to do the job. In his speech, Vilsack repeated statements he made Friday at Commodity Classic that labeling of foods containing GMO’s needs to be mandatory, but he did not say, as he did then, that mandatory labeling must be part of the bill in order to get 60 votes in the Senate to end debate for passage, according to the Hagstrom Report. Vilsack did agree with Congress on the state-by-state labeling laws, saying that they would “create confusion and raise food prices.” Vilsack said the challenge is to make sure consumers understand their food is safe.

BASF Considering Bid for DuPont

Dow Jones reports BASF is considering a counter bid for DuPont, who agreed to merge with Dow Chemical in December. BASF is currently working with advisers and financing banks to examine the merits of a counter bid for the $55 billion chemical company. BASF has not made a decision yet about proceeding with an offer however as they have yet to formally approach DuPont.  BASF started working with advisers last year to explore a bid for DuPont and talked with the company before the Dow-DuPont merger was announced. BASF is the world's third-largest producer of weed-killers, insecticides and other pesticides, after Syngenta and Bayer, according to Bloomberg. Buying DuPont would add to its agricultural chemical portfolio and give it the second-biggest producer of crop seeds.

NAFB News