Don’t Allow Biotechnology to be Taken Off the EU-US Negotiating Table
If it’s not hard, it’s not worth doing. U.S. and EU trade diplomats must keep this slogan in mind as they prepare to negotiate a sweeping free-trade agreemen...
John Reifsteck
Agricultural Chess: The Age Old Battle of Farmers Against Weeds
When the biotechnology antagonists try to stoke fear by warning about “superweeds,” they make these plants sound like an alarming cross between the unruly dinos...
A Trade Agenda? (or not)
It’s a familiar bit of wisdom: Past performance predicts future performance. Employers use it when they hire workers, investors when they pick stocks, and farme...
Measuring Global Food Security
The United States is suffering through one of the worst droughts in its history, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture announcing earlier this month that more...
The Politics of Exports and Jobs
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum won the Louisiana primary on Saturday, pumping new life into his campaign following last week’s big win by Mitt Ro...
Words Matter: Biotechnology Does Not Contaminate
Sometimes you just have to pay attention. I do not grow organic crops on my farm and often do not listen to discussions about organic rules and regulations. ...
Conventional Trade Wisdom
Yet sometimes the conventional wisdom is worth proving because the stakes are so high. A good example is a new study from the Department of Agriculture. It...
Regulating Interference
That’s how a lot of farmers are reacting to last week’s decision by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to deregulate GM alfalfa: He came up w...
A Sugar By Any Other Name…
The point is that all names aren’t equal. Some are better than others, which is why I support the petition to let food makers refer to high fructose ...
Cooperating To Feed America and the World
That same imbalance of power is a real problem for farmers and ranchers in the United States. Farmers are proud of their independence, but millions of growe...
John Reifsteck
Farmer, Board Emeritus, Illinois, USA
John Reifsteck operates a corn and soybean farm in western Champaign County, Illinois. John currently serves as Chairman and President of the GROWMARK Board of Directors – a farm supply and marketing cooperative that operates principally in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ontario.