Vilsack to speek at biotech conference

Governor Vilsack is a keynote speaker tomorrow at an international “biotech” convention in Boston. Vilsack leaves today for the event which will attract seven-thousand business executives and researchers, as well as government officials from 40 nations.Vilsack says researchers and biotech companies need to do a better job of building consumer confidence of genetic alteration and biotech advances.Vilsack says the primary way to feed a growing world population is to boost food production through genetic improvements. He says 95-percent of the population growth of the world will occur in the poorest regions of the world, taxing the ability to produce food.Vilsack says farmers save nearly half-a-billion dollars each year because of biotech advances in seeds which bring higher yields.