What do you do when you own a champion bull whose semen is so prized by breeders that you can't keep up with demand? Why, clone the bull, of course! Full Flush, already the sire of over 30,000 calves, is now also the progenitor of five exact genetic copies of himself, cloned by Cyagra company in hopes of increasing the supply of stud material. Full Flush's semen sells for $50 per dose to breeders hoping to "produce top-quality, fat and juicy steaks." 

The five clones, born in 2001, have reached maturity. However, they will not be available for stud material until the Food and Drug Administration determines whether the meat and milk from offspring of cloned animals is safe for human consumption. In addition, some worry that, even if cloning of livestock is safe for the food supply, it will drive the market even further toward uniformity and consolidation. Read more.

Farmers in Mexico have been protesting since last month over the January 1, 2003 lifting of tariffs on agricultural products moving between the United States and Mexico. Mexican farmers contend that, in the absence of the tariffs, they cannot compete with the flood of highly subsidized commodities from the U.S. While Mexico is a net exporter of fruits and vegetables, the country's grain, poultry and livestock producers are having a hard time competing with U.S. imports, and some say their welfare was traded to expand Mexico's fruit and vegetable exports. Many claim to have been forced off their land and have emigrated illegally to the United States. A coalition called "The Countryside Can Bear No More" has stormed the congressional chambers, launched hunger strikes, and threatened a blockade of the border in an effort to get President Vicente Fox to agree to talks. Read more.

The "Agribusiness Examiner" is reporting in the January 20, 2003 edition that agribusiness behemoth, Cargill is posting a 25% rise in profits over the last year. With second quarter earnings of $321 million, the international agribusiness giant is realizing total earnings of $664 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2003.

As the largest privately held company in America, Cargill has fingers in virtually every aspect of global food production. From seed stock to food shelf they are an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services. Cargill claims over 97,000 employees in 59 countries. In 1997 Cargill even extended their reach into the energy market forming a new trading and marketing company that heralded Cargill's entry into the bulk-electricity market.

With traces of GMO corn turning up unexpectedly all over the world, the genetic sciences industry is continually putting out public relations fires as consumer worry about the safety of their food.

The latest unexpected discovery is in Brazil, where the Agriculture Ministry said last week a shipment of U.S. corn containing traces of banned genetically modified organisms will have to be burned, re-exported or used for paper production. Brazil bans any commercial or experimental use of genetically modified food and tests run by the Ministry turned up 0.25 percent GM material in the shipment and crops. The importer, National Starch Chemical Industrial, is contesting the finding, saying that the U.S. corn is certified as GM-Free and that the level of transgenic material in the corn was at most 0.1 percent, putting it well within the legal 4 percent limit permitted by Brazil before the product can be considered genetically altered. A company representative was not available for comment and the paper did not say for what purpose the corn was intended. Read more.

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