Indoor Farms Increasing & FDA Backs Away

Indoor Farms Increasing & FDA Backs Away plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The FDA appears to be backing off of a proposed rule that would have caused distillers to dump spent grains instead of using them for livestock feed. The FDA said it will revise proposed livestock feed rules after hearing objections about the potential cost from brewers. Brewers had warned that the grain could end up in landfills if the new FDA rules added too much expense to beer production or the storage and transportation of grains. They gained support from federal lawmakers who lobbied the agency to take another look at its proposal. The FDA plans to release revised rules this summer and will seek comments before issuing a final rule next year.

Some time back I had a story on indoor farming. Well it appears that it is becoming more popular with a lot more interest. An upcoming conference on indoor farming gets underway on May 14th in Las Vegas. Nicola Kerslake talks about why there has been so much more interest.

KERSLAKE: With the droughts that we have seen in California in particular and with the increasing variance in weather we have been seeing, a number of traditional farmers are saying it now makes sense for me to put a portion of my production indoors in order that I have essentially risk management against some of the elements.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

With Vermont now having opened the door as the first state in the country to pass a state bill that will require the labeling of genetically modified foods it's probably a safe bet to assume that other states will now fall like dominos in passing their own GMO labeling legislation, even though attempts at such legislation has failed in the past. The worry over a patchwork quilt of state legislation regarding GMO labeling is now very real. I am not in any way, shape, or form an expert on GMO foods, but I do agree that a national patchwork quilt of state legislation on GMO food labeling would be extremely confusing and detrimental to farmers, retailers and consumers alike. Those in support of the legislation say that it doesn't make a stand on whether GMO's are good or bad, but the Vermont legislation does say that "genetically modified foods potentially pose risks to health, safety, agriculture, and the environment", even though there hasn't been any scientific evidence to support such a statement to date. Of course the measure has to be signed by Vermont's Governor, but that's expected to happen - just like a volley of litigation is expected to be following soon after.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.