A report presented Thursday by professor Ford Runge of the University of Minnesota says Iowa and Illinois beat Minnesota in the value of bio-tech crops produced last year. Runge’s study predicts of dollars will be generated by the continued development of bio-tech crops, says Runge says the state most ready to adopt technology at the farm level are also reaping some of the greatest benefits “beyond the farm gate,” and he thinks bio-tech will deliver more value, on and off the farm, in the national economy. Runge found half the value of last year’s corn, soybean, cotton, and canola crops came from bio-tech versions of those crops…20-billion dollars of the total forty-Billion dollar nationwide harvest. Of course, he adds that doesn’t mean the crops were any more valuable, just that it’s the share that consisted of biologically-engineered grains. Runge’s new study says off farm benefits include high-paying jobs, income and investment in the agriculture industry. The 70-thousand-dollar study released in Washington yesterday was funded by the Council for Biotechnology Information.
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